Kansas vs. UTEP Team Analysis.

by Owen on Sep 8, 2009 7:15 AM CDT in Kansas Jayhawk Football

The Utep Miners are up this week and a trip to El Paso Texas for the Kansas Jayhawks. Last year the Miners were explosive on offense but gave up a lot on defense. Sounds familiar doesn't it? This one has the looks of a potential shootout in west Texas and the question is who can play more mistake free football and what team can show a more balanced attack. Eliminate one phase of the game whether that be the pass or the run and either team might be able to gain an advantage especially with the Miners playing this one in their backyard.

Why Kansas?	Edge	Scenario	Edge	Why UTEP?
Dezmon Briscoe returns to help bring along a passing attack to go side by side with a running game that nearly amassed a total greater than the sum of all four non-conference games last year. With a nearly 7 ypc avg. in it's first game the balance that the Jayhawks look to have made themselves an even more difficult matchup for any defense preparing for Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks.		KU Offense vs. UTEP's Defense		After a first half which saw a multitude of mistakes the Utep defense locked things down in the second half against Buffalo. The Miners actually feel pretty good about only allowing 21 offensive points to Buffalo with 7 of those coming on a very short field. Total they gave up only 309 yards with very little in the way of big plays. Therein lies there best chance against the Hawks. Keep things in front of you, force the Jayhawks into making a mistake and challenge their running game which the Miners were stingy in week one allowing only 3.6 ypc.
Week one left some holes still looking to be filled. Yes the Jayhawks played it pretty "vanilla" but there still wasn't any overwhelminly positive signs that the troubles of last year have been solved. The UTEP offense is solid and the Jayhawks will need to sure up the run defense with the front 7 and eliminate the mistakes in the secondary to avoid getting in a shootout.		KU Defense vs. UTEP's Offense		Only 17 points in week one but much of that was attributed to first game jitters in penalties with 12 for 101 yards including two that brought back touchdowns. The Miners bring a balanced attack to this one with a 100 yard rusher to go along with a solid passing game. This offense was good last year and they'll look to get this one up and down against the Hawks. Exploit our linebackers and the apparent weakness at the #2 corner spot and the Jayhawks offense might be looking to outscore a tough opponent on their home turf.
Still early for this one but in week one Jacob Branstetter showed a little more leg, Rojas was solid in placing punts and the kick return game looked much improved. Add a little to the punt return game and the Jayhawks should be back in a postion of strength with special teams.		Special Teams		Week one for the Miners on special teams was average. The punting game and return games were both serviceable but the kicking game struggles. 1/2 in field goals and they gave up an average of 34 yards per kick return which means you are losing the field position battle in a big way.
Take what they give you. That was the message in week one. The Jayhawk staff is committed to and confident in a more balanced attack than last year. Improve the defense and this staff is on the right track. Last week there weren't any major mental errors to speak of so you'd have to give the edge to the Jayhawks in this one in terms of coaching		Coaching		The mental errors in week 1 aren't necessarily the sign of a well coached team. I do think this is a good staff but nonetheless they would need to be better prepared and able to beat a Buffalo team that flew across the country for an opening week game.

So there you have it. Kansas hasn't yet shown anyone definitively that this defense is better than the 2008 version that left many praying in high scoring shootouts all season long. This one has the makings of that but I do think the Kansas coaching staff might just be able to prove me wrong bringing a few more wrinkles to the defensive side than they did in game one. Between that and a major advantage in the running game and an potential edge in special teams the Jayhawks should pull this one out, but it may not be as easy as we'd all like.

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Comments

Say what you want about UTEP's strengths and weaknesses but

at the end of the day, they still lost to frickin’ Buffalo. At home. Buffalo, historic bottom-ten dwellar.

I don’t know how that impacts our game with them. Our they pissed off and looking to prove something? Or are the down and flat?

Personally, I think they’ll be pissed off. But Dez Briscoe will be too. And he’ll be looking to make up two games worth of stats in one.

As far as our D, we’ll show a bit more wrinkles in the pass rush and having two solid D lineman back into the rotation (Greene and Wheeler) will have an impact.

Sawin' wood

by Rivethead on Sep 8, 2009 7:31 AM CDT reply actions

Not so fast my friend...

a few things of note about Buffalo

- Turner Gill, one of the hottest names in college coaching. As much as people say black coaches get a fair shake, my guess is if Gill was white…he might be at Nebraska already or even Auburn. Both schools had him on their final list.

- 2008 Mac Champions

- 8-5 Regular season record in ’08 and an international bowl appearance.

Is Buffalo great? No, but they aren’t half bad anymore either.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Sep 8, 2009 8:14 AM CDT up reply actions

took the words out of my mouth

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably propaganda.

by labbadabba on Sep 8, 2009 8:14 AM CDT up reply actions

I know all about Buffalo and the turn around...

