— Kansas (0-7 overall, 0-6 Big 12) vs. TCU (3-4, 3-4) • 7 p.m. kickoff, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium • Game-time forecast: 42 degrees, mostly clear, 0% chance of rain • TV: FOX Sports 1 • Radio: KLWN, FM 101.7 / AM 1320
— Log on to KUsports.com for our live coverage and follow our team on Twitter: @KUSports, @BentonASmith, @mctait and @SJacksonLJW
1. Pass protection
For three weeks now, the Jayhawks have worked on an issue that has plagued them throughout their winless season: protecting the quarterback.
The last time KU played, on Nov. 7 at Oklahoma, starting QB Jalon Daniels got sacked nine times, leaving the game with an injured ankle the final time he got knocked to the ground.
Since then, KU head coach Les Miles fired O-line coach Luke Meadows and promoted senior offensive analyst John Morookian to take Meadows’ place on an interim basis. Even before all of that, though, Miles and his players spoke often of the importance of getting better pass protection out of the O-line. That conversation won’t change unless the Jayhawks improve versus TCU.
The Horned Frogs’ pass rush is surging of late, with 12 total sacks in their last three games. Ochaun Mathis leads the team with five QB takedowns, and he produced three in TCU’s win over Texas Tech on Nov. 7.
True freshman defensive end Khari Coleman, who committed to KU in 2019 before flipping to the Frogs, made his first career sack versus Oklahoma and leads the team with 9.5 tackles for loss.
If the Jayhawks, who will again be without injured starting right guard Chris Hughes, are going to win a game this year, improved pass blocking will have to be part of the equation. Entering the weekend, KU has allowed an FBS worst 38 sacks and 5.43 sacks per game.
2. Offense has to give KU a chance
Week after week in 2020, the Jayhawks’ offense has let the team down, even if the players and coaches don’t want to say so publicly.
The one time in Big 12 play that KU scored more than 17 points — 22 in a 30-point home loss to Iowa State on Oct. 31 — the Jayhawks had a Kenny Logan Jr. 100-yard kickoff return to thank for one of their three touchdowns.
KU is averaging only 15.1 points a game (125th out of 127 FBS teams) on the year and 264.4 yards (also 125th). In Big 12 play, those numbers dip to 13.8 points and 247.3 yards.
No team that has played at least four games this year punts more than KU, which averages 7.3 per loss. Obviously all the issues with the offensive line have damaged KU’s ability to sustain drives, and the Jayhawks average just 15.9 first downs a game (120th out of 127 FBS teams).
So what does the offense have to do to give KU a chance to win?
Said junior receiver Takulve “TK” Williams: “We’ve just got to execute. We’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
If the players listen to coordinator Brent Dearmon and the rest of the offensive coaches, Williams added, they should be able to get something going.
“There’s not much that we really have to do,” Williams said. “Just follow the rules and stay the course off of the game plan our coach puts together for us.”
3. Beware of the Frogs’ runners
Other teams in the Big 12 have more experienced and ballyhooed ball carriers, but TCU takes a team approach to the ground game that has proven effective
Head coach Gary Patterson’s bunch has run the ball on 284 of its 502 offensive snaps (56.6 percent) this season, despite not having a single rusher who averages 50 yards per game.
“Whichever running back has to carry the ball,” Miles said earlier this week about TCU, “he’ll be a talented man.”
TCU averages 248 rushing yards per game in its three wins this season — at Texas, at Baylor and versus Texas Tech — and 124.3 in the four losses — against Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma and at West Virginia.
TCU is 3-0 in 2020 and 98-8 under Patterson all-time when rushing for at least 200 yards.
Redshirt freshman Darwin Barlow is the top running back to date for the Frogs, averaging 43.4 yards a game and 5.7 yards per carry. Freshman Keandre Miller is contributing 32.5 yards a game and 5.7 per attempt while freshman Zach Evans is providing 25.2 yards a game and 6.0 yards a carry.
But no one on the roster runs more often than TCU’s quarterback.
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/2019/sep/28/329926/
KU defense vs. TCU QB Max Duggan
Facing a dual-threat QB is nothing new for the KU defense. But sophomore Max Duggan embodies that label more than many who play the position, as he doubles as TCU’s leading rusher on the year.
“He has the ability to throw it and run it,” Miles said. “A guy that we have to do a good job handling.”
Duggan, at 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, averages 49.7 rushing yards a game this year, on 12.9 attempts a game. He has led TCU in rushing in six of his 19 career games.
