Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Football 2023 Regular Season Recap + Awards + Most Improved + What Still Needs Work

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, we recap the 2023 KU football season with some awards to give out, things that they improved on the most as a program this year, and things that they're still striving to complete as this will round out year three and move into year four of the Lance Leipold era. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson.

Starting point is 00:00:37 You can hear me as well Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN Lawrence with Rock Chalk Sports Talk. Thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. We're free and available anywhere you get your podcasts. You can like and subscribe to our show on our YouTube page. They get all the everydayers out there tuning into each and every episode. We'll have some KU basketball content coming throughout the rest of the week. We're doing a recap, though, of KU football's 2023 regular season,

Starting point is 00:01:02 eight and four finish. We're going to give out some awards. We're going to get to what improved most for the KU football's 2023 regular season, 8-4 finish. We're going to give out some awards. We're going to get to what improved most for the KU football program from whether it was last year, beginning of the year, or the offseason to now, and where they're still going to look to get some work headed into the 2024 season. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account,

Starting point is 00:01:21 and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase with GameTime. So I think overall, the program is clearly on the rise for KU football. You win eight games. You've seen your win total increase each and every year under Lance Leipold. And I do think it is important that progress isn't always linear. You know, this was apparent. Like, you look at the Mark Mangino era at Kansas, right? You go to a bowl game in year two, and then year three,

Starting point is 00:01:47 you drop back down to having a four and seven team, and then you go back to a bowl and win a bowl in year four. Sometimes you take one step back to take two steps forward. Sometimes you're making linear progress, and then a big class of seniors graduates, and then you have to kind of reset it, and you're still rebuilding the program, right? It's not always linear.

Starting point is 00:02:04 It doesn't always work out this nice and tidy like it has for KU where they went from two wins to six wins eight wins but it has been nice to see and certainly with some of the talent you could bring back for 2024 which that will be very interesting to see who has decisions with the NFL draft you know like Devin Neal Kobe Bryant are those guys going to go pro are they going to come back for another year it'll be very interesting to see and have that all come together but either way KU could have a lot back next year that you could see that win total grow again into next season. But this was their first winning season. It's guaranteed, obviously, regardless of what happens in the bowl game. For the first time since 2008, when they went eight and five, that was them winning

Starting point is 00:02:37 the eighth game in the bowl game. This is going to have an opportunity to surpass that. And it's just the 13th time in KU football program history that they have won eight or more games in a season. So, I mean, this is, this is good company to be in for a KU football lore. And they obviously have a chance to make it nine wins with the bowl game, which would be just the sixth time in program history. It's also back-to-back bowl games for the first time since the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Starting point is 00:03:02 I don't think it's ever happened where KU's made three straight bowl games. Obviously, part of that, you know, 40, 50 years ago, bowl games weren't as – like, you go six and five, you weren't making a bowl game, right? Now, as far as some of the awards to give out for this season before we get into what improved most and where still work needs to be done, we're going to start with our MVP award. I thought about making this – I guess I'm going to give an MVP.

Starting point is 00:03:25 I'm going to pick all these different things. MVP, Offense Player of the Year, Defense Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, and Most Underrated. But I'm also going to give an honorable mention, Vic. So the MVP is Devin Neal. He was your consistent all season long. Over 1,200 rushing yards, just a touchdown machine

Starting point is 00:03:43 toward the end of the season took over in some key moments. Like he did everything in his power for you to win the Kansas state, for you to win the Texas tech games. You just came out on the wrong side of things in a close game, but he was excellent again against Cincinnati over a hundred yards. He was excellent all season, right? You go back and you look through, you know, the game logs and the games that he performed. All right. Had a big game against Oklahoma and helped you get that victory there.

Starting point is 00:04:05 And I had a huge game against UCF. Like this guy was your consistent all season long. He was so valuable. He was valuable to the heartbeat of the team, to what he meant to the program, being a local Lawrence kid, Devin Neal for MVP. I gave Jason being an honorable mention pick here. It's hard to pick.

