Georgia Tech might be feeling its way around a football field, but Kansas isn’t even at that point after one week. The Jayhawks are groping in the dark, just trying to get out of bed.

Georgia Tech was okay in polishing off South Carolina State this past Saturday, 41-10. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt scored three touchdowns and his main backfield mate, running back Roddy Jones, hit paydirt twice. Georgia Tech rolled up 372 rushing yards and wasn’t remotely threatened.

Yet, there were reasons for concern in Atlanta. Coach Paul Johnson’s defense got shredded for 178 rushing yards – this from an FCS opponent. Tech also turned the ball over twice against a decidedly inferior defense. The Yellow Jackets definitely have to iron out some patchy areas on defense.

Yet, if you think Georgia Tech has issues, oh, they are nothing compared to what Kansas faces. The Jayhawks were humiliated in their season opener, as they lost in Lawrence to FCS foe North Dakota State by the even more embarrassing score of 6-3.

Kansas was never able to establish the ground game against an opponent that should have been overmatched up front. Wide receiver Daymond Patterson totaled 63 rushing yards to become the Jayhawks’ best rusher against the Bison. KU totaled just 32 rushing yards from running backs Angus Quigley and Deshaun Sands. Given that the two young men had 34 carries, KU posted a one-yard-per-carry average. That won’t get it done against a Division II or Division III opponent.

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Quarterback Kale Pick, making his first career start, could never make high-impact plays against North Dakota State. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 138 yards and tossed a costly interception that kept the Jayhawks from tying the score late in the third quarter.

The mistakes just kept coming against North Dakota State. KU kicker Jacob Branstetter missed a 42-yard game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter. Junior tight end Tim Biere fumbled twice, the first leading to the game-winning North Dakota State field goal. The second case of fumble-it is stopped Kansas’ final drive with 3:10 left in regulation.

Things got so dire and panicky on the Kansas sideline that backup quarterback Jordan Webb entered the game with 11:27 left, but the freshman wasn’t helped by the mistakes committed around him, primarily by his ineffective offensive front.

The night was a disaster for head coach Turner Gill, making his BCS conference debut after leading Mid-American Conference member Buffalo the previous few years. Gill did not have the right answers from the sideline against North Dakota State, and after just one game, he has to answer his critics in ways he probably never thought he’d need to. Beating Georgia Tech seems like a nearly impossible task; the best thing Gill can reasonably expect from his team on Saturday is an appreciable degree of improvement, nothing more.