Kansas Jayhawks Football Predictions: vs Central Michigan Chippewas

The Kansas Jayhawks are set to welcome in the Central Michigan Chippewas for their second game of the season. CMU narrowly won a triple overtime game against Rhode Island while Kansas got a double-digit win against Southeast Missouri State in their opener. What does that mean for the game coming up on Saturday? Read through the thoughts of our staff, and then let us know what you think will happen in the game tomorrow below in the comments.

Mike.Plank: Comparative scores are fun, but it’s a dangerous game. In Week 1, several of us were looking for a repeat of the 2016 opener for various reasons, but mostly because A) KU is supposed to be better this year and B) the team we played had a similar profile to last year’s opening victim. Well, this Week 2 opponent is coming off a tough game (at home!) against last year’s one weak Week 1 opponent. (Homonyms are fun too.) Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I fell into the trap of comparative scoring, and I want you to learn from my mistakes. The questions we must ask ourselves include, can KU beat a lower to middle-tier MAC team at home? One that is starting a former five-star QB recruit who transferred in from Michigan? (One that barely beat Rhode Island last week? Dammit!) It’s hard to predict the Jayhawks to roll, but what the hell, I’m all about that Yolo life now. Kansas 45, Central Michigan 21.

dnoll5: No great analysis from me (as usual) but since the Time Warner Spectrum Cablevision disaster blacks out games in the only market that even remotely gives a crap about this team and wouldn’t allow me to watch it live, I’m really in the dark. But, people are saying that Bender is a real QB and Meacham is a real OC, so I’m going with a KU win based on no evidence. That said, it should be close since KU still has issues with catching kicks and putting the requisite number of men on the field at any given time. Kansas 32, CMU 31.

Fizzle406: I didn’t get the 40 point win I wanted last week. They made some decent plays but as a whole I am feeling pessimistic about KU’s chances this year. Here is my blazing hot prediction. Kansas loses to CMU. They lose next week on the road and maybe they get lucky enough to steal a conference win. I think we see another coaching search next year. CMU 35, Kansas 31

David: By most estimations, these are, unfortunately, two pretty evenly matched teams. The line made a quick shift in Kansas’ direction, and has been pretty stable since. Central Michigan averaged a terrible 4.8 yards/play against a bad Rhode Island team, while giving up an even more embarrassing 5.5 (and needed OT to get the win). But last year this team beat Oklahoma State, only to loose to a bad Virginia team by two touchdowns a couple weeks down the road. I don't know what to make of the Chippewas, and I'm still skeptical of this KU team. I'll go with the Jayhawks because of home field advantage. Kansas 31, Central Michigan 28

KU Grad 08: I think the game will be very similar to the last time we played CMU. It'll be fairly tight throughout, with KU icing it in the fourth quarter. It is time for KU to take a next step forward as a program and win a game like this. I think we'll cash in with a few big plays on offense and do just enough defensively. A late score by KU makes it look worse than it was. Kansas 34, CMU 24

Andy Mitts: Jeff Sagarin and the S&P rankings disagree as to which of these teams is better, but the one thing that seems pretty clear is that Kansas has some potential in this team that needs to come together before we can really be confident. I think this will start to happen in this game, and Kansas will pull away late. Oh, and Kansas will get at least one player on the PFF All-College Defense team for week 2. Probably from the group of Daniel Wise, Dorance Armstrong and Joe Dineen. Kansas 42, CMU 24.

Jakebogen95: I don’t believe this game is going to be as close as many may think. I think that Kansas is going to take the next step this season, that may not mean they necessarily are about to win the National title. However, I believe this is one of the games they win comfortably and start to set up some excitement for the future. I have the Jayhawks at about 5-to-6 wins this season. I think QB Peyton Bender is going to ride that momentum into this game and Kansas is going to get not only a nice showing from the offense, but I think future first-round pick Dorance Armstrong is going to break open this game. He had no trouble pressuring the QB last week, but he was unable to log in a sack. This week I believe he gets to the QB and causes chaos. Kansas 44, Central Michigan 24