Starting point is 00:04:24 It would be hard for me to give Jason being this award. I mean, it just inherently quarterback is the toughest position to play and quarterback is the most valuable position to play. You're touching the ball every time, right? But it was hard for me to give it to him because he obviously didn't start in a couple of the games when Jalen Daniels was back. He obviously missed a couple of games with injury. So you just start running into a situation of like, okay, is seven games or whatever it ended up being for Jason Bean is seven games of him as the starter six games or eight games wherever it was is that equivalent to 12 games of Devin Neal you know what I mean but Jason Bean is super valuable because if you don't have him you don't win eight games

Starting point is 00:04:59 you just don't right um you think back to like the Oklahoma game which is the gonna be kind of the highlight win of the season you don't win that game without jason mean and he was so valuable in providing you that backup quarterback to jaylen daniels who came in and allowed you to not miss a beat in a lot of ways and with how well he played in addition to it in a lot of the recent games he played he gets the honorable mention for mvp offensive player of the year goes to devon neal as well a lot of times in like the nfl you'll see MVP. It's a quarterback award. And then offensive player of the year is basically the nod to be like, let's give it to a non-quarterback. Which non-quarterback's having the best year? I gave MVP to Devin Neal. So Devin Neal's going to win offensive player of the year

Starting point is 00:05:36 too, right? He was the team leader in rushing yards. He was the team leader in yards from scrimmage on the offensive side of the football. He was the heartbeat of the offense. And it's not just the impressive highlight runs, of which there were many, of him breaking out in the open field and having a long run. It's the little intricate plays that Devin Neal makes, where it looks like it's going to be a one- or two-yard loss, and he turns it into a one- or two-yard gain. You know, second and eight, second and nine, you're not really, you know, getting all excited, jumping off your couch, being like,

Starting point is 00:06:04 wow, what a run. Thanks for making it second and eight. But to be in second and eight as opposed to second and 12, that little three or four yard subtle difference is such a big deal for an offense. But anyway, he was amazing all year long. My honorable mention pick for offensive player of the year, I'm going to give it to Lawrence Arnold, especially with the way he kind of finished the season.

Starting point is 00:06:21 Over 700 yards receiving, big play receiver. You think back to the Iowa State game, he comes up with the big catch there you think to the Oklahoma game he comes up with the big catch there on fourth down like just making big catches throughout the season in addition to leading the team and receiving yards 700 yards on this offense receiving is equivalent to a thousand yards on another offense because Kansas likes to run the ball Kansas is a balanced offense Kansas throws it to a lot of targets. They've got a lot of good players. They've got a lot of good receivers and tight ends and running backs to get the ball to.

Starting point is 00:06:50 The quarterback runs the, you know. So it's hard to have 700 yards a season, and he has. He was excellent this year, especially over the back half of the season. He's just been kind of going and hitting some big plays for you. Defense player of the year. I'm going to give it to Kobe Bryant. Excellent all season long. You look at the mid-50s NFL passer rating against.

Starting point is 00:07:10 He basically created an island for you. He locked down one side of the field. Teams just kind of stopped targeting him over the last portion of the season. And even when they were, he comes up with an interception against Cincinnati. He comes up with some big plays. I think he was targeted six or seven times against K-State. That was kind of the one team was Kansas State. It was like, we're going to go at this guy. And they had like one catch on like six or seven targets, you know? So Kobe was excellent all year long. And I'd imagine for Brian Borland,

Starting point is 00:07:36 that allowed him to feel more comfortable sending some pressure sometimes, knowing that you had Kobe on the outside. Honorable mention pick for defensive player of the year is Austin Booker. Excellent coming in, leads the team in sacks, leads the team in tackles for loss, has some batted down passes. He's had a couple games in there too where he's racked up big tackle numbers, tells you he's getting involved in the running game. He completely changed things for this defense.

Starting point is 00:07:59 You know, like when they lost Lonnie Phelps last offseason, it was a big concern because you could have argued Lonnie Phelps last offseason it was a big concern because you could have argued Lonnie Phelps was the team's best defender a year ago now I think Kobe Bryant was first team all big 12 so maybe you'd say it was still Kobe last year but either way Lonnie Phelps was one of your best defenders a season ago and he was I mean a pass rush position is such a premium position in football right and you were worried what the defense would look like without that. Well, it turns out Austin Booker gave you the same production, if not better, than what you had with Lonnie Phelps,

Starting point is 00:08:30 which is pretty incredible for the redshirt sophomore transfer from Minnesota. So he was excellent and made so many big sacks, so many big plays for KU at the defensive end spot. Newcomer of the year, let's go back to Austin Booker. But if I want to give an honorable mention for somebody else, how about J.B. Brown? I was impressed with him from the get-go in offseason camp, and he kind of lived up to the billing for me.

Starting point is 00:08:48 I mean, such a hard hitter. You saw that in the Cincinnati game. Obviously, the Oklahoma – the Kobe Bryant hit on BYU where he picks it up and the score's touching. That's the hit of the year. Honestly, second is probably the J.B. Brown one where he plants – I think it was Farouk or somebody for Oklahoma, forces the fumble. They pick it up.

