Kansas football vs. TCU Preview: Jayhawks will look to improve from last week

Both Kansas football and TCU are coming off home losses in week four, so how will the two teams look this week when they face off in Fort Worth?

LAST WEEK

Kansas football dropped their first conference game of the season to West Virginia 24-29 in Lawrence. The Jayhawks didn’t play bad though. As a matter of fact, there were a lot of good moments. Ultimately, the Kansas defense was on the field for the majority of the game, which isn’t a recipe for success. The Jayhawks also struggled on the ground, picking up 142 yards on the ground compared to 329 yards the week before.

The Kansas air attack was probably the brightest point for the Jayhawks. Carter Stanley was 19/25 for 275 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Reciever Andrew Parchment was on a mission, with five receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Parchment was awarded the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award for his performance.

READ MORE: Kansas football: Four positive takeaways from Saturday’s loss

The Horned Frogs took on the SMU Mustangs last week at home and fell 38-41. TCU put up 424 yards of total offense but struggled to hold onto the football with three fumbles. Quarterback Max Duggan was 16/36 for 188 yards and three touchdowns, while Darius Anderson led the Horned Frogs ground game with 161 yards and two touchdowns.

Junior linebacker Garret Wallow was a monster on defense for TCU, picking up 19 total tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and also an assisted on a sack. Wallow was part of 25% of tackles made by TCU against SMU.

THIS WEEK

TCU opened as a 20 point favorite over Kansas; however, that line has dropped down to 16 points. Similar to last week, Vegas seems to not have much faith in Kansas. It’ll be interesting to see how the line continues to move throughout the week.

This week, Kansas will need to continue to improve. The offense has certainly gotten better, but getting all facets of the offense going has been a challenge this season for the Jayhawks. We’ve seen what Kansas football is capable of against Boston College, and that kind of production both on offense and defense should be the goal every week.

On defense, stopping running back Darius Anderson will be Kansas’ number one priority. He’s already rushed for over 160 yards twice this season, so whether or not Kansas can contain Anderson may be the tipping point in this game.

NOTABLE INJURIES

Jayhawks leading tackler Dru Prox will be questionable for this week after sustaining an undisclosed injury from last week.

TCU receiver TreVontae Hights is also listed as questionable for this week after a leg injury. Hights leads the Horned Frogs in receiving yards with 108 on eight receptions.

PREDICTION

This will be a tough one for Kansas to win. Finding a way to contain Anderson and force TCU to put the ball in the air will probably be the Jayhawks best bet. Duggan is only completing about 50% of his passes; however, he still hasn’t thrown an interception.

The Kansas defense has to create turnovers for this team to win, so forcing TCU to fumble as SMU did or capitalizing on Duggan’s inaccuracy will also play a role in the Jayhawks’ success.

On the offensive side of the ball, Kansas should emphasize a mistake-free game void of fumbles or interceptions. Carter Stanley is getting better, but learning when to scramble or throw the ball away is still an issue. Improvement is the name of the game for the Kansas offense this week.

Final Prediction: Kansas-24 TCU-35