Kansas Football: Run defense needs to improve after season opener
Les Miles is one for one as the head coach of Kansas football, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t things to nitpick in Coach Miles’ debut in Lawrence. The run defense is one of the main complaints from KU’s 24-17 victory.
Kansas Jayhawks fans really don’t complain much when their football program can get a victory. If they were looking for something to gripe about in KU’s season opener, however, one would have to think it’d be the lack of run defense against a much lesser opponent in the Indiana State Sycamores.
The Jayhawk defense surrendered 146 yards on the ground to the Missouri Valley Conference squad with 88 of those yards coming via Titus McCoy (cool name), who probably would have done a lot more damage had he not gotten injured midway through the game.
Indiana State ran the ball 37 times for 146 yards, but Kansas was able to keep them out of the end zone. That was about the only plus when it came to KU’s run defense, as they were getting gashed on the ground play after play it felt like.
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If the Jayhawks struggled to stop a non-Power 5 school like Indiana State, it’s not going to be a pretty sight when they face run heavy teams like Oklahoma, Kansas State ,and others that lie ahead in the Big 12.
Even with the lack of run defense, the Kansas Jayhawks got their first victory under Les Miles and that’s a big accomplishment. Winning their season opener hasn’t always been a given for the Jayhawks, as they’ve truly been THAT bad over the last decade. They fell in overtime in their season opener last year, so just getting that victory is a good feeling for KU and the fans.
Moving forward, run defense needs to be a point of emphasis for sure. As I touched on earlier, Titus McCoy was having his way with the Kansas defense and if he hadn’t gotten injured, perhaps Kansas loses the game and start the Miles era at 0-1.
Kansas’ next opponent – Coastal Carolina – didn’t have much success running the ball against their week one opponent. Can the Jayhawks shut down the Chanticleers in week two or will it be another rough go of it for the run defense as the Kansas Jayhawks aim for 2-0.
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Hopefully adjustments are made and Kansas football is able to hold their own against the run next week when the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers come to town.