Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Best Kansas Jayhawks Football Performance of the Lance Leipold Era + Early Look at Oklahoma State

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, we're going to be talking some more KU football with Nick Schwert. Was that the most impressive performance of the Lance Leipold era, both on defense and overall? We'll get to some KU Oklahoma State talk and finish things up with whose stat line is it anyway? You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. You are Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:39 your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson with me, Nick Schwert. You can find us on Twitter at DJohnsonradio, at Nick underscore Schwert. And thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get any of your podcasts. You can also find us on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. We're going to be talking KU football after the beatdown at UCF, looking ahead to Oklahoma State, and we also are going to get to whose stat line is it anyway. First, this episode of the show brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, official sportsbook

Starting point is 00:01:17 of Locked On. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get 200 in free bets guaranteed. Visit FanDuel.com slash slash locked on to get started. All right, so I guess, I don't know, we'll start right there, rip the Band-Aid off. KU takes down UCF 51-22. To me, that was the best defensive performance of the Lance Leipold era. I know you gave up less points last year like Iowa State, but that was not a great Iowa State offense.

Starting point is 00:01:46 They missed three field goals. Considering this UCF offense, I thought this was the best defensive performance of the Lance Leipold era. And if you want to take it a step further, you could make the argument, probably have to wait and see where UCF finishes this year, you know, because if they end up four and eight,

Starting point is 00:02:01 maybe this argument goes away. But that was maybe the best all-around performance of the Lance Leipold era. Yeah. I'll be honest, Derek. I don't know like what your rundown is for today's show. You don't share with me the details of like where we're going to go from topic to topic, but it's, I'm a little surprised that a few days after Kansas hangs a 50-burger on UCF, you want to open with the defense, right?

Starting point is 00:02:30 They ran for a million yards. Devin Neal, high shot, were absolutely unstoppable. It was one of the most historic rushing performances in the history of the program. And you want to talk about Brian Borland and this Kansas defense okay all right you want to go there that's fine but I sound like Allen Iverson with the practice rant right now but come on are you kidding me that was a special offensive game for the Jayhawks that's what I took away from that win over UCF well I think it's just the bar is different, right? Like the expectations are a little bit different.

Starting point is 00:03:08 And because if I'm to say that was the greatest, I don't know that it was the best offensive performance of Lance Leipold there, right? I mean, it certainly is up there. He ran for 400 yards, but they've had some other really good offensive performances. With the defense, it's like,

Starting point is 00:03:20 I don't know what other one it would necessarily be. So if you do combine it all together, then if you were that impressed with the offense, I was that impressed with the defense. Are we making a PB&J sandwich here? Was it the best overall performance of the Lance Leipold era? Can you think of another one that was better? Yeah, I mean, it's kind of interesting because UCF, I mean, there literally couldn't be a Big 12 opponent you'd think less about.

Starting point is 00:03:44 And it's not like a slight to them. It's because we don't think about UCF. Like you get to the beginning of the season and you see the schedule release and you're kind of like, oh, yeah, they are. That does start this year. Right. So like now it's sort of this weird juxtaposition of, well, I know that they've been a really solid program. They gave Kansas State a really close game earlier this season. And you compare that to what we saw on Saturday, which looked like a team that did not belong in the Big 12, right? When is the last time Kansas was on the giving end of a like, actually, you don't belong here, right? You're not meant for this game when was the last

Starting point is 00:04:26 that that that game on Saturday was the exact opposite of what we've seen about three dozen times over the last 14 years where Kansas football shows up on a Saturday and you're thinking okay let's see what we got in store here. And they get ran out of the building because they can't get a stop. And more specifically, seven yards of run, eight yards of run, nine yards of run. It's demoralizing to beat a team in that fashion where all you got to do is tackle the guy.

Starting point is 00:04:59 And the defensive line is parting like the Red Sea on every single snap. It was pretty impressive to watch I know you like to talk during basketball season about the identity of the team that you have to have an identity as a college basketball team if you want to be successful on the football fields I I don't know how important that is I mean obviously if you're you know one of the best teams in the country you're just great at everything like it's It's not very often in college basketball where you're like, no, they're great at everything.

