Heading into this season, Kansas’ whole offense was supposed to be greatly improved from last season’s, which finished No. 77 in the nation, notching just 368.8 yards per game. And while their week two Border Showdown loss to Missouri could just be a flash in the pan, that doesn’t mean you can’t form an initial opinion on what was a pretty bleak offense.
Yes, Isaiah Marshall struggled in his second start as KU quarterback, but it wasn’t him alone. He was constantly getting pressured all night long thanks to a below-average offensive line performance, and the Jayhawks’ running back room failed to muster any momentum of its own.
Overall, KU finished with just 255 yards of total offense, 3 turnovers and a 20% third-down conversion rate, numbers that won’t survive a Big 12 season.
Lance Leipold gives take on Kansas’ offense
Immediately following the Jayhawks’ 38-21 loss, the KU head coach took to the podium, where he was asked to review KU’s rushing offense.
“I haven't watched it all, but probably very inconsistent, not enough of what we needed, probably, would be the best way to say that. Playing against a deep and athletic SEC line, there was gonna be a challenge for us to run the football. And there's some things there that have made it difficult.”
The exciting duo of Dylan Edwards and Yasin Willis struggled, totaling just 57 yards on 14 carries. Edwards ended the day averaging 6.5 yards across his 6 carries, while Willis averaged just 2.3 over his 8 totes on the night.
Kansas was outrushed 81-177 as a team and averaged 2.3 yards per carry.
“A lot of the things that we like to do have to be in rhythm, and they complement each other when you're not doing those things, and I don't know what our average down and distance were in the second and third downs, but I think we were playing in the long game a lot of the night.”
Barring kneel-downs to enter the half, the Jayhawks were put in 11 spots where they had to convert a third down of at least 5 yards.
As previously mentioned, this shouldn’t be taken as a full-on blueprint for the season. While Kansas fans won’t admit it loudly, the Tigers are a well-drilled unit led by three-time Broyles Award nominee Corey Batoon, so fans can take some slight reprieve in knowing this will probably be the best defense they face through the regular season. That being said, there were plenty of mental errors spread across the offense on Friday night, something that will have to be ironed out over the coming days as KU gets an early start to conference play against the Arizona State Sun Devils next weekend.
KU will be traveling overseas to take on the Sun Devils inside Wembley Stadium in Kansas’ first-ever appearance in the Union Jack Classic. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT, with streaming available on Fox Sports 1.
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