Following a well-balanced effort in a resounding victory over West Virginia, Kansas will face high-powered Cincinnati on Saturday in a Big 12 matchup in Lawrence, Kan.
Kansas (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) defeated the Mountaineers last Saturday 41-10. The Jayhawks ran for 242 yards at nearly 6 yards per carry, and passed for another 146 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Perhaps the most impressive stat was their zero sacks allowed considering the Mountaineers came into the game with 12 sacks in their first three games.
Now the Jayhawks welcome the Bearcats (2-1, 0-0 Big 12), who are coming off a bye following their 70-0 shellacking of Northwestern State on Sept. 13.
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby completed all 15 of his passes for 253 yards and five touchdowns, all of which came in the first quarter. He became the first quarterback in school history and eighth FBS quarterback since 1995 to throw five touchdowns in a quarter. The Bearcats rank third in the nation in yards per play (8.38).
Now the schedule stiffens with the start of Big 12 play. While Kansas averages 37.3 points per game, Cincinnati averages 40.3.
“(Kansas does) a great job with their scheme,” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield said Tuesday. “Obviously, they can run the football. But just when you’re committing to the run, they play-action and there goes a guy free.”
The Jayhawks are fairly balanced statistically for the season. Through four games, they’re averaging 222.8 yards per game through the air and 191.3 yards per game on the ground, including 5.4 yards per carry.
In addition to standout quarterback Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks have two powerful running backs to count on in Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams, who had a 129-yard breakout game against West Virginia. Emmanuel Henderson Jr. leads the receivers. Henderson caught six passes against West Virginia. He also had a 94-yard kickoff return to start the second half that blew open the game.
“I thought we protected Jalon well,” Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said on Monday. “As the game went on, I thought we wore them down a little bit. I thought we were able to create some things. We’re (working) to get better, and there’s still a lot of work to be done across the board.”
Leipold knows it won’t be easy against the Bearcats.
“They’re a really good football team overall,” Leipold said. “I think our guys are well aware that this will be the best team we’ve played so far this year.”
