The 2010 Kansas Jayhawks football team (variously "Kansas", "KU", or the "Jayhawks") represented the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in the

2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 2, 2010, and ended on ...

which was the school's 121st season. The Jayhawks played their home games on Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

. The team was led by first year head coach

Turner Gill Turner Hillery Gill (born August 13, 1962) is an American college athletic administrator and former football player and coach. He is the Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas, a position he as ...

and was a member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in the North Division. The team captains were senior

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Angus Quigley, senior

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

Sal Capra, senior

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Jake Laptad, senior

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Justin Springer, and senior

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Chris Harris. The Jayhawks finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in Big 12 play and did not play for bowl game for the second consecutive year, but was highlighted with a 35-point fourth-quarter comeback against

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, making it the Jayhawks' largest comeback in program history, as well as the largest fourth quarter comeback of all time.

Pre-season

Coaching changes

Former head coach Mark Mangino resigned from his position on December 3, following a 7-game losing streak and internal investigation into his conduct.

, former head coach at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

was named the new head coach on December 13, 2009. Gill will bring with him

Carl Torbush Carl William Torbush Jr. (October 11, 1951 – November 5, 2023) was an American American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1987, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill fro ...

as his defensive coordinator and

Chuck Long Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). He played as a quarter ...

as his offensive coordinator. None of Mangino's assistant coaches or strength and conditioning staff were retained by Gill.

Recruiting

Expand the list below to see the full recruiting class.

Watch lists

*Jake Laptad - Hendricks Award Watchlist *Tim Biere -

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

Watchlist

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

North Dakota State

Turner Gill's debut game for the Jayhawks ended in dismay as the FCS Bison team defeated Kansas 6–3. Although Kansas took a lead in the first quarter with a field goal, the Bison scored 2 field goals, 1 in the first half and the other in the second, to knock off Jayhawks. Kansas had 3 turnovers in the game, causing the Bison to lead in time of possession.

Georgia Tech

Trying to rebound after the loss against the FCS Bison, Kansas was considered an underdog against the heavily favored, 15th ranked, Georgia Tech. Redshirt Freshman Jordan Webb took over the starting QB role and true Freshman James Sims was introduced at running back. In the first half, Kansas scored two touchdowns, but the Yellow Jackets were ahead by a field goal at halftime, 17–14. However, in the third quarter, Kansas would score an unanswered touchdown to take the lead at 21–17. In the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Jayhawks would score yet another touchdown. However, Georgia Tech scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to try to pull off a comeback. Then, with a minute to play in regulation, Georgia Tech's drive stopped with a

turnover on downs In gridiron football, a turnover on downs occurs when a team's offense has used all its downs but has not advanced the ball enough to earn another set of downs. The resulting turnover gives possession of the ball to the team on defense. Backgro ...

that ended the Yellow Jackets' hopes of winning. The final would be 28–25, with Kansas winning. This would be the first time since 2008 that Kansas defeated a ranked opponent, defeating the then #11

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

40–37. The win remains (as of the conclusion of the 2021 season) the Jayhawks last win over a ranked opponent.

Southern Miss

New Mexico State

Baylor

Kansas State

Texas A&M

Iowa State

Colorado

Nebraska

Oklahoma State

Missouri

Awards and honors

Justin Springer *Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (week 2) - 15 tackles, 1 sack against #15 Georgia Tech D.J. Beshears *Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week (week 4)Beshears Tabbed As Big 12 Special Teams Player Of The Week
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References

{{Kansas Jayhawks football navbox

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Kansas Jayhawks football seasons

Kansas Jayhawks football The Kansas Jayhawks football program is the college football, intercollegiate football program of the University of Kansas. The program is classified in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I Bowl Subdivi ...