Kansas @ Central Michigan preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2017 ) Central Michigan 45, Kansas 27

It has been over a year since the Kansas Jayhawks last won a game, a season-opening 38-16 victory victory over FCS member Southeast Missouri State. But the Jayhawks, who have lost 12 games in a row since, will be out to snap an even longer and uglier losing streak Saturday afternoon when they travel to Central Michigan.

The Jayhawks, who were upset by FCS member Nichollls, 26-23, in overtime in their season opener Saturday, bring a FBS-record 46-game road losing streak with them to Mount Pleasant, Mich., and have dropped 49 in a row away from Lawrence, Kan. You have to go all the way back to Sept. 12, 2009, to find the last time Kansas picked up a road victory, a 34-7 win at UTEP. Needless to say the natives are more than a little restless at Kansas where head coach David Beaty fell to 3-34 in four seasons, especially after losing at home to an FCS school to begin the season, and forced new athletic director Jeff Long, the former Arkansas athletic director and College Football Playoff committee chairman, to issue a statement to Jayhawk fans asking for their patience. "We all expected a different outcome Saturday, but I continue to support our student-athletes and coaches and ask all Jayhawks to do the same," Long said. "Our evaluation of the program is ongoing without a predetermined timeline."

TV: 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+ streaming. LINE: Central Michigan -4.5

ABOUT KANSAS (0-1): The Jayhawks had rallied to take a 20-17 lead in the opener and looked like they were going to garner a rare win before star linebacker Joe Dineen Jr. was flagged for a key facemask penalty that enabled Nicholls to get into position for a game-tying field goal that forced overtime. Senior Peyton Bender, who threw for 323 yards in a 45-27 home loss to the Chippewas last season, completed 19-of-35 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns against Nicholls but was sacked six times and was replaced by mobile sophomore Miles Kendrick on a 3rd-and-6 play in overtime that resulted in a three-yard loss on a designed run and forced Kansas to settle for a field goal. Despite his key penalty, Dineen had a big game finishing with 16 tackles, including 12 solo, while All-Big 12 defensive tackle Daniel Wise added a career-best eight tackles, including one for loss.

ABOUT CENTRAL MICHIGAN (0-1): The Chippewas dropped their opener at Kentucky, 35-20, despite forcing four turnovers, allowing 299 yards rushing while also getting flagged for 12 penalties for 106 yards. Central Michigan actually led 20-14 with just over a minute to go in the first half before the Wildcats scored the game's final 21 points. Tony Poljan, a 6-foot-7 redshirt sophomore who was the 2015 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year at Lansing Catholic High School, completed 17-of-27 passes for 137 yards and also rushed for a team best 47 yards in his starting debut while redshirt freshman defensive back Devonni Reed finished with a team-high 14 tackles and returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Dineen, who led the nation in solo tackles (93) in 2017, now has 16 career games with 10 or more tackles.

2. The Jayhawks averaged just 3.6 yards per play against Nicholls, the worst average in an opener for KU since 2004.

3. Bender set a Kansas record with 62 passing attempts in last year's 45-27 loss to Central Michigan, completing 32 of them for 323 yards and two interceptions.

PREDICTION: Central Michigan 42, Kansas 35