The only real marquee game we have in conference this week is the Kansas-USF game. The Big 12 so far this season is 20-2 in non conference games. And they were a perfect 12-0 last week. I don't ever recall the conference running the table like that. But in all fairness, there was a good number of Division 2 or non-BCS teams being played. Colorado got a scare from Eastern Washington, who was the number #7 rated team in Division 2. And Texas Tech got outyardaged by Nevada and got beat in every way but the scoreboard. And Nebraska struggled a little bit on offense. But that wasn't completely unexpected since SJST posed a better defensive threat than WM the week before. Other than that, everybody else looked good.
Season:
** Plays 6-4
*** Plays 4-2
**** Plays 1-0
Kansas at South Florida...This is the second meeting of these two teams in the last 3 years. The last meeting they had was in Lawrence in '06 with Kansas winning a tight 13-7 game as 3 point favorites. Obviously both of these teams have gotten much better since then. I'm sure USF QB Grothe still remembers that game since he was a freshman starter that day. And struggled and couldn't anything going offensivley against the Jayhawks. This time Kansas travels down to South Florida to play on Friday night. Kansas was a great road team last season. But keep in mind that they basically only played two teams on the road who were worth their weight on the offensive side of the ball.. And that was OSU (no defense), who scored 28 points on Kansas. And Missouri, who scored 36. The other good offensive team they played was Nebraska at home. And the Huskers put up 39 on the Jayhawk defense. Kansas actually played only one true road game against a team with a winning season record (Texas A&M)..This South Florida offense is as productive as any team Kansas has played in the last two years.
As close as the game was between USF and UCF last week, the stats told another story with UCF gaining a total of about 225 yards and USF rolling up 500. USF was pretty much in total control of that game until the 4th quarter when they lost a little focus. But I really don't hold one quarter of football against a team who was on the road for the first time against a Florida recruiting rival. As for Kansas, I don't see anything wrong with their defense this year. But I do have some problems with their offense. At this time last season through 4 games they were rolling up consistent 500 and 600 yard games and averaging 6 yards a carry rushing. This year with the O-Line problems they've had early on, they're only averaging about 3.5 yards a carry against similar or weaker competetion. And this is my problem with the Jayhawks going on the road this season compared to last year. They won't be able to rely as much on their running game to control time of possession. So the game will be put more on QB Reesing's shoulders. And this is a problem I have with Kansas facing a quality opponent this early in the year with the best offense that Kansas has seen since Missouri. With USF being able to key more on the pass game, I believe this is where Kansas could get into trouble. USF has an excellent secondary that can match both the height facotr and the speed with the Kansas receivers. And I believe USF has a good enough D-Line to stop or slow down the run and put some pressure on Reesing. On the other side, USF has the Big East's best corp of receivers. And Kansas really hasn't faced either a good QB or good receivers this season. In summary, USF matches up very well with Kansas in almost every aspect of the game. But this time they have the advantage of playing at home where USF is 50-11. So far this season, the Big East has laid an egg in marquee games. Personally, I think this USF team is the best team in the conference this year. And they're playing no better than the 5th best team in the Big 12. I still expect a close game because Kansas doesn't make mistakes and kill themselves, so USF will have to take the game to them. But I look for USF to get the Big East on the board this year in big games. Taking South Florida (-3) over Kansas ***
Season:
** Plays 6-4
*** Plays 4-2
**** Plays 1-0
Kansas at South Florida...This is the second meeting of these two teams in the last 3 years. The last meeting they had was in Lawrence in '06 with Kansas winning a tight 13-7 game as 3 point favorites. Obviously both of these teams have gotten much better since then. I'm sure USF QB Grothe still remembers that game since he was a freshman starter that day. And struggled and couldn't anything going offensivley against the Jayhawks. This time Kansas travels down to South Florida to play on Friday night. Kansas was a great road team last season. But keep in mind that they basically only played two teams on the road who were worth their weight on the offensive side of the ball.. And that was OSU (no defense), who scored 28 points on Kansas. And Missouri, who scored 36. The other good offensive team they played was Nebraska at home. And the Huskers put up 39 on the Jayhawk defense. Kansas actually played only one true road game against a team with a winning season record (Texas A&M)..This South Florida offense is as productive as any team Kansas has played in the last two years.
As close as the game was between USF and UCF last week, the stats told another story with UCF gaining a total of about 225 yards and USF rolling up 500. USF was pretty much in total control of that game until the 4th quarter when they lost a little focus. But I really don't hold one quarter of football against a team who was on the road for the first time against a Florida recruiting rival. As for Kansas, I don't see anything wrong with their defense this year. But I do have some problems with their offense. At this time last season through 4 games they were rolling up consistent 500 and 600 yard games and averaging 6 yards a carry rushing. This year with the O-Line problems they've had early on, they're only averaging about 3.5 yards a carry against similar or weaker competetion. And this is my problem with the Jayhawks going on the road this season compared to last year. They won't be able to rely as much on their running game to control time of possession. So the game will be put more on QB Reesing's shoulders. And this is a problem I have with Kansas facing a quality opponent this early in the year with the best offense that Kansas has seen since Missouri. With USF being able to key more on the pass game, I believe this is where Kansas could get into trouble. USF has an excellent secondary that can match both the height facotr and the speed with the Kansas receivers. And I believe USF has a good enough D-Line to stop or slow down the run and put some pressure on Reesing. On the other side, USF has the Big East's best corp of receivers. And Kansas really hasn't faced either a good QB or good receivers this season. In summary, USF matches up very well with Kansas in almost every aspect of the game. But this time they have the advantage of playing at home where USF is 50-11. So far this season, the Big East has laid an egg in marquee games. Personally, I think this USF team is the best team in the conference this year. And they're playing no better than the 5th best team in the Big 12. I still expect a close game because Kansas doesn't make mistakes and kill themselves, so USF will have to take the game to them. But I look for USF to get the Big East on the board this year in big games. Taking South Florida (-3) over Kansas ***
