2013 Kansas Jayhawk Football Season Preview

The Kansas Jayhawks started the Charlie Weis era in 2012 much like the previous regime in Lawrence went. The Jayhawks went 1-11, but showed some relative signs of life in Big 12 Conference play towards the end of the season.

The off-season for Kansas showed an injection of junior college recruits to try and jump start the Jayhawk program out from its coma. Weis brought in 18 juco’s in his class of 25. Kansas brings back 12 starters from last season's team.

OFFENSE

The quarterback situation for the Jayhawks will improve, somewhat, with BYU transfer Jake Heaps taking the reins of the Weis offense. The Jayhawks ran the ball effectively at times last season, including rushing for 234 yards against the Texas Longhorns and 390 yards against a reeling Texas Tech defense. The player to watch out for on offense will be wide receiver Nick Harwell from Miami (Ohio). Harwell had over 200 receptions in three seasons in Oxford before leaving after some off the field issues and transferring to Kansas.

DEFENSE

The defense for the Jayhawks was heinous last season getting steamrolled. There could be up to seven juco transfers on defense this season in the defensive front-line and secondary. Weis said of his new faces on defense,

“If you look at the volume of front line guys, of front line junior-college guys on the defensive side of the ball, you can have a whole bunch of starters coming out of that group. Look at the secondary, and the defensive line. I don’t want to down-play anyone, because they’re all in the mix.”

Prediction: 3-9, 0-9 Big 12 10th

The Jayhawks will look better and improved, but the wins won’t be there in the Big 12 portion of the schedule. Kansas should win over South Dakota, Rice (on the road), and Louisiana Tech.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the ninth place team in the Big 12.