Kansas football: Jayhawks need to improve the ground attack vs. WVU

Kansas football focused on their rushing attack last week and only scratched the surface. The game vs. West Virginia will require more on the ground from Kansas this week.

Kansas football is in an uneasy spot this week.  The Jayhawks have been skeptical of head coach Les Miles’ presence on Saturday, but he is scheduled to make the trip this weekend. With this being said, the Jayhawks should be looking to tackle some of the challenges the Mountaineers are going to pose this week.

The Jayhawks will be on the road to West Virginia this week, where they will be put to the test by another one of the Big 12’s top defenses. Kansas has struggled offensively to find any traction in the air. Junior quarterback Miles Kendrick has been named the starter for this week, and hopefully we can anticipate some improvements from him out of the pocket.

Despite the clear talent in senior receivers Stephon Robinson and Kwamie Lassiter II, the Jayhawks will have to focus on punching holes in the West Virginia defensive line.

The obvious course of action for Kansas should be to utilize both Pooka Williams Jr. and Velton Gardner as much as possible. This rotation showed signs of promise against Coastal Carolina, and even some positive moments versus Baylor. The Mountaineers have done well against opposing teams’ passing games so far this season. They’re third in the conference in interceptions and held Baylor to 23 for 38 completions in their previous matchup.

Finding openings for Williams and Gardner is going to be dependent on our offensive line, it’s vital we get these guys inside or West Virginia is going to stop us on the outside every time. From what these two have shown in the past, specifically Pooka in previous seasons, it is lethal when they find space. Pooka Williams Jr. saw an increase in touches against Oklahoma State but was unable to find space due to a lack of support from our offensive line. This, combined with an early quarterback exchange, plagued the Jayhawks that Saturday at home.

I’m certain this was addressed in the bye week and hopefully the time off was used to adjust our movement on the line to help create more opportunities for our backs to move the chains a little further. With Kendrick back in the hot seat, he’ll have to make keen decisions under pressure. If he doesn’t find any support upfront, it’ll be very difficult for him to stay comfortable on the gun.

Kansas football is scheduled for an 11:00 am start in Morgantown this weekend. We should expect Coach Miles to return from his COVID-19 diagnosis last Thursday, hopefully in good spirits for another Big 12 road test.