THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2013
PAGE 7B
FOOTBALL GAMEDAY PREVIEW
CHRIS HYBL
chybl@kansan.com
STARTING LINEUP
Kansas has the tools, but has yet to find the instruction manual. Despite a diverse running game, a legitimate quarterback and switches at the wide receiver position, the offense has paid for a weekly ticket on the struggle bus. Going against an up-tempo and high-scoring Texas Tech offense, Kansas will have to put up 20 points at the very least if they want to have a chance in this one.
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
ENTRIES NAME NO YEAR
QB Jake Heaps Jr. 9
RB James Sims Sr. 29
F Tony Pierson Jr. 3
Z Tre' Parmalee So. 11
X Rodriguez Coleman Jr. 1
TE Trent Smiley Jr. 85
LT Adam Sterling Sr. 77
LG Ngalu Fusimalohi Jr. 63
C Dylan Admire So. 66
RG Mike Smithburg Jr. 65
RT Zach Fondal Jr. 72
The pressure is on. A relatively untested secondary will be tested against an offense that throws the ball almost 80 percent of the time. Texas Tech will score, but it is a huge task to keep that scoring in a range that Kansas' offense can keep up with. And with the way things have been going for Kansas, 18.33 points per game, that's a tall order for the defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Two legs make the special teams unit arguable Kansas' best unit. Punter Trevor Pardula has well exceeded expectations, dropping bombs on 4th down, including a 78-yarder against Louisiana Tech two weeks ago. Topped by a kicker Matthew Wyman's 52-yard game winning field goal in the same game, special teams is a unit that has proved itself week after week. On paper, Texas Tech has a considerable advantage in Saturday's game, so setting up the offense and defense with good position is a crucial objective.
COACHING
The offense shows it can score points. Plain and simple. The offense put Kansas fans through an extremely miserable first three quarters two weeks ago against Louisiana Tech and if that continues Saturday, seats will start to get a lot emptier.
keep an eye on the defensive gameplan. It will be interesting to see if defensive coordinator Dave Campo will be calling an aggressive first couple quarters against Tech.Players will have to get each call from Campo in less than 10 seconds when Tech is running the hurry-up offense. Campo has taken criticism for playing defensive backs to deep, but if Campo and crew can figure out Tech early, the Jayhawks will have a chance.
BABY JAY WILL CHEER IF
POSITION NAME NO. YEAR
Kevin Young Sr. 90
Keon Stowers Jr. 98
Keba Agostinho Jr. 96
Ben Goodman So. 93
Ben Heeney Jr. 31
Samson Faifili Jr. 51
Victor Simmons Jr. 27
Cassius Sendish Jr. 33
Isaiah Johnson So. 5
Dexter McDonald Jr. 12
JaCorey Shepherd Jr. 24
Texas Tech is a team turning heads and climbing up the national polls. Picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll, Texas Tech is proving a lot of people wrong, now ranked No. 20 in the nation at 4-0. It's easy to think that that kind of team would overlook the lesser-on-paper' opponents. Kansas definitely fits the bill there. Against a productive but prone-to-turnover offense, Kansas does have a shot at an upset. In that case, it would be because of the defense and not the offense.
Cassius Sendish. Sendish has been an incredibly active and effective piece in the Kansas secondary so far. Sendish being able to maintain that effectiveness against the third best passing offense in the nation will be a factor that ultimately decides the success of the defensive unit on Saturday.
Texas Tech has gone from picked in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 to suddenly a Big 12 contender, currently ranked 20th in the country and is coming off a breezy 33-7 win over Texas State.
AT A GLANCE
PLAYER TO WATCH
Follow @KansanSports for updates from Saturday's game
MOMENTUM
KANSAS PREDICTION 28-13 TEXAS TECH KANSAS
TEXAS TECH KANSAS
QUESTION MARKS
Can the Kansas secondary keep the Jayhawks in striking distance?
If the Kansas secondary is the least bit unorganized in the opening quarters, Tech will finish the game before the halftime show. Kansas needs to keep it close in the opening quarters and simply outlast the Red Raiders. That's the only way Kansas could pull this out. If it's a Kansas victory, it's a come-from-behind second half win.
BY THE NUMBERS
13 The number of touches Tony Pierson had on the ball last game.
54. 3 Jake Heaps completion percentage this year.
5. 1 Yards per carry averaged by James Sims.
Edited by Jessica Mitchell
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Freshman placekicker Matthew Wyman kicks the game-winning 52-yard field goal on Sept. 21 to beat Louisiana Tech. It was Kansas' first win against an FBS opponent in 23 games.
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