The Kansas Jayhawks fell to 1-3 on the season after getting blown out by West Virginia. At this point, KU fans need to be asking if anything has changed for this team.
It’s not that anyone expected the Kansas Jayhawks to come out and knock off the West Virginia Mountaineers. However, there were some hopes that they could at least be competitive in this week’s game. Unfortunately, it appears that the Jayhawks are still the punching bag of the Big 12, which has to bring into question what the school will do about it.
The Jayhawks haven’t had a winning season since Mark Mangino was running the program in 2008. Since then, the school hasn’t even come close to putting up even a .500 season. 2017 was supposed to be the year we saw some improvement from David Beaty’s squad, but that has not happened.
KU currents sits at 1-3 on the season, with their only win coming over FCS school Southeast Missouri State. Kansas has squandered winnable games against Central Michigan and Ohio. This week’s blowout loss is just another blow to an already down program.
The breakdown of this week’s loss is pretty simple. West Virginia dominated the first half, and put the game away late when Kansas started showing life. The Jayhawks had success running the ball, but that wasn’t even close to enough to make this a game.
Despite the effort, Jayhawks fall to 1-3, losing 56-34. Mountaineers get 347 pass yds from Will Grier, multiple 100-yard rushers.
— TOM MARTIN (@LetItFlyTom) September 23, 2017
Promises Left Unfulfilled
Nobody sets the bar very high for the Kansas Jayhawks football team. All anyone was really hoping for this year was to see some progress. You would be hard-pressed to argue that we have gotten anything like that.
It hasn’t been for lack of effort. KU recently announced that they would be putting major efforts into renovating Memorial Stadium. Within the program, David Beaty made some investments to get highly touted JUCO transfer players. It was enough to get many people thinking that this year could be the start of something new.
Related Story: Kansas Jayhawks: 2017 Was Supposed To Be Different
Instead, we have been stuck with more of the same poor football that Kansas fans have seen for the better part of the last 20 years. The Jayhawks have been manhandled by their FBS opponents this year, and it doesn’t look to get any better with their upcoming schedule.
Something Has To Change
I’m not going to call for David Beaty to be fired just yet. However, it would be foolish to say that he doesn’t belong on the hot seat right now. The Jayhawks need to give recruits a reason to go to Kansas to play football. Right now, there really isn’t anything to sell the program on.
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Making a big investment in a head coach could change that, or it could not. KU probably isn’t going to be pulling in a big name like Les Miles, but you do have to wonder about some of the up and coming coaches in college football. Kansas is still a Power-5 school, and should be able to make an offer to a coach from a smaller school.
However, even if a coaching change isn’t in the works, there has to be something. Kansas needs to score a recruiting victory. The best way to do that is to win games, but that doesn’t seem likely at this point. Without attracting better talent though, there is almost no way the team will improve. That is the vicious cycle of college football.
The Kansas Jayhawks are currently on the wrong end of that vicious cycle.
While the season may still be young, there really hasn’t been much to be optimistic about for the Kansas Jayhawks this year. A blowout loss is a huge dagger for this team as they get start their conference schedule. There are still some opportunities to grab some wins, but their opponents will be looking at the Jayhawks the same way.