Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks' Football suffers another close loss: What went wrong this time against K-State?

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, it happened again. And by again, Kansas lost a close game and Kansas lost a close game that they probably could have won against K-State. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Sad Man, Derek Johnson at D. Johnson Radio, and I am sad. Many of you are sad as well. KU falls 29 to 27 to Kansas State.

Starting point is 00:00:37 We're going to get into it on today's episode. Thank you for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. Thank you to the everydayers catching each and every show. Free and available here wherever you get your podcasts and on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. So we're going to get into the overview, what keeps going wrong in these games. By these games, I don't just mean the Kansas State games, but also all these one-score games.

Starting point is 00:00:59 Kansas now lost seven consecutive one-score games. We're getting to the goats of the game, good and bad for KU. There actually was a lot of good in this game for Kansas. And then what is next for the Jayhawks? This episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, where you can make every moment more. Place your first $5 bet, and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit FanDuel.com to get started today.

Starting point is 00:01:28 29-27 is the final score of this one and a game that once again, Kansas could have easily won the football game. You had many different sliding door moments that you could have made this happen. And that is what makes this even more frustrating. You let them off the hook again. You should have over these last two games that you played against them, both of them close games that, you know, had maybe some weird things happening for maybe both teams. You should have come away with at least one of them. And you can make the argument that they should have won the last two games against Kansas state. And instead we're sitting here today, Kansas is two and six Kansas state's in the big 12 title race. Kansas has lost 16 straight to Kansas state. It's just abhorrent, to be

Starting point is 00:02:06 completely honest. Here are some of the classic plays that lead to one-score losses, but also are just classic plays that happen in this series. I mean, I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's a mental block or what, but it feels like every time KU and K-State lines up, it's just disaster happens for KU. And actually, there were a few plays in the second half where it was like, oh, K-State is the team that is having a couple bad mistakes that is going against them. But, you know, like the Avery Johnson fumble, for instance. But here are some classic KU-K-State plays that happened.

Starting point is 00:02:36 You uncorked a deep ball by Jalen Daniels. That was a perfect throw to Quentin Skinner. It gets open. Would have made it 14-0 in touchdown. Instead it's dropped. And instead all of a sudden, you know, they're able to go up 16-7 before you kind of come back from there. They had a third and 10 where their running back picks up 11 yards

Starting point is 00:02:55 to kickstart their first scoring drive on a running play. You're driving late in the first half where you're down 16-14, and even a field goal gives you the lead and you throw an interception and on top of it it gets returned 50 yards to where they almost had a chance to score at the end of the half you substituted too late to burn a timeout early in the third quarter and you know I guess it just came down to Kansas losing on downs at the end but it would have been nice to have an extra timeout at the end of the game there. Getting a touchdown, but missing the PAT, so you stay down three points. And at the end of the day, that missed PAT, I guess, didn't really matter because you ended up losing by two.

Starting point is 00:03:34 I'll be completely honest. I kind of thought, I have text receipt proof that I was texting somebody. Literally, before they kicked the PAT. I was like, they should go for two here because at the time it was 23 to 20. You make the two point conversion. Now, even if Kansas state gets a touchdown, it would be 30 to 22 and Kansas would still be in a one score game. Whereas even if you did kick the PAT and make it, which it ended up missing, it's 23, 21. If Kansas state goes down and gets a touchdown and makes the extra point, it's now 30-21. You're down two scores.

Starting point is 00:04:07 I thought they should have gone for two to begin with, and if you would have gone for two and gotten it, all of a sudden that K-State field goal at the end is to tie the game, and now you're playing at the end of it to tie or to maybe go to overtime. Okay. Jalen Daniels fumbles around midfield with under four minutes to go. It sucked that that is how the finish of the game happened for Jalen Daniels, both with the fumble

Starting point is 00:04:27 and not being able to convert on the fourth down at the end of the game. I don't know if the, K-State was blitzing like every play at the end of the game. I don't know if that's on Jalen Daniels for not recognizing it. I don't know if that's on the offensive coordinator. I don't know if that's on the coaches

Starting point is 00:04:42 for not calling plays beforehand to be like, Hey, they're probably going to blitz. They keep doing it. Do keep in mind that coaches can be in the earpiece of Jalen Daniels. So 15 seconds. I don't know if some of those plays how, where they were in terms of the play clock, but like you would have think, you would have thought that one of the coaches would have relayed that to Jalen in the mic.

Starting point is 00:05:03 So that's kind of the way I'm leaning that, you know, it's probably on the coaches at that point for not either calling a play that's going to work against the blitz or relaying that in the mic. But, you know, having that happen, the drop interception that you had with under two minutes, you had a great blitz play dialed up and you had the interception in your hands and back-to-back years now where just drops you look at the Skinner touchdown drop you look at the the drop of the the defensive lineman who

Starting point is 00:05:29 dropped that one that would have been an interception that sealed the deal same with the Rich Miller won the season before like those are the plays you have to make if you want to win this game and then yeah just unable to understand K-State was blitzing late those are just classic KU plays in this game, right? The only thing that was missing was Kansas State having like a punt return for a touchdown or something like that. But it's literally the same thing every time. How it happens and the severity or how competitive you are in the game, that has varied a little bit, right? There have been some bad Kansas teams that maybe get blown out by Kansas State. So maybe the score, the competitiveness has varied a little bit, right? There have been some bad Kansas teams that maybe get blown out by Kansas State.

