2021 Football Opponent Quick-Hitter: Kansas

Opponent: Kansas

Nickname: Jayhawks

Kickoff: September 18th, 2:30 PM CT

Television: ESPN+

Location: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (Lawrence, KS)

Conference: Big 12

Head Coach: Lance Leipold (first year)

Last Year’s Record: 0-9

Notable Outcomes: Lost to Baylor 47-14; lost to Coastal Carolina 38-23; lost to Texas Tech 16-13

Key Losses: Pooka Williams, RB; Andrew Parchment, WR; Karon Prunty, CB

Strength: Secondary. This was honestly a very difficult decision to make because it is difficult to see where Kansas will hang its hat this year. The Kansas secondary was showing some progress in the 2020 season. However, the Jayhawks lost one of their top secondary players in Karon Prunty. Still, they have (for now at least) kept their leading tackler, safety Kenny Logan Jr. If Kansas can hold onto its other players there’s a chance to build some experience and depth in the secondary.

Weakness: Offensive line. While “everything” was a tempting answer, the offensive line was historically bad last year. The Jayhawks let up 5.2 sacks per game last season, the worst mark by any FBS team since 2009. Yeah that’s pretty horrendous and while there is some room for improvement, I doubt there will be enough of an upgrade for any Kansas quarterback to feel very comfortable.

Way Too Early Prediction: Baylor should be starting the 2021 season 3-0. Kansas was terrible last year. And given the turmoil of Les Miles’s unceremonious exit, there is little hope that first year coach Lance Leipold will turn things around in one year. That is especially true for the Jayhawks’ third game of the season. In fact, it would be little surprise if the Jayhawks enter this game 0-2 with losses to South Dakota and Coastal Carolina. Baylor’s defense should more or less dominate the Kansas offense, especially in the trenches. Even if Baylor’s offense still isn’t great, they should be able to put up some points on the Jayhawks. Even Baylor’s offense last year, which was pretty universally considered bad, put up 47 points on Kansas and there’s a chance the defense regresses.

59-10 Baylor