And who isn’t a fan of Coach Gill and the work he’s done there?

But still…….it’s Buffalo and the game was in El Paso.

UTEP
DUKE
CU
OU

All teams on KU’s schedule. All teams that got upset in week #1. Interesting.

Sawin' wood

by Rivethead on Sep 8, 2009 9:14 AM CDT up reply actions

Upset or just beat?

Sure, OU is an upset, but don’t often hear the word ‘upset’ used in conjunction with Duke football. Not sure what to make of Colo St. knocking off CU in Boulder just yet. CU did choke one away to Montana St at home in a season opener a couple of years back.

Nonetheless, agreed – interesting.

by JayhawkTom on Sep 8, 2009 9:30 AM CDT up reply actions

CU is 60-20 all-time against CSU.

That was technically an upset on Sunday, but poor coaching ultimately cost CU. Duke lost to the FCS champs. Not an upset at all.

UTEP didn’t look good in their debut, but rest assured, they will put up a ton of yards on our defense. Fortunately the KU offense can do much more damage.

by jayhawk79 on Sep 8, 2009 3:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Sure.

But they were INCREDIBLY lucky with turnovers last season. They would be lucky to make a bowl this year.

They aren’t that good.

We would probably beat Buffalo by 21 points. We should beat UTEP by at least that much.

Not saying we will. But it is definitely a possibility.

by rockchalk on Sep 8, 2009 5:41 PM CDT up reply actions

Very excited for this game.

I was pretty pumped for the first game of the year last week. But I was more excited about CFB being back than anything else. I knew that a weak opponent would not tell us a whole lot about our team. We saw some stuff, but in reality, we don’t know a whole lot about many areas.

This week, however, will tell us a lot more. UTEP is no powerhouse, but I bet they could compete with the bottom of the Big 12? Add in the fact that it’s a road game and I’m realllllly excited to see how we play.

Biggest questions for me this week:

Offense: Only one. What is the balance like with the running and passing game. To me, it doesn’t really matter as long as we are getting the job done. But I will be interested to see how UTEP plays us. Are they going to challenge us to keep running the ball or will they play a more straight up D? How we do in that regard will be interesting to watch.

Defense: Everything. We still don’t really know much about the D after Week 1. I have a feeling we’ll have a better grasp after this week. This is an offense that we know can at least move the ball some. They will surely be jacked up for a ranked opponent coming in so we could get an inspired team. Do we get a pass rush? How do the corners play? Are our linebackers a factor?

I look for this week to be a much better indicator of where this team is in the early going.

by I need more Esteban on Sep 8, 2009 9:27 AM CDT reply actions

Good thoughts -

I don’t know how much of a pass rush UTEP has but I’d like to see our line tested a bit more. We were able to out-athlete UNoCo’s D-Line last week and make up for our size. I wonder if we’ll be able to do that down the road.

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably propaganda.

by labbadabba on Sep 8, 2009 9:59 AM CDT up reply actions

If I'm Coach Price

After watching our video I am constantly throwing to the side opposite Daymond Patterson. The Jayhawks need someone step up to the CB position in this game. If Harris and Stuckey are making too many tackles our LB corps is not doing the job. Speaking of Stuckey, will we even see him this week?

by eastcoasthawk on Sep 8, 2009 10:18 AM CDT reply actions

Why wouldn't we see Stuckey???

Yeah, that was a pretty horrible “debut” for Anthony Davis. I’m still going to chalk it up to first start jitters, though. If the coaching staff thinks he is the 2nd best for the job, then I will trust them (for now).

by I need more Esteban on Sep 8, 2009 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions

Heard he was injured. And I didn’t expect HCMM to discuss it with the press.

by eastcoasthawk on Sep 8, 2009 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions

Can’t remember where I heard it now but hopefully he was just dinged up.

by eastcoasthawk on Sep 8, 2009 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions

wow

didn’t hear about that, hope that isn’t true

by I need more Esteban on Sep 8, 2009 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions

he did get dinged up...

late and didn’t return but I don’t know if that was because it was serious or because it wasn’t necessary to put him back in. I seem to recall hearing it wasn’t anything too bad, so I’m optimistic we won’t be without him.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Sep 8, 2009 11:13 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah.

I just heard that he left the field holding his shoulder.

I wasn’t watching, and absolutely nothing has been reported, so that’s all I can tell you.

I bet it’s a non-issue, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on. I would imagine that STrozier would step in to back up Stuckey, which isn’t terrible. Lubbock Smith is listed as the backup, but I’d still guess Strozier. I don’t know, though.

by rockchalk on Sep 8, 2009 5:44 PM CDT up reply actions