With a 42-30 defeat on Saturday at Ohio, the Kansas Jayhawks moved ever closer to setting a new record in college football — one that they don't want any part of owning.
The Jayhawks' loss in Athens, Ohio made it 42 straight times that Kansas has visited an opponent's home field and left with a defeat. The Jayhawks haven't won a game outside of Lawrence, Kan., since September 12, 2009. Since then, the Big 12 has lost four teams and added two others, Barack Obama completed two four-year terms as president and Apple has announced six more generations of the iPhone after releasing the third generation three months before the Kansas Jayhawks' last road victory, which came over UTEP.
Meanwhile, the Jayhawks have had four different head coaches patrolling their sidelines during the ugly losing streak, going back to Mark Mangino. Turner Gill and Charlie Weis have both come and gone without ever winning a game away from Memorial Stadium, and David Beaty is now 0-12 on the road as the man in charge.
Kansas Jayhawks used to be decent on the road
It's easy to forget now, but under Mangino, the Jayhawks were actually a credible road team. In eight seasons, Mark Mangino went 14-32 away from Lawrence, but his last three teams were a combined 9-9 in road and neutral-site games. Unlike Beaty, he never beat Texas, but his Kansas teams were known as a tough out no matter where the game was played.
Those days are now a lifetime away. Not only have the Kansas Jayhawks not won on the road in eight years, they often haven't come close. Since 2014, the Jayhawks have only come within 10 points of their opponents once away from home, and they've often suffered some embarrassing defeats.
Kansas offensive line hilariously goes missing on botched play (Video) https://t.co/YaKrzXs22o
— Buddy Abraham (@BuddyRAbrahams) September 16, 2017
When will the Kansas Jayhawks win on the road?
The all-time worst road losing streak is 44 games, set by Western State of Colorado in 1936. With the loss to Ohio, the Kansas Jayhawks have three chances to end the streak before setting the record: at Iowa State, at TCU and at Texas.
On paper, Iowa State marks the Jayhawks' best chance. Since the Big 12 went to its current lineup, Iowa State hasn't finished higher in the league than ninth, and Kansas was competitive against the Cyclones last year in David Beaty's first visit to Ames, Iowa. However, KU's past two trips to Jack Trice Stadium haven't exactly been close, as Iowa State won 38-13 in 2015 and 34-0 in 2013.
Another loss to the Cyclones would send the Kansas Jayhawks to TCU, which is the one road stadium in the Big 12 where KU has been competitive. Despite the Horned Frogs' success, Kansas only lost 23-17 in David Beaty's first trip to Fort Worth, Texas. Catching the Frogs sleeping again might be a possibility.
If that doesn't happen, Kansas' last hope to avoid setting the record comes on Nov.
11, when they visit the Texas Longhorns. Considering that the Longhorns lost to KU last year, there's little chance that Texas will forget to show up again. The Longhorns will be highly motivated this time around.
Nobody said Beaty had an easy task in turning around the Kansas Jayhawks, but this challenge might be more daunting than anyone expected. Ending this streak would be a major sign of progress for Beaty. But for now, the all-time record is looming and Kansas appears to have no end in sight.
