Three Keys: UCF Knights at Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks hit a speedbump in the form of the Texas Longhorns last week, which was disastrous without star quarterback Jalon Daniels. They are expected to be without him again this week as the UCF Knights come to town, and the importance of this game can't be overstated.
Even without Daniels, the Jayhawks should be in a good position to win this game. In order to do that, they will need some very important things to happen. With that in mind, here are my three keys to today's game against the Knights.
Balance in the Passing Game
A big part of the game for quarterback Jason Bean is taking shots down the field. But it takes a few things to make those things successful. The first one is rhythm, which the Jayhawks established early in game 1 with multiple quick passes to settle both quarterback and receivers in. That didn't happen against Texas, and it caused plenty of problems with the deep shots. Additionally, Bean's best attribute in the passing game is his arm strength, but his accuracy isn't the greatest. His long throws need to be more in the field of play and less on the sidelines. Get both of those things in the gameplan, and it will be hard for UCF to stop all the options.
Pound the Rock
The running game will be key here. As important as it is to change things up in the passing game, it is entirely possible that the ball doesn't go through the air much because the Jayhawks are too busy running the ball.
UCF struggles with the run game, especially in the middle of the field. So the combination of Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw (plus a little bit of Jason Bean) should be able to do pretty much whatever they want here. If Kansas finishes with anything less than 200 yards, there might be some offensive issues.
Quick Pressure
Regardless of which quarterback starts for UCF today, the Jayhawks would be well served to overload the offensive line with some defensive pressure. And I don't even think it will need to come from blitzing. The UCF line hasn't had consistent production this year, and they have worn down over the course of the game multiple times. The more pressure that can be forced early, the faster they will wear down. Kansas should be able to get started early, and I expect multiple sacks in the first half to lead to mistakes in the second half.
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