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University of Kansas head football coach David Beaty, who is in his fourth season at the helm, enters the 2018 season with his most experienced team yet.
Kansas, which had eight seniors on its roster last year, has 25 seniors on its 2018 team. Those 25 seniors have recorded 235 career FBS starts, including 186 starts with the Jayhawks. Daniel Wise led the team with 30 career starts.
In the season opener, Kansas is set to play host to Nicholls State at 6 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcasted on 38 the Spot, and is available via streaming at ESPN+.
“They are loaded,” Beaty said of the FCS foe. “This is not going to be an easy ballgame for us. It wouldn’t be an easy ballgame for anyone. They are a talented football team.”
The Jayhawks, who are 3-33 in the last three years, cruised to a 38-16 victory over Southeast Missouri State in the 2017 season opener. It was the team’s lone victory last season, as Kansas enters Saturday on an 11-game losing streak.
Saturday marks the first meeting between these two schools. Nicholls State is ranked No. 17 in the FCS preseason poll. The Colonels have not beaten an FBS team since 2013, though their previous three matches have been decided in the fourth quarter or overtime.
**BREAKING DOWN NICHOLLS STATE:**
**OFFENSE**
**Quarterback**
Junior quarterback Chase Fourcade has started in 22 of 23 games over the previous two seasons for Nicholls State. Fourcade ranks third on the program’s all-time passing list with 4,798 yards, posting a pair of 2,000-yard campaigns. He’s only the second player in team history to record two different 2,000-yard seasons, which now rank third and seventh for most passing yards in a year.
**Running backs**
The Colonels will have a familiar face in the backfield, as Kyran Irvin returns for his junior season after leading the team with 764 rushing yards and eight scores in 2017. Irvin ranked second in the Southland Conference with 76.4 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry, accumulating more than 100 yards in three different games. Dontrell Taylor, who was second on the team with 464 yards and four touchdowns, is back for his junior season. Junior Kendall Bussey also transferred in from Texas A&M, and is expected to be involved in the running game.
**Receivers**
Damion Jeanpiere Jr. will lead a talented receiving unit, as he paced the group with 770 receiving yards last season. Jeanpiere ranked 16th in the FCS in yards per catch (19.3), and is sixth on the team’s all-time career receiving list with 1,474 yards. Dai’Jean Dixon caught 23 balls for 489 yards last fall, which ranked second on the team. Dixon was one of two true freshman to play in 2017. Gabe Fuselier spent three seasons with UL-Lafayette, recording 75 catches for 705 yards.
**Offensive line**
Last season, this offense boasted the second-highest rushing average in the SLC with a clip of 200.2 yards per game. The line paved the way for seven 100-yard rushing performances by four different players. In addition, the offensive line only allowed 21 sacks all season. Chandler Arceneaux (RT), and Ryan Hanley (Center) were voted on the preseason All-SLC first team. Eddie Houston, who plays left tackles, earned a second-team nomination.
**DEFENSE**
**Defensive line**
Sully Laiche and Kenny Dotson were both named to the preseason All-Southland first team. Laiche, a two-year starter, has 17 sacks in his first two seasons. He ranked 12th in the FCS as a freshman with 9.5 sacks. Dotson, meanwhile, has recorded 12 sacks in three seasons as a starting defensive end. Devin Simoneaux, Tyler Johnson and Ronald Ollie are also expected to contribute on the defensive line in 2018.
**Linebackers**
Hezekiah White, a fifth-year senior, is one the most experienced players for Nicholls State. White, who has made 32 career starts, is a preseason first-team selection in the SLC. Last season, he ranked fourth in tackles with 54. Allen Pittman has paced the team in tackles twice, recording 80 last year and 95 in 2016. Evan Veron, Adrian Richardson and Laryon James should also be involved in the linebacker unit this weekend.
**Secondary**
Ahmani Martin, a three-year starter, will lead a skilled secondary. Martin has logged 32 starts at safety, and finished with 61 tackles last season to earn a second-team nomination in the Southland Conference. Corey Abraham will also play safety after finishing with 79 tackles in 2017. Jonavon Lewis, Darren Evans, Darryl Adams Jr., and Khristian Mims will all see plenty of reps back there as well this weekend.
**SPECIAL TEAMS**
Kicker Lorran Fonseca set a program single-season record with 19 field goals last season, including five in a single game. He ranked first in the FCS with 1.58 field goals per game and fourth in touchbacks with 36. Stefano Guarisco returned nine kickoffs for 145 yards in 2017.
**FUN FACT**
Kendall Bussey, who transferred to Nicholls State from Texas A&M, is set to make his debut Saturday. Bussey actually faced the Colonels last season, scoring the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. It marked Bussey’s only touchdown in two seasons with the Aggies.
**VEGAS SAYS…**
Oddsmakers don’t set betting lines for FBS teams playing FCS teams, of course. This game will be a close one, though, and I would set the line at Kansas -7.5, if I had the power to do so.
Nicholls State is no joke, and Beaty has said as such. This team went down to the wire with Texas A&M last season and lost by just two points to Georgia in 2016. The Colonels will not be intimidated by Memorial Stadium, and I believe the margin of victory will be by single digits.
Give me Nicholls State in this hypothetical line, but I think Kansas wins by a touchdown in a 30-23 contest.
