Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Isaiah Marshall's Progress, Dominant D-Line & More Game Review Notes for Kansas Jayhawks vs ASU

Starting point is 00:00:00 Is a really good defensive line worth at least making a bowl game? Because I think Kansas has just that. And I think we found that out more against Arizona State. But I think the other part of that question is definitely in question after KU falls to Arizona State. Under review, the film review from going back and watching KU Arizona State. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's up, Derek Johnson here.

Starting point is 00:00:36 This is Locked on Jayhawks. We're going to get to our film review from the KU football game. What stood out for the offense and the defense for the Jayhawks? How does Aesia Marshall look? What did the defense look like? And then we'll get some of the latest news, including KU-Baseball, continuing to dominate on the Jukkah recruiting path. Today's episode is brought to you by Square.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Right now, you can get up to $200 off square hardware at square.com slash go slash college. Run your business smarter with Square. get started today. So let's start here. We're going to actually start with the defense on this week's episode. We did the offense first last week. And on top of it, the defense was so good in this game.

Starting point is 00:01:14 You get up 24 points and only, you know, seven of them come on a kick return. And then you give up the other seven after there was that fumble return that wasn't quite a touchdown, but got stopped the one yard line. So realistically, the defense only gave up like 10 points in this game. And what got backed up on the film review is that the defense, defensive line is really good, man. And I think there were moments in the Missouri game where you saw the flashes, but we just, I think more so against the run because against the past,

Starting point is 00:01:45 we didn't get to maybe see it as well, just from the standpoint of Austin Simmons was throwing the ball so quickly. KU was playing off coverage and he was just getting rid of the ball so fast that KU didn't have time to get any pressures there. So this was a more experimental game to knowing what the defensive. line could be this season for Kansas. And coming in, I thought that Arizona State had, you know, maybe a little bit more questions at the offensive tackle spot than the interior of the line.

Starting point is 00:02:15 So I wanted to see those guys dominate. And they did on the outside. Like Leroy Harris was awesome in this game. David Santiago was really good for KU. And they both showed that they could win, I think, in multiple ways. Like I was impressed in going back and watching the film that there were some moments where, you know, one or two of them won on like a speed ride. There was another moment where, like, I remember David Santiago winning on a bull rush, just bringing the tackle into the lap of the quarterback.

Starting point is 00:02:42 The moments that were they were able to win on different ways. Then you also have Dak Brinkley putting up three pressures and seven pass rush snaps. But it's everybody along the defensive line. Like, that's the impressive part. This isn't just, hey, you've got a stud in Leroy Harris and then like a bunch of average dudes. It's like, no, you've got a bunch of dudes on the D line. It's just that Leroy Harris is looking like. like a pro right now, but it's like Blake Harold continues to, you know, beat blockers. He's not always

Starting point is 00:03:09 coming up with a sack or TFL right now, but he might be redirecting a play or getting a pressure or, like I said, he's close to having that big game where he has a couple sacks. Marcus Calvin continues to flash. I've been all over, you know, loving watching Marcus Calvin so far that he's having a couple flash plays every game and it continued in this one. Eamon Smalls was awesome, just shedding through the interior of the offensive line and getting big run tackles. I mean, the defensive line as advertised and more. And it's just so many guys making plays. And that has me confident that again, it's like, I get it. Like you're one and two right now. The schedule is not easy to point out to how does Kansas get to six wins. But it's like everything about the defensive line is like,

Starting point is 00:03:56 to me, like, it should be a team that can make a bowl game. It's just that. That's what's frustrating about all these close losses, right? Some other notes for the defense. I thought the KU corners played really well, specifically when they were defending boundary shots, and they used the sideline really well as an extra defender. Arizona State tried to throw a couple of balls to the perimeter, and they did a good job working it to the outside. They were pretty sticky in coverage overall. I thought this was a much better game for the KU corners than it was in, in the Missouri game. So maybe that Missouri game will be a good teaching tape that they're going to use the rest of the season. Right. I also was really impressed noticing on film some of the,

Starting point is 00:04:43 you know, sometimes you can overflow to one direction. Let's say a running play is to the left. You can overflow to that direction and then all of a sudden the running back cuts back and there's there's a giant crease the other way to kind of reverse it. Even on the plays where I noticed KU was flowing in that direction. It's like there was somebody there, if not to somebody's there, to where if the running back did decide to cut back, there were bodies there to be like, hey, if you're reversing it, like, we're still here, you know, in a good team defense way. And that was really good to see because I do think there was an element of last year's

Starting point is 00:05:19 team that didn't do a good enough job at that. And so, seeing that well in this game, I thought that was certainly a positive year. And I would just say, like, in general, I don't know if this is like a year two thing of players just looking more comfortable now in the second year of a system for DK McDonald, because there are still a lot of new players where that wouldn't be the case. But it does just in general seem like players were more comfortable. Like I'm watching a couple of plays where KU is like shifting on the defensive line right before the snap, watching plays where linebackers are signaling things where things just look more calm and in order. people aren't like scrambling to get to where they need to be. I know there was a couple busts in the Missouri game, but it felt like you didn't really have that bust in this game.

