Reason for optimism



  • Obviously we all have a sick feeling after being controlled by an FCS team for the most part Saturday and completely blew a game that they put a bow on for us. I will say before I drift off to sleep and I’ve said this before Nicholls could be a better team than both CMU and Rutgers. Now I’m not expecting to win any game at this point but I don’t think that is a stretch. Nicholls should’ve beat Georgia two years ago and had every chance to beat A&M last season. The offensive line was terrible especially the snaps, but that can be improved. The offensive line is a group that has to know each other’s assignments and play with continuity. The bad snaps killed several drives and helped us to 1.8 average per rush. Stephon Robinson left me very impressed at the WR spot on a off night for Sims( doesn’t happen too often so I’m not gonna bag on him), Kerr Johnson also looked good. I thought Bender did as much as you could for a guy that had zero time to throw coupled with shit snaps repeatedly. I think that if the line is able to improve Bender and the group of receivers can do some decent stuff. The defense has some good pieces if they can learn to play together and be in the right spot. I thought they ran out of gas after being on the field for 22+ minutes the second half, a unfortunate face mask killed what would’ve been a 3rd and long late. That stuff happens, I’m more disappointed in the offensive line than any other position group. I’ll give a quick shout out to Rui for hitting a 54 yarder, that was impressive and the special teams had a solid night. Looking at some of the stats I think we actually may have abandoned the run game too soon. As I said we averaged just 1.8 yard per rush but in college the sacks and bad snaps count as a run. Williams and Herbert both averaged more than 5 yards per carry. I’ve always believed that a team grows the most between the first and second game. Last season CMU went to 3 OTs to beat a Rhode Island (finished with 3 wins in FCS) team that missed 2 short FGs to win and went on to win 8 games including spanking us. Now we haven’t seen that jump from our team since Beaty as been here so I’m not beating the farm on it.



  • @kjayhawks

    Williams and Herbert running stats are somewhat deceiving. Herbert had 61 yards in 12 carries but one of the carries was a 23 yard which skews the average; if you take that one run he is 38 yard in 11 carries or 3.5 yards per carry. Williams is similar since he had 35 yards in 6 carries but 23 of those came in one carry so the other 12 came on 5 carries or 2.4 yards per carry.

    The offensive line was…well…offensive, the Bender hardly had any time to throw and was sacked 6 times. The defense showed some potential at times and Dinnen had a great game with 16 including 12 solo tackles but he also had a very costly face mask penalty.



  • …but - but - but… Nicholls isn’t even a state.



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    @kjayhawks

    Williams and Herbert running stats are somewhat deceiving. Herbert had 61 yards in 12 carries but one of the carries was a 23 yard which skews the average; if you take that one run he is 38 yard in 11 carries or 3.5 yards per carry. Williams is similar since he had 35 yards in 6 carries but 23 of those came in one carry so the other 12 came on 5 carries or 2.4 yards per carry.

    The offensive line was…well…offensive, the Bender hardly had any time to throw and was sacked 6 times. The defense showed some potential at times and Dinnen had a great game with 16 including 12 solo tackles but he also had a very costly face mask penalty.

    Actually the face mask penalty wasn’t on Dineen. Beaty corrected that last night , saying that in the game book it showed it was him - - Beaty even said it was him in his post game but - -he said last night that actually the penalty was on Kyron Johnson - I mean very true it was a face mask and it was very costly - just wasn’t on Dineen. - -one of the few bright spots ONCE AGAIN for the defense. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • @jayballer73

    I posted before reading Beaty’s correction but the broadcast repeatedly indicated (erroneously) that Dineen was the one that committed the face mask. As I indicated, Dineen had a great game which looks even better now that we know he did not commit the infraction.



  • Beaty made the classic mistake of starting his least mobile QB behind a questionable O-line. I don’t know that a more mobile guy could have done much more, but starting an immobile guy gave KU no chance on that front. Beaty is done. I have defended him on this site for the better part of two years, saying he needed more time, but time is up. He is done after this season.



  • Do we know if Carter Stanley killed Beaty’s mom?



  • justanotherfan said:

    Beaty made the classic mistake of starting his least mobile QB behind a questionable O-line. I don’t know that a more mobile guy could have done much more, but starting an immobile guy gave KU no chance on that front. Beaty is done. I have defended him on this site for the better part of two years, saying he needed more time, but time is up. He is done after this season.

    Agreed. I too have tried defending him – But I can’t do it anymore. – Bender is the last one I wanted to see as the starting QB. Just as you said his mobility is a joke. If you want to try and use the run more – he IS NOT the QB you want back there. People will come back and say he is the best of the three - everyone has their opinion , but if you want to balance your game more he IS NOT the best choice - -people say the other two can’t throw as well - -Bender threw just a little over 50 % and sacked six times. - -These other QB’s can do that AND RUN - but I’m done with Beaty. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY





  • @BShark I think Stanley is far and away the worst we have just my opinion. I’m sure Kendrick will get a start sooner rather later. Hell if the line can’t do any better all 3 may with how many licks Bender took.



  • kjayhawks said:

    @BShark I think Stanley is far and away the worst we have just my opinion. I’m sure Kendrick will get a start sooner rather later. Hell if the line can’t do any better all 3 may with how many licks Bender took.

    I mean, we have seen the team be a bit better with Stanley. When the oline is trash you can’t expect a pocket passer to do well unless their release time is insane and they are totally elite.



  • @BShark I think Stanley is a turnover machine and I really think people believe he much more mobile than he actually is. If you want mobility then Kendrick needs to get the nod IMO. Like I said the way this season is shaping up we’ll probably get a chance to see all 3. Even if Bender isn’t hurt, a team that loses several games in a row usually changes QBs just to see if it makes a difference, even tho it probably won’t in our case.



  • Kendrick looked great the one full series he had. If Sims didn’t drop the pass that hit him in the hands, he would have been 3-3 (big gain) and it’s a different ballgame.

    Bender was horrible the second half, but so was the play calling and blocking, so I could probably only really blame Bender for about 1/3 of his flubs. I expect Beaty and Bender will go down together in a ball of flames.



  • @DanR what’s the whispers around town buddy?



  • @kjayhawks Meh. Haven’t heard anything new except without a couple wins he’s probably fired after the WVU game… which is not news. Gives the interim coach two weeks to prepare.

    My inside sources are professors (and some retired profs), so take the info for what it’s worth! (not much).

    To me and regular LFK peeps, it just feels like Gill’s last year when he was getting blown out by 50 points, the team looked like the bad news bears, there was no hope in sight, and everyone just wanted to see him gone.



  • @BShark I like Stanley a hell of a lot more then Bender - Bender is just an accident looking for a place to happen - - and it has


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