KU Football struggles vs Central Michigan for first loss of season
KU football just didn’t have it on Saturday, as they fell 45-27 against the Central Michigan Chippewas in Lawrence. The Jayhawks now sit at 1-1 on the year and will hit the road next week for their first away game of the year.
KU football looks like a new and improved unit under head coach David Beaty, but this game did not showcase that as much as fans would have liked. The Jayhawks lost by 18 points to a MAC opponent in Lawrence, which is just something that can’t happen for a team hoping to turn the corner.
There was a lot to gripe about in this game for Kansas, but there was also a lot that looked good. As I mentioned previously, this team looks like a different KU squad. They look competitive and they can make big plays, which is something that recent Kansas teams couldn’t say.
The Kansas secondary was atrocious, allowing Central Michigan quarterback Shane Morris to throw for 467 yards and five touchdowns with no picks. They allowed two Chippewa receivers to go for over 100 yards too, which isn’t good.
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Of course, the blame can’t all be placed on the defense, as the offense didn’t do their part in putting up points. Jayhawks quarterback Peyton Bender threw two interceptions and no touchdowns, but did pass for 323 yards. He threw the ball 62 times.
This just didn’t seem to be a game that KU was meant to win, but they had the opportunity to. They held the Chippewas to no points in the first quarter and the defense looked like it might finally be turning into something positive.
Instead, the second quarter happened, and Central Michigan went on to put up 24 points in said quarter. Kansas would score two touchdowns in the third quarter to close the gap, but it wasn’t meant to be. Central Michigan was the better team and will now move to 2-0 while KU football falls to 1-1.
I had high hopes that Kansas could pull out a win on Saturday, but it didn’t happen. They’ll now gear up for a trip to Athens, Ohio to face the Ohio Bobcats next weekend. The Jayhawks and Bobcats have played a home and home with the game being in Lawrence last year and now taking place in Athens this season.
Ohio won last year’s match-up and will be a tough opponent for KU. The Jayhawks showed they’re capable of playing good football, but the bad showed up more than the good did on Saturday.