Starting point is 00:06:06 And it felt like the understanding and going back to that flow as well was just in general better. So hopefully that's a good sign of things that come as well for Kansas. The other thing is this, you know, Trey Lathen continues to be super impressive and is so consistent about doing it that it's almost like it can become almost lost a little bit. Like when you see these flash plays from some of these players, you feel, oh, Trey Lathen was in on that tackle too.

Starting point is 00:06:34 Or it's just like, you know, oh, he's making another ho-hum tackle. Oh, he's making another side line to sideline tackle. He's been really good this season. And that's been awesome to see. And I don't want that to get lost.

Starting point is 00:06:45 But I will say this to KU has a real luxury having Quincy Davis here. Because the idea that the Bam Crouch goes out with the injury after four snaps of play in the opening game. And you've been able to plug Quincy Davis in and he's played really good football for you during that period of time is such a luxury to have. And honestly, like, you know, because most of KU's linebackers, at least the guys playing are, well, I guess Malachi Curve is not. He's a second year player.

Starting point is 00:07:11 But a lot of the guys are, you know, fifth year players. Well, Quincy Davis is a fourth year player. So Davis becomes one of the guys who can be back for you next year. And because of the way Davis is playing and has set himself up, like you're going to go into 2027 and assuming you can get him to return with him being the projected starting linebacker for you. And so seeing some of the flash plays he's making as well is really cool to see. I do think you can tell the difference between Lathen and Davis is that with Davis, it's not as consistent as Lathen, like you're still getting the flash plays, but then you're getting the occasional,

Starting point is 00:07:45 oh, you got washed out here, oh, you went to the wrong area here on the run or something like that. But the flashes are there to the same degree that makes me think that he's going to continue to be a good player this year. And especially he could be a big team leader on next year's team. You know, one thing that's unfortunate, David Santiago played a really good game. He had a really awesome open field tackle. He had a sack. He beat blockers multiple times. He had good pursuit of run angles.

Starting point is 00:08:12 What really sucks is the final play, the final, well, the final, you know, important play. The third down, the Arizona State converts. on the cutter bully run. I went back and watched it. David Santiago, it's a read option. Santiago crashes down on the side that bully ends up darting off to and picking up the first down. And that sucks.

Starting point is 00:08:32 That it's just like you have this guy who played this awesome game. And then it's just like in the moment of truth, like was just in the wrong spot, right? Now, where did the stat sheet fib a little bit here? Jalen Todd's pro football focus grade. It didn't love the game that he put out there. But you know what? I went back and watched, like, I'm watching it.

Starting point is 00:08:51 And I'm like, I don't know, he's pretty sticky in coverage. Like there's one deep throw that comes his way that he had really good coverage on. He actually made a couple nice plays in run defense. Even like a decent yardage catch he gave up. I think he was credited for giving him like 12 yards or something like that. It was after there was like a long scramble drill and the receiver ended up popping open. And then he delivered a big hit right as the receiver caught it. Like it wasn't even that bad of coverage.

Starting point is 00:09:18 Now, he didn't miss a tackle on a short route in the flats toward the end of the second quarter. And I have noticed that missed tackles are real plummeters to your pro football focus grade. So maybe that's why. But I think he played a lot better than his pro football focus grade might indicate. The other one to the alternative is if you just look at the box score, you'd think Taylor Davis had a big day for the defense. I think he had eight or nine tackles. But he missed kind of a bad tackle trying to fill up the middle. I think he missed another one in there.

Starting point is 00:09:47 the first Arizona State touchdown. I don't know. It was a seam route over the middle. Quincy Davis is, I don't know if this was a cover two or if this was like a cover two man or what the situation was, but the two safeties were kind of back in what would be similar to a cover two. And then again, like I said, I don't know if Davis was in man over that guy where he was expecting safety help or if he was just in cover two and carrying along with him over

Starting point is 00:10:11 the middle. But it felt like he was expecting more safety help. and Davis got occupied too much with the receiver on the outside instead of going to the guy on the inside, knowing that the outside guy also had the sideline to help out. And I think that was partially his fault more than Quincy Davis. So that would be the one there. And then underrated player or players who stood out on the All 22. I kind of mentioned Quincy Davis. I thought he popped Marcus Calvin again, the other one, where it's just like he's making a couple of these run sheds where I just continue to be really impressed and really like Marcus Calvin's game.

