The Kansas football team will once again start off the Big XII football season on the road Saturday at Iowa State in Ames, IA. Kansas comes in off of a bye week and riding a three game winning streak against the Cyclones. A win will mark the second year in a row that KU has got off to a 1-0 start in league play. It would also only be the second time in 5 years and third time in 11 years.
Gene Chizik’s Iowa State Cyclones are also coming off a bye week and are surely happy to be back playing in Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. Both Iowa State losses have been close battles. The Cyclones lose 34-31 on the road against UNLV in overtime. The other lost was against arch rival, Iowa, where Austin Arnaud set a career high for attempts, completions, and yards.
Iowa State has won their last 4 games at home and Kansas is still proving that they can win on the road consistently. The Iowa State offense hasn’t shown they can establish a running game, but Arnaud has looked decent in the passing game and receiver R.J. Sumrall is quickly become a go to guy for the Cyclones. On defense, Iowa State has set up the offense because of turnovers. They currently lead the conference in turnover margin. The Cyclones also ranked 9th nationally in turn over margin. The five interception performance against South Dakota State in the first game of the year started the Cyclone defense turnover machine.
For Kansas, since losing to South Florida, one question still remains for the Jayhawks. Where is the pass rush? With Kansas’ inability to get to the quarterback, it has allowed opposing quarterbacks time to find the open receiver. Kansas looks to better that pass rush this week by moving up defensive end, Jake Laptad, to #1 on the depthchart. Laptad leads the Jayhawks with 2.5 sacks this season and will look to increase that number by getting a few more snaps.
If Kansas can get to Arnaud, the Jayhawks should leave Ames with at least a 10 point win. Iowa State will be excited to be back in Ames, but we just don’t see any way Kansas doesn’t go to Ames focused, prepared, and ready to walk away with a win.
Key Player of the game: Kerry Meier
