Ah, Kansas football. There’s nothing quite like it, and that’s a good thing. With how over compensatingly good their basketball program is, Jayhawk football is everything the basketball team isn’t.
But for the OSU football team, the last two trips to Lawerence have been anything but a cake-walk.
Back in 2012, an extremely rainy Oct. 13 caused for some really ugly football between the Pokes and the Jayhawks. The slippery conditions didn’t stop freshman quarterback J.W. Walsh from throwing for for 255 yards on 62 percent passing and a touchdown. Walsh also rushed for a touchdown for the Cowboys only other score.
The Cowboys coasted to a 17-0 fourth quarter lead, but managed to let Kansas come back and score 14 before a 20-14 Oklahoma State win.
With Daxx Garman at the helm in 2014, Oklahoma State needed a fourth quarter Tyreek Hill bail out kick return to salvage a 27-20 win. The Cowboys took a sloppy 20-7 lead into halftime, but the second half pretty much belonged to the Jayhawks.
And even though this years version of the Kansas Jayhawks might not be any better than their 2012 and 2014 counterparts, Oklahoma State should be a much more prepared team.
For starters, the Cowboys won’t have a freshman Walsh or first year Garman at quarterback. As for the Jayhawks, look for sophomore Ryan Willis to to take control in his first full year. Willis is in a similar position to Mason Rudolph, as Willis was thrust into action as a true freshman and won the job.
Willis threw over 1,700 yards in nine game, while tossing 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
KU will heavily rely on Ke’aun Kinner to run the ball, coming off a 566 yard, five touchdown junior year. The next leading rusher on the Kansas depth chart is a 5-11 sophomore, who has 100 career rushing yards.
The Jayhawks two leading receivers have a combined 60 receptions between the two of them.
Kansas went 0-12 last season, and is riding a 15 game losing streak. The Cowboys even have a bye week before they make the short trip north. If this isn’t a 30 point win, I don’t know what is.