Starting point is 00:10:45 All right. What about the offense side of the ball? How do Isaiah Marshall do on film review? We'll get to that next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Our episode of the show today is brought to you by GameTime. College football is full of games you plan for all year, but sometimes the best memories come from the games that you almost missed. Game time makes it easy to find tickets for college football matchups you want to see

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Starting point is 00:11:36 Who knows? Maybe it's the, I don't know, hosting Baylor, October 24th, fall weather should be good. They traditionally don't do super great against Baylor, but home game. and I don't know, certainly could use a win in that one. And you can get some good ticket deals over on game time. I'm looking right now and you can get a row 11 in section 115 for $86. You get a good view of the video scoreboard and the Campanil and the hill and everything and the game on the field. Get your friends together, get your tickets and tell them it's game time.

Starting point is 00:12:06 Download the game time app, create an account. Use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account. Use code locked on for $20 off. Our episode today is also brought to you by Square, the system powering so many of the places we already know and love. Whether you're running a packed game day spot, a local restaurant, or a growing business, Square gives sellers the tools to run their business without making things more complicated. Square brings payment, inventory, payroll, invoices, customer insights, and more together in one connected system.

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Starting point is 00:13:22 smarter with Square. Get started today. Thanks for joining us here on Lockdown Jayhawks. A reminder, if you want to see the actual clips, because I can't play the clips here on YouTube, you can see some of the clips of some of the stuff we've been talking about here on my substack. It's free to subscribe to or check out the articles. Jayhawks Overflow on substack. I tweeted out the articles as well. It has articles breaking down some of the highlights and clips for separated out into defense and offense. I might start opening things up for to ask people of if they want a specific player to deep dive into. Maybe we'll start doing that once a week of of an offensive and defensive player. So check that out. Jayhawks overflow on substack. Offensive side of

Starting point is 00:14:06 the ball, I guess let's start here with Isaiah Marshall because that's kind of the big talking point and all listen. I think once again, it's similar to last week in terms of inconsistency, but I think the inconsistency was a little more consistent. And I think the highs were more often in this game. Like I would say this, Isaiah Marshall was better against Arizona State than he was against Missouri. And yes, you can say the Missouri defense probably better, more talented than the Arizona state defense. So maybe that's part of it. But I do think there was real growth from one. week to the next to Isaiah Marshall. At the same point in time, that does not necessarily mean that it's all good and well, right? Like, it's one of those things where it's like his QBR went up from 20 something

Starting point is 00:14:50 against Missouri to 50 something against Arizona State. And it's like, that's a good size jump, right? Same with the completion percentage. But the completion percentage is still in the low 50s. The QBR is still in the 50s. Like, you still want to take further steps there. But again, it's the right first step. Now, when you're talking about some of the inconsistencies, you're talking about a couple things, right? I think there were less accuracy inconsistencies in this one. You know, most of the incompletions were just incompletions. Maybe there's a few that he, you know, couldn't fit a tight one into or something or misses a little bit there. But there weren't any of the bad Missouri misses where it's like you're skipping a throw to a guy wide open.

Starting point is 00:15:31 So that's good, right? I think the other inconsistencies you're looking at here is continues to be maybe like footwork and, operating the pocket. And then the other one I would point to is the running game, right? There are some mistakes that I pointed out to in the overflow on the running game of when to maybe give the ball, maybe when to keep it, maybe when to pitch it, some of those different areas that don't necessarily show up in a box score, but are plays that do have an impact here or there, right? But again, he completed some passes that he missed last week.

Starting point is 00:16:08 He was much better. And even like going back and watching the interception, so the interception he throws, it's fourth and 10. And he has to throw the ball to give KU a chance. And I'm watching the route to like, nobody's open on the play. Like all of the routes, nobody's open. So he's got to throw it somewhere. And he just tries to force one in and fit it into a window and it's not there intercepted.

Starting point is 00:16:31 But it's not a bad interception because you have to take the risks. That's a good thing, right? And I did come away from this. starting to feel more optimistic because as the game goes on, the more film you're watching, the better you're feeling because he's playing better as the game goes on. And then you're having some of those moments in the fourth quarter to make you think, hey, did something click late here? Like, is this the light bulb going off moment? Now, is it just the time and score? Is it that you're up 24 or you're down 24 to 7 and they're playing a more loose defense and that helped out for KU?