Earlier this month in a 34-18 victory over Texas Tech, Duggan sped his way to 154 rushing yards, including an 81-yard TD run — one of his three carries into the end zone versus the Red Raiders.
Connecting on 63.7% of his passes this year, Duggan has thrown for five touchdowns and three interceptions, while averaging 182 passing yards a game. Between his arm and his legs, the sophomore QB provides 231.7 yards of total offense per game for TCU, which is averaging 381.7 yards overall as a team.
If KU defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot can find the right defender to use as a spy on Duggan and keep the QB in check as a rushing threat, the KU defense should have an easier time taking care of its other responsibilities against a TCU offense averaging 24 points a game in Big 12 play.
“I feel like we match up pretty well,” sophomore safety Logan said of the KU defense against TCU. “I feel like our team is going to be ready to go into that game and give it all we’ve got to come out with victory.”
Even if the outlook for the remainder of the 2020 season seems bleak for the KU fan base, the mood in the Jayhawks’ locker room remains positive, according to both Miles and the players.
“We’re trying to win, like every other week. Trying to make plays,” senior receiver Kwamie Lassiter II said, noting the Jayhawks have remained competitive at practices during their break. “We’re doing everything we can to get this (win).”
Williams said finally nabbing a victory — KU hasn’t won since beating Texas Tech at home on Oct. 26, 2019, giving the program an 11-game losing streak — is of the utmost importance.
“We’re going in to win every game obviously. But we want to get a win to show (younger players on the roster) that we can do it,” Williams said. “Because it feels like it would bring more confidence to the team — like to show them that you really can do it.”
KU ….. TCU
KU run D vs. TCU run game v
v KU pass D vs. TCU pass game
KU run game vs. TCU run D v
KU pass game vs. TCU pass D v
Special teams v
TCU 35, KU 20
Mike Gunnoe— Kansas (2-5 overall, 0-4 Big 12) vs TCU (3-4, 1-3) • 2 p.m. kickoff, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium • Game-time forecast: 68 degrees, mostly sunny, 0% chance of rain • TV: FOX Sports 1 • Radio: KLWN, FM 101.7 / AM 1320
— Log on to KUsports.com for our live game blog and follow our coverage team on Twitter: @KUSports, @BentonASmith, @TomKeeganLJW and @SJacksonLJW
1. Correctly identify the QB who gives you the best chance
Who will start at quarterback for Kansas this week?
Who knows?
Head coach David Beaty gave the job back to Peyton Bender following a bye and the midseason firing of former KU offensive coordinator Doug Meacham. But Bender, a senior in his second season with the Jayhawks, never looked fully comfortable until the latter stages of a 48-16 loss at Texas Tech a week ago.
Bender completed only 43.9 percent of his 41 passes in the defeat, a number so low that it landed in the neighborhood of arguably his two worst days as a KU QB, when he went 8 for 19 (42.1 percent) at Iowa State and 7 for 16 (43.8 percent) at TCU in back-to-back shutout blowouts in October of 2017.
Ahead of TCU playing in Lawrence, Beaty said the QB job would be determined at practices this week.
So only Beaty and those with whom he works closest know at this point which of KU’s three QBs — Bender, redshirt junior Carter Stanley or sophomore Miles Kendrick — impressed enough to earn the start against TCU.
“When we get open receivers in the Big 12, you can’t afford to miss those guys. You’ve got to make those throws,” Beaty said earlier this week.
With five games left in the season, KU still doesn’t have a definitive starting QB. If the Jayhawks want to nab a win or two before 2018 has come and gone, they had better land on one now.
2. Defense rising to ‘the moment’
Obviously KU’s offense didn’t give its defense much help at Texas Tech. Still, the Jayhawks’ defenders allowed 553 yards of total offense (second-most this season, behind 568 versus Oklahoma State).
KU particularly struggled against Tech QB Alan Bowman, who hit on 36 of his 46 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns, often exploiting in-air mismatches by connecting with Tech’s 6-foot-5-and-over receivers, Antoine Wesley and T.J. Vasher.
When asked to identify what other issues plagued KU’s defense at Tech, Beaty said the Jayhawks spoke this week about winning in what he repeatedly called “the moment of truth,” referring to 50-50 battles.
“When there’s a play to be made, that’s where we have to be able to step up and be able to provide ourselves with more than the opposing team does,” Beaty said.
Third down has proven to be a breaking point for KU’s defense this season. Through four Big 12 games, opponents are converting on almost half of their third downs (25 of 51). Texas Tech went 8 of 14.
“We let them get out of it,” Beaty said, “and we can’t do that.”
