This year’s Kansas football team will only go as far as its defense will take it.

Last year, the defensive unit was good, and the Jayhawks were in every game. The problem was that the solid effort was only good enough to win four games.

At first glance, the blame for most of those losses landed squarely on the offense. It’s the stance that just about everyone took after last season, and most fans are hoping that a quarterback will emerge to take pressure off the defense this year.

A scenario where the KU offense allows the KU defense to stay off the field and have the occasional slip up would truly be grand. But if you compare this year’s defense to the offense, it’s clear more should be asked of the defense.

That’s due in large part to the two players pictured above, junior cornerback Charles Gordon and senior linebacker Nick Reid.

Rylan Howe / KANSAN

Senior linebacker Nick Reid and junior cornerback Charles Gordon are expected to anchor the Jayhawk defense. Both Reid and Gordon were named to the preseason All Big 12 team.

They are the leaders of this team, the best players on this team, and two of the best players in the Big 12 Conference. Not only do they make great plays themselves — Gordon led the NCAA with seven interceptions last year, and Reid led the Jayhawks in total tackles — but they make the players around them better.

It’s up to these two to motivate the Kansas defense to get angry, step up, and become a unit that other teams hate to play. When opposing offenses line up against the KU defense, they should know they’re in for an all day struggle.

Kansas needs to be like the 2001 Baltimore Ravens, who, despite having one of the NFL’s worst offenses, rode a consistently stellar defense to a Super Bowl victory.

To do that, the defense doesn’t have to shut out every opponent. It only has to do the little things like making the routine tackle, not committing that foolish penalty, and staying sharp throughout each game.

Had the KU defense done that last year, we’d currently be talking three bowl games in a row.

At Northwestern, the Jayhawk defense held the Wildcats in check all day, but once Kansas finally took the lead, at 17-13, and needed a stop to secure victory, the defense allowed a four-play-81-yard drive in just over a minute. The Jayhawks lost 20-17.

The same was true against Texas Tech. After jumping out to a 25 point lead, the Jayhawk defense completely fell apart and let the Red Raiders score 26 unanswered points.

Against Texas, the Kansas defense had two chances to hold on to victory, but forgot the meaning of the word blitz, forgot how to tackle, and coughed up another late lead — albeit aided by a questionable call.

In other words, by making three more plays on the defensive side of the ball, Kansas would have been 7-4 instead of 4-7, last year, without any offensive improvements.

Although the offense must contribute, it is the defense that has the potential for greatness. If the Jayhawks turn things around this year, it’s going to be because their defense takes that leap from good to great.