Starting point is 00:17:05 That's entirely possible. But if something, did click late, you know, and he has, he starts to play better football moving forward, we might be able to circle back to this game in this fourth quarter and say, hey, that was kind of the start of it, right? I think you saw some good throws in tight windows. You saw some really good throws downfield, even just a reminder at times, too, just like if you have a one-on-one one-on-one with Naze Cox or Nick McMillan, sometimes you just take it and they're going to make a really good catch to make you look better, right? But he fit into some tight windows. He continued the show really good velocity on some of his throws when he needs to get it there, showed some layering.

Starting point is 00:17:44 I thought he improved in a couple of the throws, like, pointed this one out on the substack. Like, he missed some of those, like, throws to the running backs out of the flats a couple times last week against Missouri, but he hits one of them to Dylan Edwards in this one. He missed a curl route to Keaton, Quebec, that he could have had right when he came out of his break against Missouri. Well, he hit it in this one. So there is improvements coming, and that is a good sign to see, right? even then when you look at the offense like Andy Cotonicki continues to scheme up a few plays that could have very easily gone for more.

Starting point is 00:18:16 There's one play where Marshall, he's pressured immediately on the backside so he can't get back to the throwback. So it's not his fault. It was on the offensive line. But if he could have thrown it back to one of these throwbacks, KU basically had a, there was one defender with one blocker and Dylan Edwards to catch. And it's like it could have been a 35-yard touchdown or something. So that was good to see as well. I do want to see KU run Isaiah Marshall and the QB Powers more. That was really successful.

Starting point is 00:18:44 It was successful last year. Obviously, they don't want to get him injured and they want to keep him healthy, especially while Cole Ballard is hurt. But I think that's one of the more effective ways to run him as opposed to, you know, making him think in the read option game, right? Now, what backed up on film review? Nick McMillan is a beast. He continues to be a, you know, I feel like you have bona fide pro on both sides of the ball with

Starting point is 00:19:05 Nick McMillan and Leroy Harris. I mean, you might have more future pros on both sides because there's some other good players to point to, especially on the defense. But those are guys where it just feels like they're ready made right now. Also, in terms of the running game, I would say KU made inroads running the football. They had some good outside runs. They had some of those QB powers, but it still feels like it's a work in progress. Still feels like you're trying to find your identity of what type of a running football team you are going to be. Where did the stat sheet fib a little? bit. Well, this is interesting because Kansas never ran a play in the red zone. And so if you see that stat, you're like, what an abhorrent offensive football game. And to be clear, this was not a good offensive football game for KU. It was a good fourth quarter that helped cover up some of the inefficiencies in the first three quarters. But still, it was it was not a good output for KU, but it's not that bad because they got, I mean, obviously they scored just outside the red zone. and they got inside the 40, I think six times.

Starting point is 00:20:08 They just, you know, either scored a long touchdown or kicked a long field goal or had those turnovers just on the outside of the red zone. The other one is Jalen Butler's pro football focus grade. And this one would go on where did the the stat sheet Fibble little and underrated players. Pro Fulose had him as one of KU's lower rated players for the offense in this one. And I got to be honest, like I was going back and watching tape. Like he's, you know, he's sacrificing his body. in a big way to get some of these blocks out there.

Starting point is 00:20:36 He has a pancake block at one point. Like, he's throwing his body around. He has a couple nice catches in there. I thought Jalen Butler played fine for KU. And that was nice to see with Carson Brun out. I still think it'd be nice to have Carson Brun back, obviously. But, like, I didn't think Jalen Butler got a fair shake on his pro football focus grade. And then the other one is underrated players.

Starting point is 00:20:58 I guess I would say, I don't know. I thought the guard play was solid for KU. Like, I don't know. it's hard to pick like underrated when you only scored 10 points as an offense. You know what I mean? So that is what it is. But if you want to find more from the film review again, Jayhawks Overflow on my substack. All right, let's get to some of the latest news, including a Christian Reeves update,

Starting point is 00:21:19 KU baseball, making more moves or coming in with some praise from the Juko ranks of what they've added, that and a little football scheduling note, all that and more, this is locked on Jayhawks. Our episode today is brought to you by Fan Dual Sportsbook. football fans, it is finally time to put your knowledge to test with the college football pickum from Fandual. Every week, you can make 10 free against the spread picks and compete for a share of $500,000 in bonus bets. There are no entry fees and no wage required. Just make your picks before kickoff and see how your college football knowledge stacks up. And you can follow the live leaderboard throughout Saturday to see where you stand. You can even compare your picks to names like

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Starting point is 00:22:53 John Rothstein tweeted out that Kansas Christian Reeves is still a couple weeks away from being fully cleared, according to Bill Self. And that's one of those things where it's like, we heard he wasn't going to be cleared until October anyway, but hearing it's a couple weeks is we're like a week away from October, basically at this point is like, okay, it's going to be middle of October. And again, my biggest worry is a, I know different injury types, like Reeves is a shoulder. Shaquille Moors was a foot. Schuil Moore is a guard. Christian Reeves is a big man. But I just having nightmares about that situation where it's like Shaquil Moore was expected to come in and play a role on KU.