3. Pounce on takeaways
By Gary Patterson standards, TCU has struggled with protecting the football and winning the turnover margin this season. The Horned Frogs are 106-14 all-time under Patterson when coming out on top or finishing even in that category.
But this fall, TCU (3-4 overall, 1-3 Big 12) already has lost in turnover margin six times.
Not since the Frogs’ season opener versus Southern (plus-three) have they finished a game with more takeaways than giveaways. They’re minus-10 in turnover margin on the season and minus-nine against their conference opponents to date — Texas, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
Causing turnovers, of course, happens to be one of the KU defense’s specialties. With 12 interceptions from 10 different Jayhawks — junior safety Hasan Defense leads the way with three — Kansas ranks sixth in the nation in picks.
Add KU’s nine recovered fumbles — former Free State High standouts Joe Dineen and Bryce Torneden have secured two apiece — and the Jayhawks rank second nationally in both turnovers gained, with 21 (one behind Georgia Southern’s 22), and turnover margin, at plus-14 (also behind Georgia Southern, at plus-19).
Playing without receiver KaVontae Turpin (suspended) and QB Shawn Robinson (injured) for the first time this season, TCU’s offense could prove susceptible to mistakes. If that’s the case, KU’s defense must capitalize for the home team, nearly a 14-point underdog according to Las Vegas, to pull off an upset.
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/2018/sep/29/327423/
Pooka Williams vs. all comers
Since his first game in a Kansas uniform, in Week 2 at Central Michigan, running back Pooka Williams has embodied hope for the offense with his open field ability.
As opposing defenses quickly figured that out, though, it became difficult for Williams, a 5-10 true freshman from New Orleans, to consistently dominate.
Still, it’s obvious at this juncture of the season that KU needs a Williams-centric offense to maximize its potential. With 14 catches for 115 yards, Williams is the Jayhawks’ fifth-most productive receiver, as well as easily their best rusher (88 carries, 620 yards, four touchdowns).
“Pooka,” Beaty said, “I don’t know if I have the words for how well that guy’s played for us. Just phenomenal.”
As the season winds down the challenge for Beaty, who named himself offensive coordinator upon firing Meacham, will be involving Williams as much as possible.
The difficult task for the freshman back will be finding new ways to make game-breaking plays when everyone on the TCU defense will be gunning for him.
With TCU playing outside of the Texas state borders for the first time in 2018 and having lost four of its previous five games, this very well could be the most winnable game left on the schedule for a Kansas team that hasn’t won a conference game since 2016 — 14 Big 12 losses in a row.
The KU defense figures to enter the Jayhawks’ first home game in four weeks fired up and focused. But can the offense do the same and give the Jayhawks a chance?
A win against TCU could provide KU with the jolt it needs to compete the next couple of weeks, with matchups against Iowa State (3-3, 2-2) and at Kansas State (3-4, 1-3) ahead.
Yet another loss, however, could potentially prove demoralizing, even for the most resilient veterans on the roster.
KU ….. TCU
KU run D vs. TCU run game v
v KU pass D vs. TCU pass game
KU run game vs. TCU run D v
KU pass game vs. TCU pass D v
Special teams v
TCU 33, KU 17
TCU (3-2 overall, 1-1 Big 12) at Kansas (1-3 overall, 0-1 Big 12)
11 a.m. Saturday, Memorial Stadium • Game-time forecast: 58 degrees, sunny, 0% chance of rain • TV: ESPNU
Log on to KUsports.com for our live game blog and follow our coverage team on Twitter: @KUSports, @BentonASmith, @TomKeeganLJW, @mctait and @nightengalejr
1. Avoid yet another slow start
In three consecutive losses, Kansas has fallen behind early. It all began four weeks ago in the Jayhawks’ most recent home game. Ohio beat up KU early, led 15-0 in the first quarter and put Kansas in a 25-0 hole by the second quarter. The following week, in their road opener, the Jayhawks trailed 13-0 entering the second quarter and were behind by 19 before putting a score on the board. Last week at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders built a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the first quarter.
It’s time for the KU offense to give the team some sort of a boost early. Perhaps that’s one reason head coach David Beaty named sophomore quarterback Ryan Willis his new starter ahead of the TCU game. The offense repeatedly fell behind when QB Montell Cozart played the first few possessions during the three-game skid.
