Big 12 Football: Week 9 Power Rankings

10. Kansas Jayhawks (Record: 1-7)

The Kansas Jayhawks truly appear to be on their own island in the Big 12 right now, which isn’t a good thing. With eight games into the schedule, we all would have liked to have seen something–anything really–to indicate the team is on the right path towards a turnaround. But so far, the Jayhawks’ shortcomings paint a picture that improvements are tangible, just not likely within the next few years.

In the Jayhawks’ 56-3 loss against Oklahoma, the Sooners needed to pile on points to demonstrate its offensive firepower, but also make a statement on defense, as it fell significantly in both total defense and passing defense against Texas Tech two weeks ago. With a dominant win over Kansas, the Sooners were able to do just that, and then some. Kansas crossed the 50-yard line on just three drives, and were only able to amass 170 total yards of offense, despite holding on to the football for 29 minutes and 55 seconds.

Quarterback Montell Cozart threw two interceptions, and the Kansas offense was only able to put up 49 yards rushing on the day. Averaging less than four yards-per-play is no way to win in any league, even one where defense doesn’t usually dominate.

Kansas goes on the road to Morgantown this weekend, and coming off a potential playoff-ending loss for West Virginia, expect no mercy; this could get very ugly, very fast, as the Mountaineers will need to dominate the rest of the season.

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