CBS Sports names Kansas football among 10 most disappointing teams nationally

Kansas football entered the 2024 season with high hopes after a strong showing a year prior. Head coach Lance Leipold had been trending in the right direction since landing in Lawrence, but the Jayhawks have suddenly plummeted. They now sit at an unsightly 2-5 record and did not pick up their first FBS victory until this past Saturday vs. Houston.

For a team that was in College Football Playoff talks, it has been quite the fall off. However, no one could have expected one this severe from Leipold and Co. That’s exactly why CBS Sports analyst John Talty listed Kansas as one of the 10 most disappointing teams in college football thus far:

Kansas Jayhawks ranked fourth most disappointing team in CFB

"A pleasant surprise a year ago, Kansas crashed back to earth in a season that keeps getting worse. It is painfully obvious watching the Jayhawks' wretched offense how much they miss offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who is dialing up exotic play calls for Penn State now. Poor Kansas has an absolutely brutal upcoming schedule, too: at No. 16 Kansas State, No. 10 Iowa State, at No. 11 BYU and Colorado. This is likely a nine-loss team a year after winning nine games. "

- John Talty

The Jayhawk faithful can vastly agree that 2024 has been a disappointment. In fact, that would be a massive understatement. It was supposed to be one of the best seasons in Kansas football history, yet it has been anything but that.

Arguably the worst part of KU’s struggles is that every single loss was easily winnable. The Jayhawks have led in the fourth quarter in four of their five losses, constantly grasping defeat from the jaws of victory. Opponents have scored the go-ahead and eventual touchdowns within the final two minutes in three of those contests.

Quarterback Jalon Daniels was expected to be one of the best players in the Big 12. Although he has improved in recent weeks, the star signal-caller has been very turnover-prone and does not look like the same talent that he once was before last year's back injury. The offense as a whole has struggled in its first season without Andy Kotelnicki, who took the offensive coordinator position at Penn State.

If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, you might looking at the season with a sliver of hope since the team clearly has no shortage of talent. But at the end of the day, they have failed to yield results, which has halted the growth of the program. Maybe the Jayhawks can salvage some of their 2024 campaign if they break the 15-game losing streak against K-State in Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown.