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 |
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| National | Conf | Actual | Category | Actual | Conf | National | |
| Advantage | Rank | Rank | Rank | Rank | |||
| Kansas | 7 |
301.00 |
Rushing Offense | 289 |
9 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 89 | 146 |
Passing Offense | 220 |
61 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 39 |
447 |
Total Offense | 509 |
14 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 27 |
42 |
Scoring Offense | 49 |
15 |
||
| Kansas | 38 |
95 |
Rushing Defense | 303 |
110 | ||
| Northern Ill. | 93 |
158.28 | Pass Efficiency Defense | 107.58 |
47 | ||
| Northern Ill. | 84 |
420 | Total Defense | 409 | 79 |
||
| Kansas | 66 |
24 |
Scoring Defense | 26 |
71 |
||
| Kansas | 11 |
45 |
Net Punting | 37 | 60 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 84 |
0 |
Punt Returns | 13 |
25 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 92 |
17.2 |
Kickoff Returns | 19.5 |
72 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 28 |
1(?) |
Turnover Margin | 1 |
28 |
||
| Northern Ill. | 100 |
325 |
Pass Defense | 106 |
14 |
||
| Kansas | 2 |
291.64 |
Passing Efficiency | 199.92 | 11 |
||
| Kansas |
24 |
3 |
Sacks | 1 | 67 |
||
| Kansas | 8 |
10 |
Tackles For Loss | 8 |
22 |
||
| Kansas |
28 |
1 |
Sacks Allowed | 1 |
28 |
||
Northern Illinois probably has the overall advantage from a numbers standpoint but it is a one game sample and they definitely had Army in a situation where they really can't compete. The boys from West Point don't have a lot going for them when they are down and things tend to snowball.
At the same time Kansas played an FCS opponent so we have to take that with a grain of salt as well. That said, it sure is refreshing to see some oft those numbers and rankings reflect such a sharp turnaround from a year ago. I can't place the Kansas forced turnover at the moment in my head so I gave the nod to NIU on that one.
Overall it's great to see the ground game ranked so high. Even thought the yardage is pretty average the passing game does check in at a very high efficiency and the two combined is exactly the formula that is going to win Kansas football games. Throw in the positive signs on defense in terms of sacks, tackles for a loss and defending the run and things don't look half bad. There is definitely work to be done in terms of the pass defense but all in all this is a MUCH better picture than this time a year ago.