The unknown will start to become known on Saturday evening when the Kansas Jayhawks take the field to kick off the 2010 football season. How will the offensive system look? How will the defensive system look? How will Kale Pick do as the starting quarterback? How will Turner Gill handle game situations? The questions are endless for the Jayhawks, but the answers to those questions is what will build the foundation of Gill’s football program at Kansas.
Strong starts to seasons has become something Kansas fans have become used to over the past few years. In fact the Jayhawks have been dominate over the last six seasons against opponents by outscoring them by over 30 points per game. With a win on Saturday against North Dakota State, the Jayhawks will start of the season 1-0 for the seventh consecutive season, and stretch their home record against non-conference opponents to 21-0 since 2003.
The Bison finished last season 3-8 (2-6), including only a 2-4 record on the road. However, the Bison did show a pretty potent offense last season by averaging 29.2 points per game and over 400 yards of offense per game, including over 200 on the ground. Bison RB D.J. McNorton leads the way for the Bison on the ground. Last season, McNorton averaged 4.4 yards per carry last season, and McNortonsaw time at both RB and WR. At QB, the Bison will start sophomore Jose Mohler, who passes for 127 yards per game last season.
On defense the Jayhawks will have to slow down Bison junior MLB Preston Evans. Evans totaled 96 tackles last season, including 16 tackles for loss. Another Bison LB, sophomore Brandon Jennison, put together a decent 2009 with 61 total tackles and 3 tackles for loss.
The Jayhawks start the year withKale Pick at quarterback. Pick is actually the teams leading returning rusher from last season (with Toben Opurum now at LB) with 167 yards rushing. Pick is also the Jayhawks best returningpasser with a total of five attempts last season. Pick has the unenviable task of following Todd Reesing, who led the Jayhawks a Orange Bowl victory in 2008.
RB Angus Quigley will get his first action in the backfield since 2008 when he rushed for 309 yards on 59 carries.
The Jayhawks do have a familiar face returning at WR in Jonathan Wilson. Wilson caught 35 passes last season for 449 yards, and averaging 37.4 yards per game. CB Chris Harris will make his 30th career start, and is one of four players who started all twelve games for the Jayhawks last season. Tanner Hawkinson, Brad Thorson and Sal Capra are the other three.
With the win on Saturday, the Jayhawks will extend their home record to 19-3 in their last 22 games.
