Kansas @ Southern Miss preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2009 ) Southern Mississippi 28, Kansas 35

The first win of the season was nice, but the road doesn’t get any easier for Kansas.

The Jayhawks will attempt to build off of head coach Turner Gill’s first win when they visit Southern Mississippi on Friday.

After managing just three points iin a season-opening loss to North Dakota State, Kansas stepped up last Saturday at home, dropping then-No. 15 Georgia Tech, 28-25. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak dating back to last season an highlighted Gill’s willingness to change up his lineup and adjust from game-to-game.

Gill switched up his skill positions against Georgia Tech, giving starts to quarterback Jordan Webb, wide receiver Daymond Patterson and running back James Sims. He was rewarded with an offense that accumulated 320 yards and 18 first downs. Webb finished 18-of-29 for 179 yards and three touchdowns, with Patterson catching seven of those passes for 85 yards and a score. The freshman Sims, who didn’t play at all in the season opener, rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

The balanced attack gave the Jayhawks their first home win over a ranked opponent since 2003.

But another test awaits when Kansas hits the road for the first time this season to face the Golden Eagles on national TV.

Southern Miss is riding a nine-game home winning streak and bounced back from its own season-opening loss at South Carolina with a 34-7 demolition of Prairie View A&M. Austin Davis threw for 178 yards as the Golden Eagles piled up 464 yards of total offense.

A strong offense has been a staple for Southern Miss over the past few seasons under head coach Larry Fedora, setting 36 school records in 2008 and rolling up over 5,000 total yards in 2009. But the Jayhawks should have a unique perspective of that attack now that Darrell Wyatt is serving as their offensive coordinator.

Wyatt spent the past two seasons under Fedora at Southern Miss, helping to design the offense as an associate head coach-offensive coordinator.

The two schools met for the first time in 2009 at Kansas, with the Jayhawks managing a 35-28 victory on September 26. That Kansas team was led by senior quarterback Todd Reesing, who passed for 331 yards and three touchdowns in that contest, connecting with Kerry Meier for the game-winning score early in the fourth quarter.

Davis was under center for the Golden Eagles and was just as effective as his counterpart, tossing for the same 331 yards and three scores.