Starting point is 00:09:05 And he was an excellent addition for them. He added a physical element, an athletic element in the linebacker position. Wasn't always logging the most snaps among linebackers, but he has been a really nice addition and added another element to this defense. He's the honorable mention there. Freshman of the year, Cole Ballard after his recent run. I know it's not a ton of games, but I thought he played well enough. There's also not a lot to choose from here, right? We're going to talk

Starting point is 00:09:27 like special teams with Keaton Kubeka. I don't know. Damon Greaves, I guess we get the honorable mention. I don't think statistically, like you look at the yards per punt, not great, but I will say they rank much better in net yards per punt, top half of the big 12. So he's done a good job, even if it hasn't been super lengthy punts, at least they're high length, not very lengthy punts to where you're not getting big returns. And it's been much improved, at least that side of things from where it was last year. Comeback player of the year, Daniel Hyshaw. After suffering that injury coming back, he has been excellent this season, provided that thump. We haven't seen it as much the past two games, but unbelievable season for him. And that is the one security you have that if Devin Neal does go pro at the end of this year,

Starting point is 00:10:04 you feel like Daniel Hyshaw is going to be projected to have a thousand plus yard rushing season next year. Honorable mention here is Jason Bean. I mean, literally he came back and turned out. He, I mean, it worked out for, I think all parties involved. Most improved player of the year. I think there's a couple of guys that I just want to mention here. I don't know that I have one specifically, but Bryce Cabledew, Cornell Wheeler, Marvin Grant, Mello Dotson, Hayden Hatcher. I think they're all players that – to some of those – like Mello Dotson was a starter already, so it's not like he just – but to go from being a starter who you look at some of the completion

Starting point is 00:10:39 percentage against and some of the NFL pass rating against last year, it was like, okay, he played well, but there are times where it wasn't. And this year he just picked six machine, you know. So all those guys, I think whether it was working into more playing time, whether it was just playing better, whatever it is, would get deserved credit there. Honestly, you maybe even throw Jason Bean, but I don't know. His big improvement came last year from the year before, I think. Most underrated, I gave it a tie between KU's receivers.

Starting point is 00:11:02 Pick any of them, Quentin Skinner, Luke Luke Graham, Lawrence Arnold, the whole group, whatever, and KU's offensive line because all season long, as big as the running game got going and as much as they had all these different quarterbacks in there, offensive line was consistent for a lot of them playing through injuries. They were excellent at pass blocking. They were excellent at run blocking, and this was a great unit for KU on the offensive line, and they had some depth.

Starting point is 00:11:22 They were able to rotate a sixth and seventh guy in there and still be okay. We're going to get to what improved most for KU on the offensive line. And they had some depth. They were able to rotate, you know, a sixth and seventh guy in there and still be okay. We're going to get to what improved most for KU from last year, from the offseason, from the beginning of the year to this year and what still needs work for the Jayhawks moving forward as a program. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime. Buying tickets to your favorite sporting event shouldn't be stressful. It's the fastest and easiest way to buy tickets for all your sports, music, comedy, and theater

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Starting point is 00:12:32 Terms apply. Again, create an account with LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed. What's improved from last year, maybe the offseason, beginning of the year to where we are now well I think the the first thing that that sticks out to me that I think is most recent that I just wanted to bring up here was the ability to bounce back from a loss or two you know we saw in uh

Starting point is 00:12:59 2022 part of this was was the injury stuff but also Jason mean played well after you lost in the back half of the season things kind of snowballed and obviously that team wasn't as deep and wasn't as good as this team has been but things snowballed a bit and you started losing game right you go from five and oh to six and seven at the end of the year and they were still ahead of schedule it's still a great season for KU and everything but But this year, you did a much better job responding to the losses, responding to the adversity. Because last year, you win, what, one game without Jalen Daniels? This year, you won the Cincinnati game without Jalen Daniels, right?

Starting point is 00:13:38 Jason being there. You beat Oklahoma without Jalen Daniels, right? You nearly beat Texas Tech and K-State with a third string in Cole Ballard. So you win games without Jalen Daniels, right? You nearly beat Texas Tech and K-State with a third string in Cole Ballard. So you win games without Jalen Daniels, right? I guess you could classify the Missouri State one. I'm trying to think what else would be up there. UCF, you beat them with Jason Bean in there. I mean, you won a bunch of games.

Starting point is 00:13:58 And when you look at the losses, so you lose to Texas by a lot, you turn around, you crush UCF. You lose to Oklahoma State, you turn around, you crush UCF. You lose to Oklahoma State. You turn around, you get your biggest win of the year over Oklahoma. You lose to Texas Tech and K-State. Instead of letting that slide into a three-game streak, going into the bowl game, you turn around and you blast Cincinnati. This team did an excellent job turning around after losses.