Starting point is 00:05:28 Typically, you do have to have that identity. Whereas with Georgia or Alabama, yeah, they just are great at everything. So maybe it's different with college football. But right now, what would you say the identity of this KU football team is? Well, I'd have to say it's running the ball. With the athletes that you have in the backfield between Neil and Hyshaw and the fact that both of your quarterbacks whether it's JD or Bean have the ability to run and I think some would say that is actually their strength like with both Neil and

Starting point is 00:05:57 certainly Bean like they are more of a threat in the run game than they may be in the pass game I don't know you go back and forth on how you feel about JD, but that is this team's identity. The offensive line has improved tremendously from a season ago when they are at their best. They're not maybe rushing for 400 yards against you like they did against UCF, but when they're at their best, it is Andy Kotelnicki coming up with creative, inventive ways to open up this run game and then take your shots downfield. Like you got a couple of receivers that are sort of go up and get it,

Starting point is 00:06:30 contested catch guys in Grimm and Lawrence Arnold. So I think it's the creativity on offense, but it's all predicated on the run game. Like if you're conjuring up a couple weeks from now, how is Kansas going to upset Oklahoma maybe you don't think there's a chance but if it is one of those one in a hundred games what's the formula Devin Neal has a big game doesn't he right KU upsetting Oklahoma if they're not having success on the ground like that is where it begins and ends with me with this team I'm curious do you agree Yeah, I agree with that.

Starting point is 00:07:07 I think no matter who the quarterback is, because Jason Bean almost became a game manager, you know, last game. And I think ideally that's what you want. You want to play good enough defense, good enough special teams, which the special teams, you know, you get a couple of big returns and part return touchdown, and then you want to run the football. And I think that's something that we're finding apparent that,

Starting point is 00:07:24 you know, you're good at something if teams are game planning and scouting for it each and every week and you're still having success they've had 220 or more rushing yards in four of their six games uh the two games that they didn't nevada which was just kind of a weird game and then texas was the other one but in the texas game you still averaged five yards per carry so it's not like you weren't having success you just couldn't stay on the field you weren't converting third downs so you weren't able to you know bring up your rushing total and their offense stayed on the field a while they were converting third down so yeah I think it's pretty apparent that everyone you play even though they are going to be expecting you to run the football like you still expect a measure of success doing

Starting point is 00:08:02 it and that is the best way to say that is your identity if you're going to do well at it even if they're expecting it that's your identity i think too what if you pay attention to the nfl on sunday is one thing that is kind of becoming a theme of the nfl season with some of the elite offenses is all the pre-snap motion we're seeing like miami does it san. Miami does it. San Francisco does it. Kansas City does it at historic rates, really. There's a direct correlation between top-scoring offenses and the pre-snap motion, the creativity they have offensively. Who's doing more pre-snap motion in college football than Kansas is

Starting point is 00:08:39 and Andy Kotelnicki? They are at the forefront of offensive innovation, which is the fact that sentence just came out of my mouth. When, when talking about Kansas football, it almost doesn't feel right. Like, do I want a second go at that? Are we sure that Kansas is at the forefront, but it, it really is. We've seen it now for two straight years and it's exciting to watch. All right. Let's get onto some KU Oklahoma state talk.

Starting point is 00:09:04 How important is this game to the trajectory of the season? And we'll answer that question next. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Snap into action this NFL season with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. That's $200 in bonus bets, win or lose. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there's no better time to get in on the action.

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Starting point is 00:09:52 So KU takes on Oklahoma State on Saturday. And I think ideally if you would have said you split between UCF and Oklahoma State and you entered into the bye week at 5-2, you would take that. But now that you're there, now that you beat down UCF, now that the Big 12 is wide open outside of Oklahoma and Texas, it'd be a lot cooler if you won the game, right? But how much do things change the trajectory based on the results of this game? Like if you lose this game, how do you view the team? If they win this game, how do you view them?

Starting point is 00:10:23 Well, you know, coming off the Texas loss, it felt like a repeat of last season, right? You start hot, JD goes down, then you lose badly and you think, okay, all right. It's back to scrapping and clawing and just trying to get two more wins over the last two months of the season. But to come out and beat UCF the way you did last week, that changes my mindset going into this game. And I'm assuming you're the same way, which it's okay. Maybe it is different this year.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Maybe they have found a way or Jason Bean has found a way or the offense, et cetera, et cetera, is going to continue to operate at a high level, no matter who's in it, quarterback. And now knowing what Oklahoma State's been through, I know they're coming off the wind of Kansas State, but they got dog walked by South Alabama less than a month ago in Stillwater, Derek. So I'm going into this game, not just because of what KU's been through, but because of the season that Oklahoma State's having, you got to have it.

Starting point is 00:11:25 And it's the game going into the bye. You get this win, you have six weeks to just kind of say, okay, how good of a bowl game are we going to? You have six weeks to decide, are we going to be in the mix for the big 12 title game with a month to go? We talked about this a month ago, like what is sort of a successful season? And I think we said, if you are in the hunt with a month to go, if we get to the end of October and you are in the hunt for the Big 12 title game,

Starting point is 00:11:55 that is, I mean, that's illustrative of such growth for this program and building off what you did a season ago. So I think it's huge. You get this win going into the bye week. You're coming out against Oklahoma with nothing to lose. We already got six wins. We're going to a bowl no matter what.

