OHIO 43
Kansas 10

I'm predicting great breakfast tailgating with good friends, special coffee, bacon, and other breakfast treats winning the day. A killer 110 show for the parents in attendance comes in second, and Ohio vs Kansas comes in a close third.

I have limited confidence in our defense after getting debacled at Purdue. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but even if Purdue is greatly improved, they pretty much showed every team we will play the blueprint to beat us. I also don't think Kansas is as bad as last year, and I seem to remember them giving us fits at times.

Is Rourke the man to make the offense go? Or do we default back to Maxwell? What the hell happened to AJ and Brown? And is Poling going to be healthy enough to play? If he's questionable do you sit him and hope he can go for a conference game vs. EMU next week?

Too many questions. A 7.5 point favorite? Really?

But pride will not allow me to pick against us.

Bobcats 37
Jayhawks 31
Attendance: 22,777

Ohio - 31
Kansas - 21

Attendance - 23,177

Expect Kansas to give us a steady diet of what worked against us at Purdue. Bobcats eliminate the killer turnovers, and Kansas is just not as good as Purdue. Ohio 24, Kansas 21.

I'm hoping the results of the Purdue game were a bit humbling for the team and that they come out on Saturday with a renewed focus and swagger. I'm sure our players know the background on Kansas but also still will zero in on that XII on their opponent's uniforms and see this as an opportunity to take out a team from a bigger conference. The victory last year should also be a confidence booster.

Honestly my prediction depends heavily on who is QB1. Rourke, in my opinion, keeps the Jayhawk D off balance and presents a better chance to mix things up with the running and passing games. Sample size is not great on Rourke but Maxwell is not as big a running threat IMHO and could cause drives to stall if the holes are not there for the backs and/or passing game is not in rhythm. Windham was able to gash their D pretty well last year as a more fleet footed QB. He went for about 150 on the ground, averaging around 10 yards a pop.

With Rourke: Ohio 35, Kansas 24

With Maxwell: Ohio 24 Kansas 21

I have also fully prepared myself mentally in the event that the Jayhawks put their road losing streak to an end in Athens. As well as Frank has done in his time, Ohio Football still is fully capable of losing to anyone, anytime.

Ohio 31
Kansas 30

Attendance Announced: 21,700
Actual: 18,500

I haven't noticed that anyone said anything about Kansas hiring one of our coaches in the off season. Based on last years game against Texas State where they had hired one of our coaches, I'm going with a loss here, maybe by 31-28 or so.

IF either our defense or offense really shows up, we may win, but the Purdue game didn't build a lot of confidence in the team for me. Purdue easily could have scored 60 on us, if they had chosen to.

The only two things that I've been really encouraged by so far are Rourke's play and Odom's play. And maybe Farkas and White, but neither of those are a surprise.

Yes Purdue beat us but thats to a mature Boilermaker team who lost several games in 2016 by less than 6 points. They held Lamar Jackson in check better than North Carolina last week. And also they have Brian Brohm, a NFL journeyman QB and Xs & Os coach that made Western Kentucky a powerhouse. I think we win big this week 42-17. Rourke becomes the eventual starter and he puts on a show. Burrows wont allow the deep middle throws two weeks in a row.

Ohio 28
Kansas 24

Remember that CMU has been very jekyll and hyde in recent years.

With Poling: Ohio 31-24
Without Poling: Kansas 34-28

Ohio 27
Kansas 24

Rourke will get us a win with his guts.