Kansas football: Former Jayhawk Khalil Herbert tearing it up in the ACC

Former Kansas football running back Khalil Herbert is off to a great start at Virginia Tech, running through ACC defense like they aren’t even there.

Anyone that’s followed Kansas football over the past few years knows what Khalil Herbert is capable of. Just last season with the Jayhawks, Herbert helped lead Kansas to their road win over Boston College with 187 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries.

After only getting seven attempts the following game, Herbert decided that he would redshirt the season and transfer from Kansas after four games in 2019. It’s understandable, given the fact that Herbert was putting up big numbers and still playing behind all-conference running back Pooka Williams.

Now that the ACC is a couple of games into this season, it looks like Herbert’s decision has paid off. With Virginia Tech, Herbert put up 104 yards and a touchdown with just six carries in his first game as a Hokie. The following week, Herbert was given 20 attempts and he exploded for 208 yards and two touchdowns against Duke. Herbert even set a Virginia Tech single-game record, racking up 358 all-purpose yards in the win over the Blue Devils.

No. 19 Virginia Tech is off to a 2-0 start this season, and a big reason why is the play of Khalil Herbert. He should be a lot of fun to watch the rest of this season, and it’ll be interesting to see how far the Hokies can go. They do play on the road next week against No. 8 North Carolina, so keep an eye on Herbert and Va Tech as they play their toughest game yet this season.

It’s great that Herbert is succeeding, but one has to wonder why he didn’t get more opportunities at Kansas especially since he proved that he was a great back last season. The obvious answer is because Pooka Williams, but letting a guy like Khalil Herbert walk out the door seems like a significant blunder by the coaching staff.