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Beaty on having a 3-0 start, no hurry to name a quarterback

Beaty wants to 3-0 in the non-con, but is only thinking about week one
Beaty wants to 3-0 in the non-con, but is only thinking about week one

The MAC conference held its media day on Wednesday. Two of the Jayhawks first three games are against Central Michigan and Ohio.

In week two Kansas will face Central Michigan and travel the following week to Ohio.

Last year Ohio beat Kansas at home after jumping to a big lead. Today Ohio was unveiled as the favorite to win the east side of the MAC and Central Michigan was picked to finish fifth on their side.

Kansas will be a strong favorite to beat Southeast Missouri State in week one. If they can find a way to get wins over Ohio and Central Michigan, a 3-0 start would be big for David Beaty’s program in year three.

“Anywhere I have ever been, and it doesn’t matter whether it was the high school level or the college level you want to get off to a fast start,” Beaty said. “Obviously if you can go 3-0 in your non-conference you have to feel good about that as you go into your conference schedule.”

Last year Kansas was 0-2 against non-conference teams at the division one level. Beaty talked about how hard it is to get wins against any division one opponent.

“The thing about it is, it is hard to win a college football game,” Beaty said. “The parity in college football is so close, it is razor thin. It is very difficult to win games. We are totally focused on Southeast Missouri State.”

Beaty was asked how crucial it was for his team to start 3-0. He made it clear they are only worried about week one and he couldn’t rattle off how the rest of the schedule played out in order.

“We don’t even know who we play after that (SEMO),” he said. “And I’m not joking. I know who is on the schedule I just don’t know when we play them. We are focused on the first one. The only way we will have a chance to go 3-0 is to go 1-0.”

When will Beaty plan to reveal his starting QB?

There has been a lot of talk about the contrasts between quarterbacks Carter Stanley and Peyton Bender. Even the two of them described their differences. But Beaty said they also have similarities.

“They’re both very talented and maybe a little bit more similar than you would think,” he said. “Both of them move really well. They are both playmakers in a sense. Neither one of them are robotic which is something I’m really excited about. When you are coaching guys who are robotic they are really cool in practice but they’re not so fun in the games.

“They (robotic QB) can’t improvise and that is a big part of our game is to have guys with the ability, at that moment, to do things on their own that others can’t do. Both of those guys have a little of that.”

Beaty is on the record the starting quarterback job will come down to one of the two. He is anticipating a good competition and isn’t in any hurry to pick a starter.

“It is going to be an interesting, and fun battle in Lawrence, Kansas,” he said. “I’m just going to be honest with you there is no way we’re going to name a starter until the time is right. I don’t care when that is and you might not know until we trot them out there. The best thing about them right now is they are both healthy. The good thing is having two quality quarterbacks going into the season.”

Is there a slight favorite as fall camp is less than a week away? Beaty said he doesn’t have a leader and it will be settled in camp at the earliest.

“I’d be lying to you if I knew who our quarterback was right now and it was settled,” he said. “You would love to have that (a starter now), but there are a lot of things that I want, that I don’t get.”

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