Kansas drubs Rhode Island, but what does it mean?

Rhode Island is America’s smallest state and Saturday night it got a little smaller.

Kansas, winless since the Battle of Rhode Island, or so it seems, finally broke through with a 55-6 win over the Rams. It broke a 15-game Kansas losing streak and assures second-year coach David Beaty of not having to go through another offseason with a zero hanging in the win column, swinging in his face everywhere he goes.

Rhode Island has been the Championship Subdivision version of Kansas of late, winning eight games in the previous five seasons and celebrating one winning season since 1996. The Rams are coming off back-to-back one-win seasons and last won a conference championship in the Yankee Conference 31 years ago.

It would have been nearly impossible for Kansas to lose Saturday. And the impossibility of losing is exactly what Beaty and the Jayhawks needed.

Playing Rhode Island gave Beaty a chance to look at his two quarterbacks — Montell Cozart and Ryan Willis — without having to commit to one being the starter. He did a lot of other experimenting, too.

For what it’s worth, Cozart started against Rhode Island and was effective. So was Willis off the bench.

Neither was the second coming of Todd Reesing, David Jaynes or John Hadl, but each steered the Kansas ship mostly without incident. There was an unsightly moment late in the first half when the Jayhawks, deep in Rams territory, shot themselves in the feet countless times — using two timeouts and being called for an illegal substitution penalty before Matthew Wyman stubbed a field-goal attempt.

But the Jayhawks aren’t trying to move mountains here. They’re trying to move pebbles of sand, something Beaty gets. But will KU’s fans?

I think so, especially if some of what was on display Saturday night carries over into more meaningful and challenging games.

Cozart, getting a third opportunity to impress, was impressive against Rhode Island. Whether he’ll be impressive next week against Ohio or in a month against TCU is anybody’s guess.

Willis was good, too. Even redshirt freshman QB Carter Stanley had some moments late, including the game’s final touchdown pass.

And Kansas showed off a new toy, a pass-catcher who spent last season in the garage as a redshirt. Texas A&M transfer LaQuvionte Gonzalez, one of the best high school receivers in the country while at Cedar Hill in Texas, caught seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. Gonzalez joins Steve Sims — who led KU with 124 receiving yards and two touchdowns — Tyler Patrick, Jeremiah Booker and Bobby Hartzog to give the Jayhawks some promising depth and talent.

Talent has been missing for the Jayhawks in recent seasons. Seven of KU’s 10 wins since 2011 have been against FCS teams with Rhode Island the latest victim. There’s a reason for the sparsity of the crowd Saturday night — Memorial Stadium was about half full — and it’s a reluctance of the fan base to believe.

Beaty has been a storm of positivity since his arrival from Texas A&M, where he was wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. You can’t listen to him without some buy-in, at least emotionally. Perhaps not so much at the ticket office.

Hey, it’s not cheap to go to college football games. It’s especially not cheap to make the commitment of season tickets and a donation to the Williams Fund and then get slapped in the face with an 0-12 season.

There’s pressure on Beaty, pressure intensified because of the swing-and-miss nature of the previous two coaching hires, Turner Gill and Charlie Weis. But I like the way Beaty is handling the pressure. He’s not making promises, nor is he offering excuses. He’s tirelessly positive but that enthusiasm doesn’t come across as fake.

There’s a vibe about Beaty that was never evident in either Weis or Gill, who from the beginning of their regimes seemed to be missing something. A lot of things, actually.

Again, it would be foolish to attempt to glean too much glean too much from a win over Rhode Island, even one as one-sided as Saturday’s. The Rams averaged 240.2 yards of total offense last season and scored 14 rushing or receiving touchdowns. Rhode Island wasn’t a test for Kansas as much as it was a guinea pig.

And the Jayhawks did what they had to do. They won, first. They won big. They had impressive moments. Cozart may turned out to be one of those third-time-is-a-charm guys after all. The defense flew around and made some plays. And it’s reasonable to see this group of KU receivers becoming something if Cozart and Willis can continue to deliver them the football.

If there truly is a reason for hope, it’s imperative that Kansas build on the Rhode Island win by beating a tougher Ohio team next week. Then the Jayhawks go to Memphis in a couple of weeks and show well, whatever “well” is.

A blowout win over Rhode Island followed by three months of misery won’t have resolved anything. Beaty gains nothing in that scenario except, perhaps, a shorter leash.

For a night, though, the Jayhawks had things their way. There’s something other than a zero in the win column. How much it means will be determined.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Kansas drubs Rhode Island, but what does it mean?."