Kansas football: 5 essential keys to victory against the BYU Cougars

1. Winning the turnover battle

KU’s defense was one of the worst in the country last year. However, it had been showing improvements through the first two weeks, as the team picked off two passes in both of their games. Their improvements were not evident against Nevada, though, and they failed to capitalize on several opportunities.

Despite forcing FIVE fumbles against the Wolf Pack, Kansas failed to recover any of them. At least three of them were retrievable. It nearly led to the demise of the Jayhawks, but fortunately, the offense was able to bail them out. Regardless, they’ll need to do much better on Saturday.

Not to say that BYU has a terrific offense, but it is certainly the toughest they have faced up to date. The Cougars have a quarterback who has proven himself at the Power 5 level and some sneaky good receiving options. Missouri State and Nevada simply were not too good, and Illinois’ quarterback was just bad (in my opinion).

Kansas needs to force a turnover or two early on to set the tone. They certainly can’t let five opportunities slip past them again. And if the defense squanders some good chances, KU — rather, Daniel Hishaw Jr. — must stop fumbling so often.