Starting point is 00:14:19 They were 3-1 off the loss this season. Running the football. Now, this was already kind of a strength for the 2022 team, but you took another step forward. You went from a good running team to, I think, a great running team this year. Last year, you averaged 184 yards rushing per game on 5.4 yards per carry, 2.2 rushing touchdowns per game. This season, all three of those numbers have gone up. 211 rushing yards per game, so almost 30 yards rushing more per game 5.5 yards per carry so slightly more efficient there and 2.6 rushing touchdowns per game you've gotten even better at something that was already a strength offensive line depth I think improved I think when you look

Starting point is 00:14:57 back to 2022 and you look to this year the offensive line play pretty similar like both years it was very good I would argue this year was even better slightly, but 2022 was good offensive line play too. I think the bigger difference this year was you had even more depth because you go back to 2022 and the offensive line didn't really have any injuries. You started the same starting five the whole year. You were able to get through it. This year, you did have some guard rotations.

Starting point is 00:15:20 You had Logan Brown, one of your backup tackles, who in the offseason you expected to be one of your star offensive linemen. He ends up getting hurt at one point, right? In the last game, Bryce Cable was out, and they had more depth, right? Whether it was Kobe Baines kind of playing a swing role, whether it was, I guess, our Majreed Adams missed early in the season, right? And you were able to weather that. Whether it was Spencer Lavelle coming in or, I don't know, having just more offensive line depth, I think that'll help them next year when they're going to lose a couple offensive linemen.

Starting point is 00:15:48 I think it came into play more this year, and it certainly helps Kansas along the way. Special teams, the first half of the season gets one, the first like half of the season. I think the first four or five games, they were like perfect on kicks. They had the long punt return for a touchdown from Trevor Wilson. Things started to deteriorate later, but we'll get to that momentarily. But overall, even after some of the issues you've had in like the Kansas State game or the UCF or Oklahoma State games, this still has been on the zoom out big picture. It has been an improved special teams from where it was a season ago,

Starting point is 00:16:21 even if there have been still a couple weaknesses or glaring holes that have come up throughout the season, the pass rush and the defensive line disruption slash chaotic, chaotic playmaking has gotten better from last year. And again, going back to the Lonnie Phelps thing, when you lost him, that was certainly a concern that how are you going to replicate what you did

Starting point is 00:16:39 a season ago? Well, they've gotten better at it because Austin Booker has been a stud. Jeremy Robinson certainly added to things. He added a couple of defensive tackle transfers, like Gage keys had a because Austin Booker's been a stud. Jeremy Robinson certainly added to things. He added a couple defensive tackle transfers like Gage Keys. Had a really nice pass rush move this past weekend and has shown some nice flashes all year long. Devin Phillips has been a real nice addition for you.

Starting point is 00:16:53 Tommy Dunn and DJ Withers continue to flash as both just redshirt sophomores. So, you know, King Caldwell's made some plays. Caleb Taylor had a really good game a couple weeks ago. And overall, so 2022, which was in 13 games, when you include the bowl game, they had 61 tackles for loss. They had 24 sacks, okay? This year they have 70 tackles for loss. So they're already up nine tackles for loss and 25 sacks, already up one in sacks.

Starting point is 00:17:18 And that's without them even playing their 13th game like they got to do last year. So it's actually gotten better from where it was a year before. I think overall the defense has gotten better, right? You give up 25.8 points per game this year. Last year was 35.5. I mean, we were talking in the offseason, could you be a touchdown better than you were last year? Because we thought that would be enough.

Starting point is 00:17:36 Now the offense is actually averaging less points per game this year than last year. I think part of that you've had to dip to a second and third string quarterback. Part of that could be a schedule. Part of that could be maybe running the ball more. Part of it could be less plays per game with the new rules in college football that maybe you're just as efficient as an offense, but slightly less points per game.

