How the Jayhawks Football Season Should Have Played Out

In an attempt to provide some aspect of fun related to Kansas football, I decided to utilize one of my few free weekends in medical school to dive into what the Jayhawks season should have looked like. I fired up the XBox360, placed NCAA Football 11 into the drive, and started up a dynasty with our beloved Hawks.

Throughout the season, I used my iPhone to capture pictures of the various statistical implications of each game. They may be a little blurry, or a little dark, at times, but they should provide both proof and a look into how this team could play.

A few stipulations to mention:

1. I played this season on All-American difficulty. Could I have put up 100 points on teams on Varsity? Yes, but I wanted some semblance of reality. Also, could I have played on Heisman and won all the games? Probably. But I'm in med school and I have enough on my hands than putting everything into a video game. I wanted some fun.

2. I did not use the Kansas playbook. The one that the game provides Kansas is pretty spot on to real life. A lot of single-back ace and pro sets, with some Shotgun formations thrown in. Personally, I like running the ball as much as anyone (as you will see), but I love me some five-wide formations and a good ol' fun and gun offense. So, I used the Missouri *gasp* playbook. Pretty much all shotgun and a few versions of an ace formation.

3. NCAA Football 11 allows you to edit a roster and upload it for other people to download. Since I don't have the hours upon hours that it takes to rename all the players correctly, I found a good roster on OperationSports.com and used it as the rosters for my dynasty. You will see that all the correct players are listed.

4. The only depth chart change that I made (the rosters I used were pretty spot on) was putting James Sims as the starting running back. Everything else was pretty solid (including Huldon Tharp being on the IR).

5. I took pictures for every game except the first one. I didn't decide to do it until after that week. I apologize.

So, with those quid pro quos in mind, let's take a look at how the Jayhawks should have performed in the 2010 season.

Week 1 - (0-0) - North Dakota State

Week 1 saw the Jayhawks start off with a solid win against what, in real life, was the North Dakota State Bison. A 36-0 drubbing got Kansas off to a good start and Turner Gill notched his first victory as the coach of a BCS conference team.

Again, I didn't document anything from game one. It was a pretty boring game, but the defense was solid. So, moving on...

Week 2 - (1-0) - Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech mustered a feeble 23 yards rushing. Paul Johnson is ashamed of himself. Meanwhile, James Sim started his season with a wonderful day leading to three scores. The Jayhawks defense can absolutely murder the offense that likes to run the ball.

Week 3 - (2-0) - Southern Mississippi

Kansas won the game with solid time management. The talent level was slightly in the Golden Eagles' favor against the young Jayhawks defense. Southern Mississippi actually outgained Kansas in terms of total yards, but this truly was a bend-but-don't-break sort of win for the defense. Jordan Webb didn't do too much, but at least he didn't make any mistakes.

The toughest teams to beat in NCAA 11 are spread passing teams. Guys get open over the middle against you all the time. The only remedy is speed. Unfortunately, KU doesn't have much in terms of speed on defense. It's all about getting pressure on the quarterback to throw earlier than he wants to.

Week 4 - (3-0) - New Mexico State

The Jayhawks headed into the bye week with an absolute drubbing on their hands. Seven offensive touchdowns and six sacks (four coming from Sellers). The Aggies gained more yards from the sheer number of kick returns they had than their offense gained.

Week 5 - (4-0) - Baylor

Robert Griffin is absolutely ridiculous in video game form. While the Jayhawks were able to stop his running ability (15 total yards rushing), he launched bombs all over the place against an outmatched defense. Fortunately, Kansas was able to get a few stops and the juggernaut Jayhawk offense put up some serious points in the second half after a Turner Gill 'swagger' speech. James Sims continues his dominance and there has been talk of a dark horse Heisman candidacy, albeit in the Daily Kansan.

Week 6 - (5-0 [1-0]) - Bye

Week off. Time to gear up for some truly brutal conference play.

Week 7 - (5-0 [1-0]) - Kansas State

The night before the Sunflower Showdown, James Sims had a dream. He dreamed that the key to beating the Wildcats was to run the ball. The next morning he awoke in a stammer and rushed to coach Gill. Turner, being the kind of man to let young men lead the way when inspired, decided to scrap the spread passing game and switch to a singleback formation that would emphasize the run.

In doing so, the Jayhawks held the ball for nearly twice the amount of time Kansas State did. James Sims got the ball 40+ times on his way to 300+ yards and six touchdowns. Inspiration, indeed.

The Daily Kansan has turned into a magazine of Flattop Features. Flattop's Playlists. Flattop's Recipes. Flattop's Favorite Roadtrips. James Sims is on his way to both fame and glory (and free food from anywhere on Mass Street).

Week 8 - (6-0 [2-0]) - Texas A&M

Turner Gill is finding he has more time to recruit these days. After another solid victory against the second 'Aggie' team the Jayhawks have faced this year, the head coach is tweeting more often, as well.

Once again, Jordan Webb is managing the team in an efficient fashion, while James Sims adds touchdowns to his total like Lew Perkins adds money to his bank account.

Professors at KU are giving extra credit points to any student wearing a flattop at the time of an exam. The Daily Kansan readership has exploded after they announced a contest awarding the winner a trip to go with Sims to his next barbershop appointment.

