It’s been more than a month since the Kansas Jayhawks last won a football game.
The Jayhawks (1-5, 0-3 Big 12) have lost five straight and have not beaten an FBS team this season.
KU has also been dealing with a litany of injuries. Coach Lance Leipold was asked recently how much the week off may have helped his team regain its health.
“Not as much as I had hoped yet right now, to be truthful,” Leipold said. “We’ve still got a lot of guys that are questionable, working through it. We’ll have to see where it takes us.”
Star cornerback Cobee Bryant might be the biggest concern for Saturday’s game against the Houston Cougars at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. He exited KU’s most recent game, at Arizona State, with a leg injury.
That said, KU is still a 6.5-point favorite over UH. Let’s see if the Jayhawks can end their losing streak Saturday against the Cougars.
First, though, let’s get into another KU Q&A. As always, thank you for the questions ...
What does the #kufball staff and team consider to be a success over the rest of the season? @cwj11
This is an excellent question. Expectations have certainly changed since the start of the season.
KU athletic director Travis Goff told The Star his expectations have changed after the team’s tough start, and I’m sure the same is true for the coaching staff and players.
If Kansas can finish with a winning record and make a bowl game, that would be a success. Multiple players indicated that’s the goal for the remainder of the season. And that starts with earning a win on Saturday.
How deep do you expect KU to be in basketball this year? Bill has said he wants Hunt, Juan, & KJ all below 30 mpg. So, how many guys do you think play realistic minutes? @elambertwrites
I expect KU to have an eight or nine-man rotation during the regular season. The starters will likely be Dajuan Harris, Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson.
Each starter will play 30-33 minutes per game, depending on position and need. The sixth man will be Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen, and the seventh will be Flory Bidunga or Zach Clemence, depending on the situation.
Two of of these three will be the eighth and ninth men: Shakeel Moore, Jamari McDowell and David Coit.
Based on Self’s tendencies in the past, the rotation will tighten to seven or eight guys playing big minutes come NCAA Tournament time.
Do you think we win another game if we lose to Houston? @daytona_jr
My honest answer is no. There’s a good chance KU isn’t favored in any remaining games after that. And Kansas plays three straight ranked opponents in K-State, Iowa State and BYU.
This team has the talent to win games (and should have won multiple games so far). A loss to Houston would be demoralizing.
Receiver Luke Grimm talked this week about the state of the locker room and what a win would do for the team.
“For the guys who are starting to feel down or have doubt, it’ll help put confidence back in them,” he said. “It just helps the guys that are trying to lead and trying to keep everybody confident, because when you get 5-10 more guys (feeling good), then 20 more, 30 more join.”
From that statement alone, it’s clear how important a win is for the morale of KU football.
It’s obviously been an awful start to the #KUfball first half of the season. Besides finishing both halves, what’s a few things that they have to get better at overall? @TheJayhawk4ever
Honestly, it’s overall consistency: KU has yet to put together a good game on both sides of the ball.
Quarterback Jalon Daniels can’t turn the ball over at the rate he has. The best he’s looked all season was against Arizona State in KU’s last game, so let’s see if he can build off that.
On the defensive side, KU has struggled mightily to get pressure on the quarterback. The loss of defensive lineman Austin Booker to the NFL is felt in nearly every game. No one has stepped up in his absence.
KU’s secondary, anchored by star corners Bryant and Mello Dotson, has also been less than stellar. A lot of that is due to the defense’s general inability to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which in turn puts even greater pressure on the secondary — contributing to its step back from last season.
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