Racing Royalty | Jayhawks Bowl Push 2023

[Bundy]

 

RACING ROYALTY: The Jayhawks final push towards a bowl and some crowns

When Cody Casspi took a redshirt season for the inaugrual 2021 CFB campaign, no one batted an eye. Kansas had several receiving options (churning out two wide receiver draft picks in the following NFL drafts, along with young and promising Alex Atkins at TE), and social media present, fan favorite team captain Bene' Humber in front of him in the RB stable. In fact, most people didn't know who Cody Casspi was. And many still don't.

Casspi was often thought of as the third option in Kansas' noted 3-headed rushing attack during the 2022 season, with fullback Marcell Maysonet coming from nowhere to rush for 1,074 yards, and Humber averaging 7.17 yards/att. Casspi cracked the 1,000 yard mark in thanks to his coming out party, a 212 yard explosion against Oklahoma State. All three finished with 8 rushing touchdowns on the year.

This year has been a notably different season for the Jayhawks. They did continue their trend of benching the QB that started the year as QB1, with Tyler Summers being sent to ride pine for the second time in as many seasons, though this years' benching lasted for just the Oklahoma onslaught. But there is no veteran QB to turn to this year, unlike the Jeff Maedas and Ian Morgans of years' past, to command the Jayhawks through the stretch of the season. There is no veteran receiver to lean on, like the Adam Williams and Trenton Adams of years' past. And it shows.

The Jayhawks have flown under the radar, largely in part to a close but still frustrating season opening loss to Nebraska, an upset loss to Big 12 fledgling Cincinnati, and now recently, a massive blowout loss to the departing Sooners. Kansas has had to fight tooth and nail to get to 5-5, and now they'll face the toughest emotional matchups that have been circled since schedule release - Kansas State and Missouri.

Kansas made a bowl game last year. Kansas won a bowl game last year. And the rabid KU fanbase has expectations. They want another bowl, even if it's not as prestigious as last year's 8-4 regular season got them, the Hawai'i Bowl. 

This Jayhawks team relies on Cody Casspi. He cracked the 1,000 yard mark last weekend, largely in part to a school record 228 yard output in the Big L to Oklahoma the week prior. And with two games left, he's chasing greatness.

Bene' Humber was noted across the nation. He finished his CFB career with school record marks of 2,082 career rushing yards, 17 rushing TDs. He rushed for 1,129 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2021. These are marks that Casspi can match, or breach, this season. Casspi has rushed for 1,006 yards this year (-123 yards from season record) and 9 touchdowns (ties Humber's mark). Which bring his career marks to 2,076 yards (-6 yards) and 17 touchdowns (also tied). 

Other notable record watches:

True freshman linebacker Sung Franzese has recorded 67 tackles thus far, chasing Ziggy Sands' 2022 record of 75.5 tackles. The 4-star from Minnesota has made an impact in bringing down opposing ball carriers.

Sophomore kicker Jake Ramirez has drilled 18 field goals through the uprights this season, chasing his personal mark, the school record, of 20, set last year. 

 

The young Jayhawks hope to accomplish their feats while ripping off victories against Kansas State and Missouri. Kansas State (6-5, 4-4 in Big 12 play) has had an underwhelming season themselves, and while they're locked into bowl eligibility, it would be an accomplished season in its own right to knock a blow against KU bowl chances. Punchable face-Aaron Leamon-less Missouri has been downright awful at times this year, struggling to a 2-8 (1-6 in SEC) mark. In 2021, they finished Kansas off, keeping the Jayhawks 5-7 in their first year of play. 

These two games are also vital to the career of Tyler Summers. Benched in 2022 after 3 starts, he was the QB1 through the offseason, managing to actually throw some touchdowns, but being benched for Aaron Diaz (who we won't talk about in a QB-sense ever again). Summers returned to QB for the Iowa State game, a tight nailbiter with Kansas narrowly coming out on top. The Jayhawks have a slew of hungry passers in the wings, notably ⭐⭐⭐⭐ redshirting FR Joseph Perkins, a 6'3" balanced QB out of Georgia who could offer some sort of relief in the passing accuracy department, and 2023 recruiting class commit ⭐⭐⭐⭐Jeffrey Eagle, a 6'3" pocket passer out of Alabama. Both are expected to be raw, but Summers came into the 2022 season as a raw unknown, and unfortunately, his growth remains slow for the game manager-needy Jayhawks. Summers is playing for a starting QB job - if not in Kansas, perhaps as a transfer.

"We have to take it game by game, not carry by carry or 'record by record'," Casspi insisted following a team film meeting Sunday afternoon. Though there will certainly be in-stadium announcements should Casspi pass Humber's rushing marks, especially with both rivalry games at home, Casspi remains focused. "We need to punch these guys in the mouth, and punch our ticket to a bowl game. We can celebrate things then."

[tsweezy]

Whoever #13 is he should not be allowed near a football field looking like that.

[Bundy]

15 hours ago, tsweezy said:

Whoever #13 is he should not be allowed near a football field looking like that.

Maybe that's why Tyler Summers cant hit the broad side of  a barn, but the poor kids mother is from Alabama, which explains the cryptid-like appearance. We are an equal opportunity athletics team

[nemolee.exe]

What did you use to make these AI images? 

[Bundy]

34 minutes ago, nemolee.exe said:

What did you use to make these AI images? 

There's a bunch of them out there (just googled "AI image generator" awhile back and I use the same one everytime still but there's some out there that get good) 

This is the one I use https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/text2img