Kansas Jayhawks head coach Turner Gill spoke with the media on Tuesday regarding the upcoming road trip to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers. This will be one of KU's toughest games of the year. It's never easy to win in Lincoln and this is a top 10 team.
Gill laid out his goals for the game including protecting the football and creating turnovers.
"The keys to the game are first we have to take care of the football. Ball security. Ball security and also our defense we have to have three or more turnovers. Just some stats that really caught my eye with them are their offense has had 31 times where the ball has been on the ground. The opponent has gotten 11 of them. There are going to be opportunities where we are going to have to be able to cause fumbles and we have to be able to recover. I think if we do those things and we take care of the ball on the offensive side there is a great opportunity for us to be successful. The last key is we have to continue to play relentless. You also have to have the good execution."
One more I would add: starting fast. This won't be a Colorado type of situation where the Jayhawks can fall down early and come back. Nebraska is simply too good. If Kansas gets in a two-score hole, it's over. KU hasn't exactly been the fastest starting team so this is a significant hurdle.
As far as the turnovers, KU will need to force a few (or more), as Gill says. Not only do they need to create turnovers, but they need to capitalize on them. They need to score. And, frankly, they need to score TDs off of turnovers not FGs.
KU has a lot to do to have a shot in this game. It seems like a long shot but, then again, so did 45-17 in the fourth quarter against Colorado.