Starting point is 00:17:53 But anyway, they've gotten even better than that. The 10 less points per game, pretty incredible. Also, the scoring ability of the defense. That was such a boon this year with what? A handful of defensive touchdowns for defensive touchdowns. The run defense is part of that too. It got better. 209 rushing yards allowed per game in 2022, 4.8 yards allowed per carry,

Starting point is 00:18:12 2.8 rushing touchdowns allowed per game so far in 2023, 167 rushing yards per game. So you're 42 yards better. And overall, that means that between you running the football and you stopping the run, you are basically like 70 yards better than you were last year, but 4.5 yards per carry, which is a 0.3 less than the year before and two rushing touchdowns per game,

Starting point is 00:18:33 which is almost one rushing touchdown per game less than the year before. So where do they still have to go? Where are there still areas where they're going to be looking to, you know, sharpen things up in the off season and try to continue to take steps forward into 2024. This episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by FanDuel. As the weather gets colder, the NFL offers stay hot on FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:19:00 Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 Moneyline bet. That's $150 if your team wins. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there's no better time to get in on the action. The app is so easy to use. There's a wide range of betting options, including spreads, player props, over-unders, and more. You can get in on the Monday Night Football action between the Vikings and Bears. You can get in on the KU basketball game against Eastern Illinois tomorrow,

Starting point is 00:19:18 who EIU will have that preview coming up, and they're not very good, so it could be a lot of points. Could be a lot of fun player props for KU in the game. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, an official partner of the NFL. So what still needs work for KU headed into the offseason in 2024? They've obviously made huge strides as a program, especially from where they took over. Where are they still going to be looking to sharpen things up? I think overall, as great as the defense has gone, and this has been about as best as you can improve from one season to the next you're still going to be looking to you know make another jump because

Starting point is 00:19:52 you went from being statistically in terms of like points allowed per game yards allowed per play stuff like that one of the bottom tier defenses in college football to being like basically an average defense in college football this year which that's kind of all you were looking to do this year. Be an average defense and have a really good offense and boom, good things can happen, right? And I think honestly, like you look at some of the key moments throughout the season, they made a lot of stops. The only one that they really didn't was K-State when they were, you know, up four points and had the ball and they couldn't get off the field. But also, you know, you kind of blame the offense for not scoring over the last 25 minutes of that

Starting point is 00:20:25 game. So you came up with a lot of key stops. I will say, I think they were actually even better than the stats show in a lot of different ways. And especially when you look at some of the offenses they had to play, like Oklahoma and UCF and Texas, that's going to hurt some of the numbers. So I do think they were kind of probably an above average defense this year, but don't you want to be great? Don't you want to be really good, right? So like as good as the run defense, as much better as it was, you still gave up 200 plus rushing yards five times this year. You allowed four and a half yards per carry seven times this year. So go from an improved run defense to being a shutdown run defense next year, right? The red zone defense was bottom in the big 12. You struggled to, you know, get some of those stops. And I do think a

Starting point is 00:21:03 bit of that is luck. Like sometimes it just takes the other team missing a field goal or fumbling something or doing something stupid, right? But forcing turnovers, they've capitalized on them with touchdowns this year, so it's made it feel like they've had a ton more. But oddly enough, they forced 1.7 turnovers per game last year. They've only forced 1.3 turnovers per game this year. So that's something that could quickly change year to year. Another thing is red zone offense.

Starting point is 00:21:26 They struggled a bit this year, more of middle of the pack in the Big 12. Overall, like I said, they're averaging a few less points per game than last year. I think part of it is that. Another part of it is this next thing. Can you keep the quarterback healthy? I don't even know if this is something you can really shield or plan for in a given year. But if you could, it'd be great because that would certainly help to have a fully healthy Jalen Daniels all next season.

Starting point is 00:21:48 Special teams in the second half. You have to be able to shore this up over the back half. Again, the special teams played much better in the first half of the season. And on aggregate, over the course of the season, it still is improved from last year. But the second half of the year, when you think of Kansas State game, when you think of the UCF blocks of PAT going back the other way even though the game or that play didn't matter in the game Oklahoma State it kind of costing you

Starting point is 00:22:10 with a couple of those um the special teams at more I mean uh fumbling on a kickoff even though you ended up beating Oklahoma right like little things like that that you're going to look to tighten up even more that could be the difference between you winning eight games versus nine or ten for next season right and then the other part this is more of just a big picture can you make your third consecutive bowl game because that hasn't been done in KU football history certainly the expectation is going to be more than that and certainly the expectation you know with techno you're leaving and assuming you bring back all these guys that you expect to which you know we'll see because the transfer portal season is about to get wild here but then

Starting point is 00:22:43 again KU could add reinforcements to and bring a lot of guys back. The expectations are going to be, can you compete for a conference title? The expectations are going to be, can you compete to win double digit games? Right. And that's great. But let's still not lose sight that making a third straight bowl game would still be a wild achievement for where this program is at. All right.

Starting point is 00:23:02 That'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find us anywhere you get your podcasts. You can like and subscribe to our show on our YouTube page. We'll be back tomorrow for Kansas Eastern Illinois preview for that game coming up on Tuesday night. Have a great rest of the day. We'll see you next time with LOJ.

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