The beginning of every college football season is always an interesting mixture of some high-quality matchups between evenly matched teams and some complete blowouts. With that being said, as Rutgers Football showcased, no game should ever be considered a freebie. Kansas demolished Long Island University 51-6… but slices of the praise pie must still be divided.
Entering the game, the Jayhawks were 41.5-point favorites to win, so while the 45-point win was impressive, it was also expected. Instead of focusing on the score, many Kansas fans were invested in seeing how QB Isaiah Marshall looked in his first-ever start with the Crimson and Blue and interested in getting a sneak peek at some of the playmakers for this season.
Fans were also excited to see the return of Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, best remembered for his fast-paced and dynamic offense while working with Jalon Daniels and Jason Bean in previous seasons before having a brief stint with Penn State as their OC. The offense obviously looked good in a 51-point outburst, but how much credit goes to Kotelnicki?
Without further ado, here we have the first KU Football Praise Pie of the season!
The KU Win vs LIU Praise Pie Divides into Five Unequal Slices
55% (and most to praise): The Incredibly Light Scheduling - Let’s be honest… LIU is a weak football team and stood no chance against the Jayhawks. The Sharks are a FCS football school and this was scheduled solely to be a warm-up and elevated version of practice before the Jayhawks truly start their season against Missouri next week.
20%: The New-Look Rushing Attack - Last season the rushing attack was led by RBs Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams, as well as QB Jalon Daniels, but all are now gone. Isaiah Marshall should off his running chops in the game, but the exciting quartet of RBs were who truly shined. Yasin Willis acted as the power back with 11 carries for 72 yards and 2 TDs.
Meanwhile, Jalen Dupree rushed in a touchdown, adding a modest 35 yards on 9 carries and Micah Johnson joined the party with a touchdown of his own with 52 yards on 11 carries. Dylan Edwards had a “quiet game” in comparison, but still contributed 66 total yards on 10 touches.
15%: The Marshall-McMillan Connection - Another aspect of the offense that stood out was the natural connection between Marshall and WR Nik McMillan. Before giving way to other WRs in the blow-out win, McMillan and Marshall were connecting routinely in all three levels of the field; short, intermediate, and deep. McMillan finished with 6 catches for 130 yards and 1 TD.
5%: Leroy Harris III’s Gamebreaking Flashes - Time to give the defensive side some praise! The entire defensive unit performed well, allowing just two FGs, but Leroy Harris III was perhaps the most impactful contributor. The 6’5” super athlete DE recorded an insane 4 tackles for loss and was chasing down LIU running backs with ease. He will be a very fun player to monitor.
5%: Kotelnicki’s Return - Alright, time to give Kotelnicki his flowers! The offense was supposed to look amazing and it did. It’s tough to give too much praise for a wildly efficient offensive performance against a team of LIU’s quality, but it’s still a good sign that everything seemed to be clicking and 51 points is still 51 points.
The Jayhawks face off with Missouri next on September 11th and KU will get to see if we are cooking up another Praise Pie or if we have to split up our first Blame Pie of the season against one of our biggest rivals. Rock Chalk!
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