2. Get those running backs involved
Ke’aun Kinner, Khalil Herbert and Taylor Martin each have a rushing touchdown out of the KU backfield this season, but that’s about all that can be said of the team’s production running the ball. Every other team in the Big 12 has at least doubled the Jayhawks’ rushing TD total of three, and six of the conference’s 10 programs have reached double digits in that category, with TCU leading the way at 15. Even pass-happy Texas Tech, an offense Beaty and company aspire to resemble, has rushed for 10 touchdowns in four games. In rushing, Kansas ranks last in the league in yards per carry (3.3), yards per game (91.0) and attempts (109). KU has to find more ways to keep Kinner, Herbert and Martin involved, so at the very least opposing defenses can’t just sit back knowing a pass play is coming their direction.
3. Prove defense is team’s strength
The Kansas defense, of course, hasn’t played perfectly. But four games into the year Clint Bowen’s crew has given KU fans more to cheer about than the offense. With defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. (6.0 tackles for loss), linebacker Marcquis Roberts (5.5) and defensive tackle Daniel Wise (4.0) leading the charge, KU leads the Big 12 in tackles for loss per game (9.8). The front seven at times looks up to the challenge of battling a high-scoring offense and when the defense gets to third down it has the man power to make something happen. KU foes have converted just 20 of 61 third downs (32.8 percent), giving the unit the second-best mark in the Big 12, behind Kansas State’s 29.2 percent. TCU once again will be without dynamic receiver KaVontae Turpin (knee injury). KU’s defense needs to take the next step, and play to its potential for four quarters for the Jayhawks to have a shot at an upset victory.
TCU QB Kenny Hill vs. All 11 KU defenders
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/2016/oct/07/310834/
It will take every defensive lineman, linebacker and defensive back carrying out his individual assignment and executing Saturday for the Kansas defense to corral do-it-all TCU quarterback Kenny Hill. Sure, Hill averages 387.2 passing yards a game and threw five touchdown passes last week against Oklahoma in a shootout loss, but the junior also has rushed for six scores — putting him in a five-way tie for the Big 12 lead in that category with a group of running backs, including teammate Kyle Hicks.
Beaty, who successfully recruited Hill to Texas A & M when the KU coach worked there as an assistant, knows the QB, who played two seasons for the Aggies, well.
“He’s throwing the ball really well,” Beaty said of Hill, who has completed 64.7 percent of his passes and thrown for 11 scores. “He’s doing some really nice things in particular areas of the field and he can run. The dude can run with the ball. He can extend plays with his feet, and he’s got enough flexibility in his body that he can do a lot of what (Texas Tech QB Patrick) Mahomes did. He reminds me a lot of Pat.”
Last week versus Kansas, Mahomes accounted for 304 yards of total offense and four passing touchdowns before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury.
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/2016/aug/06/309672/
1. What do you feel like is the next step for you and the running back group to make this offense more productive?
“We can make the most out of our opportunities. I feel like if we make the most out of our opportunities when our number’s called, things will go better for us.”
2. Four games into your second season at Kansas, do you feel significantly more productive as an individual than you were ago?
“It’s too early to tell. You’ve gotta be ready at all times. I’m waiting. That one big run is gonna be the game-changer. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
3. When you recall all of your runs as a KU running back, do you have a favorite at this point?
“The run against Memphis (last season) when I broke a couple tackles on the sideline and then scored, stayed on my feet and scored. That’s probably one of the ones that really stands out to me.”
4. How capable are you and the other running backs of making an impact in the passing game within this Air Raid offense?
“We all can catch the ball and we all can do things with it when we get the ball in our hands. We’re really talented.”
5. With Ryan Willis being named the starting quarterback, is that a difficult process for everybody, because Montell Cozart is a captain and a popular leader on the team?
“Ryan has always been a ‘captain’ on the team, too. Even though he’s not named captain, he’s always had words to say. He’s always had an impact on the team. … Montell’s always gonna be a captain, and we all look up to Montell, but Ryan has that name, too. So there’s really not anything to adjust.”
Since Beaty’s arrival, the Jayhawks have done an incredible job of remaining positive despite all the losses — 0-12 last season, 1-3 start to 2016. Give the head coach credit for creating and maintaining that type of culture, because it can’t be easy. As KU continues its uphill climb toward respectability in the Big 12, the program at some point figures to get some stimulus in the form of an unexpected upset. It might not come this week, this month or even this season, but the players keep plugging away. If turning the offense over to Willis can invigorate Beaty’s Air Raid that would make the journey more bearable.
Kansas ….. TCU
KU run D vs. TCU run game v
KU pass D vs. TCU pass game v
KU run game vs. TCU run D v
KU pass game vs. TCU pass D v
Special teams v
