Football program still stuck in a rut, despite changes

Even with all the bravado Kansas showed in hiring big names to fix the football program, the Jayhawks have won just one game in four tries this season.
As Charlie Weis & Co. enter a bye week, there are more questions than answers and just as much — if not more — disappointment in Jayhawks football than there was in the Turner Gill era.

Dayne Crist has been anything but golden. The fifth year transfer has completed just ­­­­48 percent of his passes while throwing for only two touchdowns on four interceptions.

TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Senior quarterback Dayne Crist almost gets sacked by TCU defender Sam Carter during a match against TCU.

Crist’s numbers would look much worse if it wasn’t for a consistent run game that has scored seven of the Jayhawks’ 10 touchdowns this season.
Weis has used his backfield about even with his quarterback — 155 rushes on 130 pass attempts — yet with Crist not able to connect on his passes the offense has had little balance.

In trying out a lesser-employed scheme, Weis found temporary success with the wildcat formation numerous times against Northern Illinois last Saturday with wide receiver Christian Matthews running the offense.

Success, because it led to two Kansas touchdowns, was temporary because it disappeared in the fourth quarter when the Jayhawks were desperately trying to put points on the board.

“Wildcat is effective until they start stretching to the perimeter,” Weis said. “Once they start stretching to the perimeter then you go to something else. You don’t go away from it because you don’t think it’s going to keep working.”

It forced Kansas back into its unbalanced offense, which — as it had done all season — failed to sustain successful drives.

With an extra week off, it’s not exactly back to the drawing board for the Kansas coaches, but it’s no secret that what was expected to vindicate the futile Jayhawks has yet to do so.

• Updated Sep. 28, 2012 at 8:57 pm
• Edited by Stéphane Roque