Despite a slow start that saw the Kansas Jayhawks jump out to a sluggish 6-0 lead, the Jayhawks quickly turned the tide and flipped a mediocre beginning into a dazzling 51-6 season-opening win over FCS side, Long Island University.
While most things went right, the worst moment of the game came during the Sharks’ second offensive possession, when star Kansas linebacker Bam Crouch injured his shoulder on what looked like a routine tackle. Crouch was slow to get up before eventually leaving the field and not returning. Following the game, head coach Lance Leipold spoke on Crouch’s injury.
“Yeah, I don't know yet exactly. As you can see it was up in the shoulder area right now. They did some things. They will do further testing tomorrow to see exactly where that's at. Hopefully, we'll have a little bit more of an idea Monday, but I don't know if it'll be quite that soon. He was in good spirits, second half, and that, you know, obviously disappointed…”
Crouch was a prized piece of this patched-up Kansas team
Last season, KU struggled to find much continuity in a defense that gave up way too many big plays. What started as the occasional slip-up quickly turned into repeated errors that allowed for scorelines like back-to-back 42-17 losses and at least 30 points allowed in six games.
However, the addition of Crouch was brought in to change that. At Crouch’s last stop with Boston College, the former 3-star high school prospect tallied 107 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception and six passes defended before making the move to KU. Crouch was even nominated as a Boston College captain before his final season in the ACC; however, his year was trimmed to just four games due to an injury.
Following his exit, in stepped New Mexico State transfer Quincy Davis. Davis finished the game with 5 total tackles, leading all Jayhawks.
While KU was able to cruise past LIU, the competition gets a lot tougher against the Missouri Tigers next Friday. Last season, when the two squared off, it was a tense 42-31 thriller that resulted in the Tigers breaking serve midway through the fourth quarter, ultimately sealing the game.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT with streaming available on FOX.
More Kansas Football News
Add us as a preferred source on Google