Week 9 - (7-0[3-0]) - Iowa State

Turner Gill admitted in the press conference after the game that, although they soundly beat the Cyclones, he was a little disappointed with his team's effort. Using 'from that standpoint' nearly twenty times, it was clear to the press that he was going to let his team have it in the upcoming week's practices. It has been speculated that the team will be running a full fifteen minutes earlier than normal as punishment. Gill says that his methods will certainly get the point across.

Meanwhile, Bernadette Gray-Littlle, chancellor of KU, has executed an administrative ban on all things James Sims related after he only reached the endzone two times on Saturday. Students have shaved their heads in the hopes of ridding all the bad memories.

Week 10 - (8-0[4-0]) - Colorado

Head Coach Turner Gill sat in the press conference with an aura of absolute anger. He wore his hat backwards, he had sunglasses on inside. Other than that, he answered every question as normal. He lauded the offense, but said the defense has a lot to prove to him over the next few weeks.

Jordan Webb had a full bowl of Wheaties before the game, and he attributed his stellar performance to his breakfast.

Meanwhile, James Sims wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Kansan and pleaded with the campus to forgive him for his grievances. He promised to amend his status among his peers.

Week 11 - (9-0[5-0]) - Nebraska

Defensive Coordinator Torbush earned his paycheck in this game, holding Nebraska to a single yard rushing and 63 yards passing. In keeping with the fantastic performance of the defense in this game, the entire coaching staff responded to each question of the press conference by asking the question back to the reporters.

When asked what he thought about beating a top ten ranked team on the road, Turner Gill responded by asking, 'I don't know. What do you think of us beating a top ten ranked team on the road?' With smirks on their faces, the Jayhawks left Lincoln undefeated and with an ugly win in their pockets.

The James Sims watch was suspended as every account understood that this was a defensive game in the cold. 'We could see our breath out there. I couldn't feel my hands. No one was going to score much in this game, even if it was Barry effing Sanders.'

Really, the weather plays a large role in this game. Snow, rain, and cold all make for a difficult time passing and for holding on to the ball. I find it pretty realistic, to be honest.

Week 12 - (10-0[6-0]) - Oklahoma State

'If there is anyone on this earth that knows how to play football in the snow, it's me,' said Coach Turner Gill after his Jayhawks drubbed the Cowboys on a white field in Lawrence. 'I coached in Buffalo. 36 inch storms are a common occurrence.'

Torbush continued his defensive clinic. His players are 'getting the hang of it.'

Jame Sims scored five times to start the bandwagon back up. 'Its really nice to see all the flattops around campus again. I got tired of being the only one. It's difficult to explain to people that my hair does this naturally. People don't believe me. I finally feel like I'm normal again!'

Week 13 - (11-0[7-0]) - Missouri

After an impressive win against the Tigers, the Jayhawks are heading to the Big 12 Championship!

Coach Gill was laughing as he walked off the field. 'They were slipping all over the place. Blaine Gabbert was getting all sorts of preseason recognition and we picked him off five times in this game! He was sacked close to seven times! Jordan Webb showed him up. He and James Sims we telepathically communicating out there. You think I'm kidding!'

Bernadette Gray-Little has renounced her ban of James Sims-related paraphernalia. He was a one man wrecking crew in this game and Gary Pinkel had no answer for him.

Jayhawk basketball players have been recorded on Facebook and Twitter stating that they wish they could represent half the flattop of James Sims.

Week 14 - (12-0[8-0]) - Bye

Week 15 - (12-0[8-0]) - Bye

Heading into the conference championship week, here is what the polls look like at the top:

Finally some respect!

And this is what the conference standings for the Big 12 look like:

Week 15 - (12-0[8-0]) - Oklahoma [Big 12 Championship]

DeMarco Murray is a beast. An absolute mean SOB. He single-handedly kept the Sooners in this game.

Unfortunately for him, Jordan Webb and James Sims exist. James Sims is more of a beast. He's a meaner SOB.

For some reason, I didn't get the passing stats for this game. My bad.

We're going to Arizona!

Awards

James Sims is the king of the world. Chuck Norris, after hearing of Sims' exploits, went and got a tattoo of the flattopped wonder. All the world shall Fear the Flattop!

And Turner Gill gets some hardware too.

BCS National Championship

Going into the bowls, this is what the BCS standings looked like:

But, on to the battlefield of the national championship where glory is won forever!

Gotta love the pageantry.

And the Alabama fans that were hoodwinked into thinking they stood a chance!

Here come your Kansas Jayhawks!

But just as soon as it's started.... the game is over.

An OVERTIME thriller.

McElroy is going to have nightmares of Tyrone Sellers for weeks.

The player of the game (and season).

Jordan Webb got an advance copy of the Daily Kansan!

That was one hell of a game. One of the most intense I've played in a long while.

Season Statistics

Well, the Jayhawks were quite stellar in all aspects of the game. Take a look:

And Just for Some National Perspective

Record Setting

Look What a Good Season Can Do For You These Days

Rest of the Bowl Results

And the Final Polls

And that was that...

Thank you for your time.