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Texas Football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2020

By Jake Mitchell

HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns prepares to lead the team onto the field before the game against the Rice Owls at NRG Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns prepares to lead the team onto the field before the game against the Rice Owls at NRG Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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LAWRENCE, KANSAS – AUGUST 31: Head coach Les Miles of the Kansas Jayhawks during warm-ups prior to the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Memorial Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS – AUGUST 31: Head coach Les Miles of the Kansas Jayhawks during warm-ups prior to the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Memorial Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

There’s a whole lot of LSU ties on the Texas schedule in 2020. To open November, it will be a matchup with Kansas, led by head coach Les Miles, who won 114 games and a national title on the bayou. His current team, however, is in a much tougher spot.

In the five years prior to Miles’ arrival, the Jayhawks won a total of nine games. Kansas hasn’t even been bowl eligible since 2008, and 2009 was the last year that the program won more than three games. Needless to say, this has the looks of an almost impossible coaching job.

Related Story. 5 biggest CFB storylines of Summer 2020. light

Miles’ debuted with a 3-9 season in 2019, and this is a program that just needs to keep making baby steps back to respectability. The hole that has been dug in the last decade has left immense damage on this program, but a name like Les Miles could be the catalyst for change.

It’s unlikely Miles will turn Kansas into a Big-12 contender, but he’s brought a jolt to recruiting. According to 247Sports, the Jayhawks are currently slotted with the 57th-ranked class nationally, up from 70th a year ago.

He’s also brought a jolt to the on-field play. 3-9 is obviously not an impressive record, but the way Kansas got to 3-9 certainly felt different this time around. One of the signature Jayhawk games of 2019 was the 48-50 scare they gave the Longhorns. Texas got the win, but it was anything but easy.

The Jayhawks are still firmly in rebuilding mode, and while they’ll put a scare into someone again in 2020, it won’t be Texas. They won’t forget the escape of 2019, and Herman and company will go into Lawrence on a mission this year. That will only be amplified if they are indeed following up their first loss of the season.

Prediction: Texas 54, Kansas, 20 (8-1, 5-1)

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