Starting point is 00:12:13 And those last four games, I would imagine you'll either be slight favorites or they're going to be close to pick-ems in almost all of them. And that's exciting just knowing, okay, like there's no pressure mounting like there was last year when it was loss after loss after loss. And you're just saying, get one more win, just get one more wins. We can go to a bowl game. You do the, you take your business against Oklahoma state this weekend, all of that's off the table and you're kind of playing with house money. Yeah. It would still be disappointing if you went seven and five, but at least you knew you took care of business early. So now you're just trying to add to it with a month ago. Yeah, this feels like the game to me that if you're going to win eight plus,

Starting point is 00:12:54 you win this game. And you have three road games remaining in the Big 12. They're all against teams. I don't know. Iowa State's had a good start to Big 12 play, but I don't know what to think of them. They still have that loss to Ohio. All three of them are against teams that have struggled at different points through the non-con with Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State that go 2-1. I almost think it's

Starting point is 00:13:16 too much if you expect them to go 3-0 on the road. There's going to be a game that you drop that you probably shouldn't. That's just what happens in college football unless you are the Georgias or the Michigans of the world. Maybe it's this week against oklahoma state i i do think that oklahoma state beating kansas state last friday maybe gets your attention a little bit more coming into this game and it's one of those things where if you look back at the game you kind of walk away like well oklahoma state struggled in the non-con like they barely beat their fcs

Starting point is 00:13:43 opponent they lost by like 30 points in south alabama. Like, they barely beat their FCS opponent. They lost by, like, 30 points to South Alabama at home. Have they turned the corner? Have they figured things out by beating Kansas State? But you go back in the game, and Kansas State has three turnovers. Oklahoma State has none of them. How much are you buying that Oklahoma State is a real threat to beat Kansas on Saturday? I mean, they're a real threat because it's Oklahoma State.

Starting point is 00:14:04 Like, there is a level of respect that you just have for that program. I would say, like, this is not the same Oklahoma State that we – I mean, really the past, what, three years, they've kind of taken a dip where you expected them to be like a top 20 offense in the country every single year, and they just haven't really had the quarterback play to make you think that they're that same team and the defense is always like I'm looking at what Kansas does well

Starting point is 00:14:31 like they want to score points just like they did against UCF and as we've talked about various times this season even if you're going up against a good defense right there's only so much you can do to shut down a really potent offense and what last week proved to me was that whether it's Jason Bean or JD in at quarterback this is going to be a top 20 offense in the country so no matter how much improvement we've seen from Oklahoma State over the past month you're going to have to find a way to keep up with Kansas because they are going to get theirs. That offense is going to score points and it's your job to keep up with them. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:15:12 If you can force them into a couple of turnovers, get some third down stops, get them off the field. That's going to go a long way, but ultimately you're going to have to score if you're going to beat Kansas. And I'm just not convinced that Oklahoma State can score. I'm curious, are you sitting here before this Oklahoma State game saying that Kansas is definitively the third best team in the Big 12,

Starting point is 00:15:35 or do they still have to prove it to you? It's still in the back of your mind because of how much they've struggled against Kansas State. It still is in the back of my mind that like, oh, Kansas State's going to figure it out out and they have just owned Kansas in the series. So for me, that answer will really be determined based on how that game goes. I guess it also kind of depends on how much you're buying into West Virginia. I'm not really. I think West Virginia is a fine team that'll probably win seven or eight games. They have kind of a schedule that's

Starting point is 00:16:02 favorable to do that. But I would take Kansas over West Virginia, even though they don't end up playing this year. So yeah, man, I think it's a real conversation. I'd have no problem with you if you wanted to put them in at number three. It's just for me, it's in the back of my head about the Kansas State thing. Yeah. And I think that kind of is baked into the idea that this is Kansas football and you're going to have to earn everything. You're not getting the benefit of the doubt from a hot start, because I feel like it's less than it was a season ago, but there's still that element of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I think I'm kind of getting past that.

Starting point is 00:16:36 If we see a convincing win on Saturday, I'm not expecting you to win by 30 again, but if you go into Stillwater and win by 10 points, 14 points, I think that will remove any doubt in my mind that like, okay, everybody, like we can talk about what you think about Kansas, but look around the big 12, whatever problems you think Kansas has, other teams have bigger ones. If they take care of business, I think I'm going to be all in on that idea. We're going to finish up whose stat line is it anyway?

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Starting point is 00:18:17 One is a KU football. One is a KU basketball with late night in the fog last Friday. We'll start with the football. This was against UCF. Kansas had three players who had seven or more sacks. One had eight. The other two had seven. How many of them can you name?

