Kansas Football: Jayhawks can expect an uptick in wins in 2019
By Cullen Jekel
October: Oklahoma, OPEN, at Texas, Texas Tech
After a packed start to the season, the Kansas Jayhawks play only three games in October with just one coming on the road. Unfortunately, two of these three contests come against two of the conference’s best teams.
The first game, at least, takes place at home. That’s when the Oklahoma Sooners visit on October 5th. I’m expecting some fatigue to be setting in right about then for the Jayhawks, and for the Sooners to put up a ton of points. Maybe Kansas scores a solid amount, too, but it won’t be near enough for them to knock off Jalen Hurts, the Sooners’ (presumed) starting quarterback, and company.
Following that defeat, Kansas gets a much-needed open week. At this point, despite the loss to Oklahoma, KU is a huge surprise at 4-2 (1-2) with several winnable games to come. Athletic Director Jeff Long is looking like a smart man, and everyone seems to be forgetting what a hard time Les Miles had at putting together a staff once he landed in Lawrence. Remember this.
On October 19th, the Jayhawks head to The Lone Star State to take on the Texas Longhorns, a program on the rise that let’s me type in all caps that TEXAS IS BACK. And because TEXAS IS BACK, they will defeat Kansas. Truly, though, Tom Herman’s doing a heck of a job down in Austin, and while I’ve got the Longhorns regressing a bit this season, the sentiment that TEXAS IS BACK is probably true.
To end October, Kansas hosts the Texas Tech Red Raiders in their first season after Kliff Kingsbury. But he’s doing okay, having landed, for some reason, an NFL head coaching job despite a coaching record of 35-40 (19-35). That’s the Bidwell family for you, I guess.
Next man up in Lubbock is Matt Wells, previously the head coach of Utah State, where he went 44-34 in six seasons and finished last year ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll. But ol’ Wellsy, as I assume he’s affectionately called by the locals, is gonna have a rough first year. Especially when the Red Raiders lose to the Jayhawks in this game.