Kansas football vs. Texas Preview: Jayhawks can upset Longhorns

With Kansas football coming off a bye week and #15 Texas coming off a Red River Rivalry loss, what can fans expect when the Jayhawks face the Longhorns in Texas?

LAST WEEK

The big storyline for Kansas football over their bye week was Les Miles firing offensive coordinator Les Koenning and replacing him with RPO expert Brent Dearmon. The switch seemed to be pretty well received both by the team and in the media, as shown by last week’s episode of Miles to Go on ESPN+.

Dearmon had two weeks to get the Jayhawks prepared for Texas, but don’t expect a seismic shift in the Kansas offense. While improvement can be expected, it probably won’t be an overnight process for Dearmon and the Kansas offense.

READ MORE: Will Brent Dearmon’s offense work for the Jayhawks?

Texas got beat 34-27 by archrival Oklahoma last week in the Cotton Bowl. While a seven-point loss to a national championship-contending team doesn’t sound too bad, the game wasn’t really that close in terms of statistics.

On offense, the Sooners put up 511 total yards compared to the Longhorns’ 310. Texas also couldn’t stop the Oklahoma pass rush which totaled nine sacks on the day. The Sooners basically led every major statistical category other than turnovers. Texas forced a Jalen Hurts interception and fumble.

THIS WEEK

Texas opened this week as a 23.5 point favorite over Kansas football. As the week has progressed, the line has shifted in favor of the Jayhawks. So far the line has shifted 1.5 points as Kansas will once again hit the road as an underdog.

The Jayhawks will have to do their best this week to contain Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who rushed for two touchdowns last week against Oklahoma. The Kansas front-seven should make it their mission to get lots of pressure on Ehlinger and keep him inside the pocket. It won’t be easy, but Texas has already shown that they are susceptible to blitzes.

On the offensive side of the ball, it’ll be interesting to see what all Brent Dearmon cooks up for the Longhorn defense that has forced six turnovers in their past two games. Whether or not running back Pooka Williams gets going this week will have a huge impact on the amount of success Kansas will have.

If Dearmon can get Williams and receiver Andrew Parchment out in space, the Jayhawks might have a fighting chance this week. Senior quarterback Carter Stanley will also have to be sharp this week as the Texas defense forced four interceptions against West Virginia two weeks ago. Kansas won’t have a prayer if anything close to that happens.

NOTABLE INJURIES/SUSPENSIONS

Kansas football will once again be without linebacker Dru Prox, who led the team in tackles before injuring his shoulder. At this point, it may make more sense for Prox to redshirt this season, as he’s only played in three games this season.

Texas will be without defensive end Malcolm Roach for the first half due to a targeting penalty against Oklahoma. The Longhorns will also be missing DB Chris Brown who is out indefinitely.

PREDICTION

Kansas football will have to play a nearly perfect game to beat Texas on the road, but it can be done. At the end of the day though, it’s still a highly unlikely outcome. Kansas football fans will get a taste of Brent Dearmon’s offensive style, as the new offensive coordinator gets his chance to lead a power-five conference offense.

It wouldn’t be surprising if this was a low scoring game, as Texas didn’t score a touchdown against Oklahoma last week until the third quarter. At the end of the day, Texas will probably win the game, but the Jayhawks can lay a foundation for the rest of this season.

If Dearmon can get his offense fine-tuned after this game, the Jayhawks will have some legitimate chances for wins against Texas Tech and Kansas State in the coming weeks.

Final Prediction: Kansas-23, Texas-38