photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas place kicker Matthew Wyman (7) celebrates with his teammates following the Jayhawks' 24-21 overtime upset of Texas on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 at Memorial Stadium. Wyman kicked the game-winning field goal.

Kansas has had trouble blocking, passing and running in recent seasons. Consequently, the Jayhawks tend to have fewer drives into field-goal range than the the rest of the teams in the Big 12.

Still, more than that has led to the Jayhawks consistently ranking last in the Big 12 in field goals.

Too often, KU hasn’t even made the field goal part of its offense because the kickers have been too inconsistent to trust.

In the past seven seasons, a Big 12 team has not reached double figures in field goals just seven times. Four of those belong to Kansas and no other Big 12 squad has done it more than once. Baylor (eight field goals in 2016), Kansas State (eight in 2010) and Iowa State (eight in 2010) had off seasons. KU has had an off decade.

Average field goals for the past seven seasons from Big 12 schools: Oklahoma State (20.9), TCU and West Virginia (19.0), Oklahoma (18.9), Kansas State and Texas (16.4), Texas Tech (14.9), Baylor (13.7), Iowa State (12.3), Kansas (9.0).

Enter Liam Jones, the incoming freshman from Choctaw, Okla., charged with kicking to the curb the program’s reputation for lousy kicking. A two-star prospect, per Rivals, Jones earned honorable mention all-state distinction.

A left-footed kicker, can win the job by doing little more than not losing it. He’ll replace Matthew Wyman, who had his best season as a senior, making 13 of 19 field-goal attempts and all 26 extra points. Wyman made 5 of 5 field goals from 20-to-29 yards, 5 of 7 from 30 to 39, 2 of 4 from 40 to 49 and 1 of 3 from 50 to 59.

The 13 field goals Wyman kicked last season were the most by a Kansas kicker since 2009 when Jacob Branstetter also made 13 of 19 field goals.