LAWRENCE — Jake Heaps and Justin McCay could only watch last season as the first yuear under Kansas head coach Charlie Weis turned into a nightmare. The two high-profile transfers were forced to run the scout team while the Jayhawks scuffled along to a single win.
Now, Heaps and McCay finally get their chance to turn things around.
Heaps will start at quarterback and McCay at wide receiver on Saturday night when Kansas opens its season against South Dakota, a program from the Football Championship Subdivision.
Heaps set numerous freshman passing records at BYU before losing his job as a sophomore and electing to transfer. McCay was among the most highly sought prospects in the country coming out of high school, but struggled early at Oklahoma and decided to transfer closer to home.
"It's hard to describe how I feel," McCay said. "I just don't want to let anyone down, especially my team. If we come out with the win that's all I care about."
Looking back, Heaps believes the expectations that came with being one of the nation's top prep quarterbacks got to him at BYU. Now, he's more relaxed in a place where expectations — at least those outside of the program — are much lower. Kansas has won just six games total the last three years.
"That was always something that was there. You want to live up to those expectations," Heaps said. "For me, we desperately want to exceed expectations that are here. People don't expect us to win so we want to prove people wrong. But at the same time, you can't worry about that."
South Dakota also won just once last season, but the Coyotes are coming off a 10-7 season-opening win over UC Davis that filled them with confidence as they head to Lawrence.
"We played a lot of those games last year and didn't win," South Dakota coach Joe Glenn said. "This team shows a certain fight we maybe didn't have a year ago, a playmaking ability we didn't have a year ago, and it showed at the end of the game."
This figures to be a much stiffer test for the Coyotes, though. Here are five things to look for as the Jayhawks welcome them for their season opener:
NEW-LOOK DEFENSE: In an attempt to slow down the proliferation of spread offense, Kansas has decided to use a nickel package as its base defense this year. That means the Jayhawks will have at least five defensive backs on the field most of the game. Cassius Sendish was the starting nickel early in the fall, but he's now the starting free safety and Victor Simmons is the nickel.
"The game is faster paced," Kansas defensive coordinator Dave Campo explained. "We need to learn how to survive."
GROUND AND POUND: South Dakota proved it can run the ball in its season opener, piling up 195 yards against UC Davis. It paid off in the second half, too, when the Coyotes were able to run out the clock against a worn-out defense. They'll try to do the same thing against Kansas, which allowed opponents to run for more than 200 yards per game last season.
"We ran the ball 31 times in the first half," said Trevor Bouma, who led South Dakota with 17 carries for 95 yards. "That wears down any team, no matter who you're playing."
AIR IT OUT: Heaps and McCay will try to air it for the Jayhawks this season. Kansas was reduced to a ground-based offense last year mostly because quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Michael Cummings were ineffective. Christian Matthews and Tony Pierson provide two more pass-catching options.
SET THE TONE: South Dakota hasn't started 2-0 since 1996, when it was a Division II program. The Jayhawks consider their opener a must-win given they travel to Rice next week, then face an improved Louisiana Tech team before the Big 12 schedule gets going Oct. 5 against Texas Tech.
BEWARE THE FCS: Eight teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision lost to FCS teams last weekend, including the Jayhawks' Big 12 rivals Kansas State and Iowa State. So it's little surprise Kansas coach Charlie Weis reminded his players this week that even though the Coyotes are not a household name, they still have enough talent to give them a test.
"Obviously it got their attention from Friday night right on through, whether it was the K-State- North Dakota State game or any other ones that happened," he said. "When you have an offseason to get ready to play, there are a lot of good coaches out there."
