In its first true test of the 2026 season, the Kansas Jayhawks’ running game gained just 81 yards on 36 carries in a 38-21 home loss to 23rd-ranked Missouri.
That included nine carries for 31 yards in the first quarter, which suggests good balance, but nearly half of those runs belonged to quarterback Isaiah Marshall, who was responsible for 20 of the 36 carries in the game.
It was a far cry from the physical, ball-control brand of offense the Jayhawks hoped to utilize this season, even if the intent was to stay balanced throughout the game.
The Jayhawks’ offense followed up its genuine intent to establish its running game in the first quarter with 10 more carries in the second quarter. And by halftime, they had next to nothing to show for it. Just 49 yards.
Shortly thereafter, following back-to-back turnovers early in the third quarter, KU fell behind by two scores and that’s when Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said the thought process changed a bit, even if the numbers didn’t fully show it.
KU ran the ball nine more times in the third quarter and eight in the final quarter, with many of those going to Marshall thanks to the four sacks Missouri recorded in the final 15 minutes.
It clearly wasn’t KU’s night in the run game. So, what goes into the decision to go away from it when it’s not working and how quick was KU to get there last Friday night?
In a perfect world, Kotelnicki said a lot of that is sorted out well before the games begin, with counters and plans for this, that and the other built into the basic game plan. Even that doesn’t always play out the way you think it will, though, and there becomes a need to adjust beyond what you thought you’d see.
“If it happens in the moment, you’ve got to be prepared to adjust,” Kotelnicki said. “Play by play, we’ll evaluate what happens (and look for) a reason — why isn’t it working. Is it something silly? Is it something, ooh boy, we’re just not gonna physically be able to do that?”
“You have to evaluate how you’re running the ball, but you can never get in a situation where you’re like, 'We’re just gonna throw it the rest of the time or we’re only gonna run it.' I think you always have to maintain balance.”
— KU Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki
Against the Tigers, it was mostly the latter, as bona fide Big 12 backs Yasin Willis and Dylan Edwards struggled to find room to run, especially when KU tried to attack between the tackles.
“We did not do a great job of moving them up front,” Kotelnicki said this week of the Missouri front seven. “And we did not do a good job generating angles against those guys.”
As a result, and with the game script forcing KU to chase points in the second half, the running game all but disappeared. That, however, is not what KU wants or how they expected to utilize Edwards and Willis.
“You have to evaluate how you’re running the ball,” Kotelnicki said, emphasizing the how in the sentence while noting that if it's not working on the interior you might call more perimeter runs. “But you can never get in a situation where you’re like, 'We’re just gonna throw it the rest of the time or we’re only gonna run it.' I think you always have to maintain balance.”
Given the fact that Edwards came to KU as a known commodity throughout the Big 12 Conference — he scored 20 touchdowns in his three years combined at Colorado (2023) and Kansas State (2024 & 2025) — it seems like getting him going at Kansas would be the easiest thing to target.
But here’s something that might surprise you. And it also might not.
In 30 career college games, Edwards has logged double-digit carries just five times — twice in 2023 at Colorado, once in 2024 at K-State and two more times last season at K-State, in just four appearances.
In fact, his career average for carries per game is barely over the 6 totes per game he’s had with the Jayhawks thus far, at 6.53.
Contrast that with Willis, who has 10 double-digit carry days in 22 college games, with an average of 8.54 carries per game, and the result might leave you thinking that KU getting its running game going lies with finding more work and success for both of these guys, not just the one with the bigger name.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
