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Yesterday, Kyle brought us reasons for optimism. Go ahead, raise your hand if you drank the kool aid like Kyle did.
Bueller?
Bueller?
Yeah, me either. But for those of you who aren’t admitting that you’re thinking, “Hey, maybe there’s a chance,” let me go ahead and set you straight. The smart money is on KU under three wins, and here’s why.
Coaching
So many ways to go with this. First of all, the staff as a whole can’t figure out who their best quarterback is. If we go through another season of jumping back and forth between Peyton Bender and Carter Stanley, 2018 is going to look an awful lot like 2017.
Additionally, the head coach struggles with clock management. The players commit dumb penalties, which shows a lack of discipline, i.e. coaching. Yeah, these are all generalizations, but if you want specific examples, all you have to do is go watch a game. Any game, pick a game, it won’t matter.
I suppose I will give one example. Last year, Kansas had the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year in Dorance Armstrong. Apparently, coaches thought it was because of his superior run stopping ability, because that’s what they asked him to do in 2017. While he still made a lot of tackles, his sack numbers and TFLs plummeted, and Armstrong went from a projected 1st or 2nd Round NFL Draft pick to the 4th Round.
Offensive Line
After doing things like this, I don’t even know what to say. The Jayhawks have a new offensive line coach this year in Missouri alum AJ Ricker, but hiring graduates of rival schools hasn’t exactly worked out well in the past. What we do know is that under Beaty, the line has consistently struggled to generate push in the run game and protect the passer in the pass game.
The Schedule
Let’s face it, in comparison to its talent level, Kansas has one of the toughest schedules in the country. Its FCS foe finished in the top 25 last year and took Texas A&M to the wire. Central Michigan waxed the Jayhawks in Lawrence, and this year KU has to travel to Mount Pleasant. And while they’ve been down, Rutgers won four games last year, including two Big 10 games (Maryland, Purdue), and are improving under their third-year head coach (gee, I wonder what that’s like.)
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What did I miss? Are there any other specific reasons you’re pessimistic about the 2018 season?