Starting point is 00:18:33 Okay. Seven or more sacks. I'm sorry. Tackles. I misspoke. That would be incredible. Was this an even more historic game? I told you the defense is the greatest game for the defense.

Starting point is 00:18:46 Okay, okay. So there were three players with seven or more tackles. Tackles, yes. Can I take Rich Miller? You can, but that would be an incorrect answer. Okay. Kenny Logan. Kenny Logan is one of the answers.

Starting point is 00:19:10 I know it's a guy that you keep bringing up, and if it weren't for you bringing him up on the show every week, I wouldn't be guessing it, but you have been raising my awareness of this player. I'm going to go with Tywon Berryhill. Tywon Berryhill. He was the leader with eight. The last one will be a little more unorthodox unorthodox so

Starting point is 00:19:33 not really a position he usually racks up tackles okay so he's a secondary player uh let me just go with the obvious kobe bryant kobe bryant is the correct answer so i i brought this up for a couple with barry hill um coming off the the injury playing well with kobe bryant just weird to see a corner have that many tackles but he continues to play one run game and then with kenny logan i thought it was interesting because you know it felt like a couple years ago uh when kenny logan was a freshman and sophomore and he's putting up these huge tackle numbers. How often have we seen that in Kansas football where the safety – it was like Fish Smith's in, where the safeties are putting up

Starting point is 00:20:10 like huge tackle numbers. Rice tornadoing. Yes, and they're getting these awards. And it's like, well, but that might not actually be a good thing because that means they're getting to the third level. But now Kenny Logan is leading the team in tackles and they've been a much better defense so maybe Kenny Logan just is really good I don't know yeah well I mean it's

Starting point is 00:20:31 probably a little bit of both like Kansas has taken massive defensive strides this year but this is still like the weakness of the team you would say is their defense like this is it's still what I don't know a bottom 50 like last year they were bottom 10 defense okay well now they're like a middle of the pack maybe slightly below average but the other side of that is Kenny Logan's really good man like he is the most experienced player on this defense and if you do get to the third level like at least you have a guy back there who can make it go from being a 12 yard run or an eight yard run to what it used to be, which is like, oh, he's housing it right last year. Bajon Robinson, like, oh, he's going to go for 240 today. He's going to go for 250.

Starting point is 00:21:15 Like those games have been fewer and far between. see how this defense performs against Oklahoma coming up here in a couple of weeks because as good as Texas looked two weeks ago this Oklahoma team might be just as potent offensively all right I got a late night in the fog one last year Michael Jankovich led them in points with nine and this year two players tied for the team lead with four rebounds at late night in the fog on Friday night can you you name them? No. No. If you think I was like analyzing. They are both scholarship players. They are both scholarship players. I certainly was not analyzing the scrimmage on Friday.

Starting point is 00:21:53 So these are going to be shots in the dark. I'm going to start with Hunter Dickinson. No. Okay. How about KJ Adams? Also no. Okay. Let me KJ Adams? Also no. Okay, let me keep it going here. Kevin McCuller?

Starting point is 00:22:10 Also no. All right, I'm going to get there eventually because we're going to run out of players. Parker Brown? No. Nope. All right, this is getting tough. DeJuan Harris? No. this is getting tough um dewan harris no you want me to just tell you okay yeah this isn't fun for me anymore you made your point for me uh zach clements and johnny furphy so uh the first time we got to see the australian with with johnny furphy and uh i don't know four rebounds does it do anything for you yeah dude i am here for johnny furphy content i will consume any and all johnny furphy content

Starting point is 00:22:51 that you can provide i've made it very clear derrick i'm all in on this guy i he is one of my favorite kansas basketball players of all time um the mystery surrounding him and now it's growing like the legend of furphy is growing where it's like all of a sudden you start to hear these rumors that the coaching staff really likes him right he's better than they thought he was going to be he could figure into the the starting rotation to begin this season he comes in as this mystery player then 24-7 sports comes out and he's a top 40 player in the class I am I all in on this kid. I am expecting greatness from him the second he steps on that court. Can you give us a good day, mate?

Starting point is 00:23:34 Good day, mate. There we go. Good one. That was your limited Johnny Furphy impression. Yeah, there we go. All right, he's Nick Schwert. Give him a follow at Nick underscore Schwert on Twitter at DJohnsonradio. Cat's locked on Jayhawks anywhere you get your podcasts, and you can find us on our YouTube page. See you next time with a KU Oklahoma State preview.

Starting point is 00:23:51 Later.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Best Kansas Jayhawks Football Performance of the Lance Leipold Era + Early Look at Oklahoma State

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