It was billed throughout the offseason as a game that could make a huge impact on the psyche of Kansas University’s football players.
The hope now has to be that it doesn’t.
If what went down Saturday in Durham, North Carolina, sticks with them, the impact could be catastrophic and could send the Jayhawks (1-1) spiraling toward another forgettable football season.
There have been plenty of losses during the past few seasons, but few had the same feel as the 41-3 drubbing the Jayhawks suffered at the hands of Duke on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Even the coaches and players admit that this one could take a little longer than normal to get over. Not just because they were outscored by 38 points and managed just a field goal on offense. And not just because many of these Jayhawks thought the match-up with Duke played right into their hands. But because very little went right on either side of the line of scrimmage, and many of the things that were believed to be fixed — or at least improved — again looked like serious problems.
“You say you’ll be better in 24 hours,” KU coach Charlie Weis said after the loss, the eighth of 34 points or more in 26 tries on his watch. “But it’ll probably take until after you get on the field on Tuesday and you’re moving forward with another gameplan, because that was embarrassing.”
Many of the Jayhawks appear already to have put the loss behind them.
“We just have to work hard and keep moving forward,” senior wide receiver Nick Harwell said. “No team likes to lose like that, but we just gotta pick it up this week and move forward.”
Added senior cornerback Dexter McDonald: “All we can do is move forward and focus on next week’s game.”
That match-up is with Central Michigan, a team that popped Purdue a couple of weeks ago but was rocked, 40-3, by Syracuse around the same time the Jayhawks were helping Duke set school records.
Weis said after Saturday’s setback that the name, mascot, uniform and roster of KU’s opponent this weekend would rank second in importance to the Jayhawks looking internally to fix the problems that led to them being outscored 69-13 after starting the season off with a high-flying 24-0 first quarter against Southeast Missouri State in the Sept. 6 season opener.
“I’m obviously concerned with the passing game,” he said. “I’m obviously concerned with scoring more points. I’m obviously concerned with giving up big runs for touchdowns. I’m obviously concerned if we’re hitting on zone pressures and people are not getting to the right gap. But all those things are just elements.”
They’re elements of a big picture that started with promise and now looks and feels eerily similar to what so many players on this roster have been through several times before.
“It’s not OK to lose like this,” McDonald said. “We know that. We have to bounce back next week and just work hard to pick up the team and still believe we can go out and win some games this year. … All we can do is not accept this and go back this week and keep pushing and realize that this was just our second game. We have to move forward. We can’t let this bring us down.”
KU favored
The Jayhawks were tapped favorites for this week’s meeting with Central Michigan by Las Vegas oddsmakers.
KU (1-1) opened as a 51/2-point favorite over the Chippewas (2-1).
SEMO struggles
A week after narrowly falling to KU, 34-28, SEMO was routed, 50-23, by Southern Illinois.
