Kansas Football: Can Les Miles turn Jayhawks around in 2019?
By Phil Poling
New regime, new outlook on offense
The 2018 Jayhawks’ offense was underwhelming to say the least, averaging only 350.8 offensive yards and 23.8 points per game. Kansas did that while their opponents tallied nearly 420 yards per game. And that scoring average? It ranked 106th out of 130 teams. Ooof.
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There is good news, though – that regime is gone. And while the Big 12’s general style of play differs from the SEC, Miles intends to deploy his typical run-heavy offense.
The 2019 Kansas spring game, branded, “Late Night Under the Lights,” saw a trio of players rush for more than 84 yards each. All three – Khalil Herbert, Dom Williams and Takulve Williams – are expected to be big contributors to the offense, along with wide receivers Kwamie Lassiter II and Ezra Naylor II. Replacing Stevens Sims, Jr.’s team-high 53 catches and 535 receiving yards won’t be an easy task, but these Jayhawks seems up to the challenge.
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Junior college-transfer Thomas MacVittie is the presumed starter at quarterback, but Carter Stanley does have experience under center, albeit brief. Running back Pooka Williams Jr. averaged 7.0 yards-per-carry as a freshman, but was suspended in early December after being charged with domestic battery. He’ll only miss the first game of the season, but the backs who performed in the spring game will need to continue that trajectory.
Ball control will be a focal point of the Kansas offense, and that’s much easier to achieve with a strong stable of backs.
Hakeem Adeniji leads the offensive line, a unit Miles has a vested interest in. He played in the trenches at Michigan in the 1970s and got his first coaching gig as an offensive line coach, something his players have taken notice of.
“That’s the thing I love about Coach Miles,” Adeniji said in May. “He loves getting in there and talking to us big guys. He knows the technique. He’s been there, he’s done that.”