When Kansas has the ball

Kansas rush offense vs. Georgia Tech rush defense

The KU running game was atrocious in the season-opening loss to North Dakota State. With the exception of wide receiver Daymond Patterson’s 51-yard run on a reverse, KU gained just 45 yards on 32 carries.

There is reason for the Jayhawks to hope for improvement this week, and it stems from the fact that Georgia Tech gave up 178 yards on 39 carries to South Carolina State last week.

But until the Jayhawks prove that they can consistently block better and run their offense with better rhythm, it’ll be hard to give them the advantage here.

Edge: Georgia Tech

Kansas pass offense vs. Georgia Tech pass defense

It’s one thing that, in last week’s loss, the KU quarterbacks graded out as “just OK,” according to head coach Turner Gill. It’s another that the Yellow Jackets gave up just 94 yards through the air and held SCSU to a completion percentage of 44 percent.

With quarterback still a major question mark for the Jayhawks, it’s hard to say how good the passing game can be.

KU’s receivers could get the better of the Yellow Jackets here, but until the quarterback question is solved, the passing game remains a mystery.

Edge: Georgia Tech

When Georgia Tech has the ball

Georgia Tech rush offense vs. Kansas rush defense

This could be the scariest matchup the Jayhawks face all season. Georgia Tech’s running game is that good. Last week, in a 41-10 victory over South Carolina State, GT rushed 56 times for 372 yards and six touchdowns. Seven Yellow Jackets gained more than 25 yards and five gained 34 or more. That included quarterback Joshua Nesbitt, who scored three TDs and gained 130 yards on 16 carries.

The thing that makes the Georgia Tech ground game so dangerous is not its personnel as much as the system. The Yellow Jackets run a spread version of the triple option in which a fullback, two slot backs and the quarterback are threats to gain big yardage on every snap.

Edge: Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech pass offense vs. Kansas pass defense

The Yellow Jackets threw the ball eight times — and completed just one pass — in last week’s victory, so it’s difficult to say how good their passing game can be. The truth is that they didn’t need to throw the ball to beat South Carolina State. They might need it to beat Kansas, which has a defensive coordinator (Carl Torbush) who coached against GT last year and a cornerbacks coach (Vic Shealy) who spent time at Air Force, where the Falcons ran a similar style of offense. Combine those facts with the overlooked notion that the KU pass defense was pretty good against North Dakota State, and it’s easy to believe that the Jayhawks could get the better end of this deal.

Edge: Kansas

Special teams

The Jayhawks were awful in a lot of aspects of special teams last weekend. They missed a pair of field goals, had a punt blocked, struggled to get the right personnel onto the field multiple times and, although they were good in kickoff returns, struggled with punt returns. The Yellow Jackets also suffered a miscue in the opener — having an extra point blocked after their second TD — but that paled in comparison to the wide range of KU’s struggles.

Edge: Georgia Tech