Starting point is 00:23:36 And there were moments where he was out there and was playing a decent role on Kansas as being kind of a good defensive guard and somebody that was a Bill Self type player, but he's playing through the injury. And then he kind of reagravated it and wasn't able to go through again. I really hope that doesn't happen with Christian Reeves with this tight turnaround. And obviously, KU is not a spot right now where they have a ton of big depth. Now, what's going to happen with some of these roster spots? Are they going to do anything with them? I don't know. I certainly hope that they can make something happen here.

Starting point is 00:24:03 But that would just kind of add to it even more, especially as you've started, practice now from the standpoint of, hey, at the very least, like, you could use some more big man to throw up Paul and Bia to get him real reps for game day. Meanwhile, a little football note, the game against Middle Tennessee, so obviously by week this week, and then the following week, they'll be playing on Saturday against Middle Tennessee State. That will be an 11 a.m. Central game. It will be on ESPNU officially announced. And then for KU Baseball. So this was sent out by Perfect Game USA. they ranked the top juco players from one to 100. KU has two of the top 10, which is cool to see. They have Walt Jones, who's an infielder.

Starting point is 00:24:49 He's ranked number seven on the list. And then Colin Smith, the right-handed pitcher, is ranked number nine on the list. Interestingly enough, I figured that, you know, I don't know. Honestly, like, you could point to a lot of guys that KU has coming in and be like, oh, like I thought he could have been in that top range. And I think in fact, that's reflective of this next one that we're going to talk about. This was also tweeted out that KU is ranked as the number one juco recruiting class in the country for the fourth consecutive season. And that is such a good pipeline to have.

Starting point is 00:25:24 Like I think baseball, like maybe if you want to go back to like the 90s and early 2000s in college football, like the Juco ranks could be. a very viable way to build your team. I mean, shoot like Bill Snyder did at Kansas State, like operated that very well. But I feel like in today's era of everything, I think the best like sport, if you're going to, to, you know, I don't know, get a lot of really good Juko players. The best sport to do it is baseball because, you know, in football and basketball in general, because of the transfer portal, I think you're seeing more guys will even go to smaller schools and then just transfer up or something in juco juco baseball it can be really good and there's

Starting point is 00:26:10 a lot of good players and players sometimes will even go there with the idea that they can be like i remember bryce harper to get into the draft early went to a year of like juco baseball so um it's a really good level and obviously we've seen that because kew has been really good at baseball here or it's the past couple years and it's been filled with all these guys but like i mean shoot i just think of some of these these incoming transit like ryan chase this dude had a i don't know like 1,100 OPS at Santa Fe College. Carson Zagrin had a 766 slugging at Gulf Coast State College. Mentioned Walt Jones, who comes in with almost 1,100 OPS from Weatherford College.

Starting point is 00:26:47 Aidan Mouton, who honestly, like, that's the one where I figured he would have been in the top 10, puts up, you know, even bigger stats than Tyson LeBlanc at LSU, Unis, which is the same school there, right? Aidan Zagrin, the brother of Carson, who put up good numbers as well. You got other good pitchers from the Juko ranks like Grady Hoke who had over 10K per 9. I don't know. You have Logan Harrell who had a sub for ERA. I think Treveka Nazareen is actually a non-D1.

Starting point is 00:27:15 I don't think that's a juco. But like point being, there are plenty of really good juco players coming in. Makes sense. That's why KU has the number one juco class. So really cool to see because we know KU lost some really important pillars from last year's team with some of the returners like Augusto Mungarietta and Kate Baldridge. and Tisnoeins combined with, I don't know, even like Jamie Palmis transferring in. And then some of these Jukal guys still very high hopes for what this Kansas Jayhawks team can be in the spring of 2027.

Starting point is 00:27:43 I'm certainly very much looking forward to it. I don't know for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And we'll see you next time on L.O.J.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Isaiah Marshall's Progress, Dominant D-Line & More Game Review Notes for Kansas Jayhawks vs ASU

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