Gameday has arrived. We will be wrapping up the countdown with a very special article early this afternoon, but we have a lot of things to look at before the game kicks off tonight.
Up first is our predictions, where every member of the staff has looked at the matchup for today and provided their expectations for today. With a brand new season after a lot of offseason changes, there are a lot of different possibilities for the outcome today.
Do you disagree with our assessment? Make sure you read them all and then hop over to the Discord or on Twitter to share your own thoughts.
Brendan Dzwierzynski
I’m not expecting every kink to be worked out of this team in Week 1, but given the deeper talent than usual that KU has and the fact Tennessee Tech is just not a good FCS program, the Jayhawks should be able to impose their will . I’m looking for a comfortable win, with the running game controlling the game and a deep rotation on defense showing off its increased athleticism with regularity.
Kansas 38, Tennessee Tech 10
Kyle Davis
To Brendan’s point, in Bill Connelly’s SP+ projections for FCS schools, Tennessee Tech came in ranked 108. Kansas should be able to control the game from the start and it’s all about building chemistry and gaining confidence. I also feel like Devin Neal will be able to do what he wants for the most part, but I’m looking forward to seeing who steps up at receiver. KU has done a good job pushing fans to show up at The Booth and I think a solid crowd will go home happy.
Kansas 42, Tennessee Tech 17
Derek Noll
These guys above must know way more about football that I do, but I do know that Kansas tends to get off to a slow start each year in a game that many of us thought would be pretty straightforward. I still have KU winning, but the margin will be less than those above.
Kansas 28, Tennessee Tech 13.
Lucas Murphy
The Kansas Jayhawks have a different vibe coming into this season and as friends, family, and fans pack to Boothe tonight the expectations are elevated for this Kansas football team. I expected Jalon Daniels to run this offense at a high level backed by the deep running back group led by Devin Neal. On the other side of the football I expect the upperclassman and transfers to lead this defense. I will be watching linebacker Rich Miller, linebacker Eriq Gilyard defensive end Lonnie Phelps, and cornerback Kalon Gervin.
Kansas 42, Tennessee Tech 14
Andy Mitts
First, Derek needs to give himself a little more credit here. It is VERY difficult to get information on this Tennessee Tech team other than they are a middle of the road team in their conference, and that conference is arguably the worst in all of FCS.
That being said, the REAL uncertainty here is with the Jayhawks and not Tennessee Tech. As I mentioned on the preview episode of the podcast, I’m not sure if the Jayhawks are going to use this game to get the main starters going in preparation for a big game against West Virginia coming up next week. They might instead try to get as many people involved as early in the game as they can, which could naturally keep the margin lower.
The one thing I’m sure of is that there are going to be a TON of impressive stat lines. That could either be Jalon Daniels, Devin Neal, Ky Thomas, a couple wide receivers and a few defensive players have ridiculously large totals, or it could be 35 guys with great stats considering each only plays 13-16 minutes. I tend to think they will spread it out more and try a bunch of different looks to see what wrinkles work in game action.
Kansas 45, Tennessee Tech 20
Join the discussion! Come talk about this or any of our articles on the Blue Wing Rising Discord Server.
Follow Blue Wings Rising on Twitter.
Listen to the official podcast of Blue Wings Rising: The Rock Chalk Podcast.
.