PAGE 8
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
+
Daily Debate makes debut in sports section
Predicting the unpredictable
By Brian Hillix
@DoubleHillix
THE DAILY DEBATE
The Daily sports
Will Kansas football improve its win total from last season?
The Daily Debate hopes to accomplish two things: give you multiple perspectives to a story and help you craft your own opinions.
but that's part of the fun. For each Daily Debate, two writers strive to prove their own argument while rebutting the other side.
sports section will now include a new feature: The Daily Debate. For this section, Kansan sports writers will debate trending sports topics at the University and across the globe. This will become a staple along with the Morning Brew section.
This section also involves you.
In the sports world, so many things can happen—injuries, a player emerges, a team has a bad day. Opinions formed from the most detailed analysis of facts and statistics are often proved wrong.
We encourage you to read each writer's take and decide who has the most convincing argument by voting online at Kansan.com. Voting will be available until 9 p.m. that day. Results from the previous day's Daily Debate will be posted in the next print edition of the Kansan.
- Edited by Rob Pyatt
"YES"
Let's start by looking at the schedule. The Jayhawks have at least seven winnable games against Southeast Missouri State, Central Michigan, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Texas Christian University. All of those games are home games, besides playing in Morgantown, W. Va., on Oct. 4. Kansas defeated West Virginia last year to break a 27-game Big 12 Conference losing streak and should be able to do so again on the road.
The overall strength of this team will lie with its defense. Isaiah Johnson, the reigning Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year, leads a talented secondary that forced nine interceptions last year. With a full offseason of conditioning and practice, those numbers should only improve.
The entire defense is anchored by senior linebacker Ben Heeney, who is serving as one of three captains for the Jayhawks. Heeney should be in line
for a monster season after leading the Kansas defense in tackles over the past two seasons. Heeney makes the players around him better and should strongly contend for All-American honors in his final season.
On the other side of the ball, however, there are more question marks. The aforementioned season-ending injuries to Brandon Bourbon and Taylor Cox have left the running back cupboard incredibly bare.
"I always thought I was going to play running back in college... so if they need me, I'm on call."
getting some carries.
BEN HEENEY
Senior linebacker
This leaves the door open for talented newcomers DeAndre Mann and Corey Avery to make their marks on the season. Mann, a junior-college transfer from Hartnell College, and Avery, a freshman from Dallas, both have outstanding athleticism and can combine to replace the monumental production left behind by former running back James Sims.
The running back position can be further bolstered by the possibility of Heeney
"I'd love to play both ways," Heeney said at last Wednesday's press conference. "I always thought I was going to play running back in college instead of defense, so if they need me, I'm on call."
The quarterback position should be much improved this season. Montell Cozart, a sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., is a much more dynamic player than Dayne Crist or Jake Heaps ever were. He can beat defenses as a runner and as a passer, and should be a great fit for new offensive coordinator John Reagan's scheme. He also has great weapons at wide receiver in senior Nick Harwell and junior Rodriguez Coleman, as well as senior tight end Jimmy Mundine who's on the watch list for the Mackey Award, which goes to the best tight end in the nation.
All of these factors should contribute to a good season for the Jayhawks. Kansas probably will not go to a bowl game, but it should be competitive in every game and have a chance to win at least five games, which is more than the three games the Jayhawks won last season.
Edited by Benjamin Carroll
“NO”
Kansas football has been quite dysfunctional since former coach Mark Mangino resigned in 2009. Turner Gill's two years set the program back and Charlie Weis is still working to tidy the remnants of the past regime.
When Charlie Weis arrived in 2012, he brought in an astounding 15 players from junior colleges for immediate impact thanks to falling back in recruiting which led to a depleted roster. There are currently seven starters on this year's roster that were juniorcollege commits from the 2013 class, making up about half of this year's 13 senior starters.
While Weis and company are working hard to improve this year, I don't see them winning more than three games and surpassing their win total from last season.
Last season, Kansas' offense averaged 15.3 points per game last year, according to KUAthetics.com. Kansas ended the season ranked 121 of 124 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, according to ESPN.com.
While Kansas gained one playmaker in transfer Nick Harwell from Miami-Ohio University, the team got substantially weaker on what was arguably its strongest position — running back — when it lost Brandon Bourbon and Taylor Cox to season-ending injuries before the start of the season this year.
This places the responsibility on the receivers whose catch rate stood at 40.2 percent, according to SBNation.com. last season, and the shuffling of quarterbacks certainly played a part, but it still doesn't point to optimistic signs of an improved offense.
While the defense made some huge strides (improving to 94th in points allowed in 2013 from 112th in 2012, according to ESPN.com), the other Big 12 offenses still haven't taken much of a step back even with a few talented quarterbacks exiting the league.
For this team to eclipse its win total from last season, Cozart and the receivers need to take a significant step forward. However, with a depleted backfield and a lack of experienced, proven playmakers, the defense just won't be able to compensate for a well below average offense.
- Edited by Miranda Davis
VOTE FOR THE WRITER WITH THE MOST CONVINCING ARGUMENT AT KANSAN.COM
TI
+