Starting point is 00:06:07 So maybe the score, the competitiveness has varied, but what has happened has basically been the same. It's just KU makes self-inflicted mistakes. K State typically doesn't. Even if they do, they overcome them with some other plays, and then you just can't get over the top at the very end. And no matter who the players are, no matter who the team has been, you're just not making those key plays. You just continue to shoot yourself in the foot every freaking year.

Starting point is 00:06:29 And it's this season, too. It's every freaking loss so far minus TCU. KU was in a position where they could have won the game. KU was in a position in many of them where they should have won the game. And every single one, it feels like Devin Neal should have had more touches I didn't even touch on that again right um maybe there there's one or two exceptions where it's like no like maybe the West Virginia game you're like no you did try to give it to Devin Neal again this was one of those in the K-State game where it's like the dude is being a warrior out there he's playing through the injury he's running well and at the end of the

Starting point is 00:07:03 game it's just like no we're not going to go to your best player. It's brutal, man. It's brutal. Kansas now 2-6 with a plus 43 point differential. That is unbelievable. Yes, you could say, okay, well, obviously they ballooned up their point differential with the FCS game. Okay, take that one away.

Starting point is 00:07:18 They're 1-6 with a minus 2 point differential. That might honestly be even crazier. To be 1-6 with a minus 2 point differential. That might honestly be even crazier. To be one in six with a minus two point differential, that doesn't happen. They've lost seven consecutive one score games. That feels remarkably unlucky. But at the same point in time, it feels like to me we're past the point

Starting point is 00:07:38 of it being bad luck. Like, yeah, maybe there is some bad luck in there that in theory, if you play seven one-score games, you're probably going to have the ball roll against you a few times in those games. It kind of had the ball roll for you in this one against Kansas State. Think about it. Avery Johnson has that fumble. That is quite literally the ball rolling to you on a play where he just lost the ball.

Starting point is 00:08:00 You had a pressure that led to an interception where the ball rolled right in your defensive tackle's arms. You couldn't make the interception. You have some of these plays where it's like the ball actually rolled to you in the Kansas State games. You can't point to luck. At some point, you have to say, this isn't just bad luck. This is something about what you're doing wrong. Is it the players? I don't know, man.

Starting point is 00:08:23 I don't know. Maybe there is some mental block you have to get over in this rivalry in these one-score games, and it starts to get in the back of your head that once you get late in these games, you're just going to lose, and maybe that does matter. But, like, I look at this Kansas team. I still like a lot of these players. I still think they're really talented.

Starting point is 00:08:35 I still think they have a lot of really good players on this team. At some point, this comes back on the coaches, and I still think Lance Leipold has done a tremendous job with Kintz. I mean, the fact that we are – obviously, this is a very crummy season and it sucks, but, like, the fact that this is where we are through four years, that you've made a couple of bowl games. If I told you when Lance Leipold took over that through year four didn't tell you what happened each and every year,

Starting point is 00:08:58 but that they've made two bowl games through four seasons, including a nine-win season, and they've been ranked however many times, they've upset some top 25 opponents. You look at the Oklahoma game, like yada, yada, yada. You would have taken that coming in. But it's just unfortunate because you look at some of the little game management things over the course of the game, over the course of the season that you're not making,

Starting point is 00:09:19 not being aggressive enough on fourth down. Why did they punt on that fourth and two? I know they ended up getting a stop, getting the ball back and scoring, but couldn't you theoretically say, okay, if you go for the fourth and two, maybe you go down and score. And then maybe that stop you got after punting, you would have just got to stop after you scored. And then you would have gone down and scored again. And then now the game's over, right? Like, why are you not being more aggressive? You're at Kansas. And then like, you know, some of the timeout issues, or like I said, with the aggressiveness stuff, or maybe play calling situationally

Starting point is 00:09:47 isn't always the best for KU. It's just – it's very frustrating. And at some point, like, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and go, what are we doing wrong here? Because that is seven straight one-score games. And I can point to it and say, like, you know, even – I'm wearing a Chiefs hoodie right now. There are times during the game where Andy Reid is not good

Starting point is 00:10:04 with game management, with timeouts, with doing this or that. And they lose some close games because of it. So, you know, there is still some luck to it. The KU is probably a little bit unlucky here. But again, what are you going to do to change it? What are you going to do to draw the line in the sand? This cannot continue. The rest of the season doesn't really matter at this point. You're not making a bowl game. You're going to win four straight games with two of them against ranked opponents and two of them on the road. And all of a sudden Baylor's showing life too. You're not making a big 12 championship game, obviously. You had a chance to make an everlasting memory and beat Kansas State. Despite a rough season, we could have looked back on this year and said, yeah, but they beat K-State. That was pretty cool.

Starting point is 00:10:46 But you couldn't. So now it's a bye week, and it's two ranked opponents, and it all just sucks. And they somehow keep finding ways to hurt us. I put this out there. If you look at the high point of KU's six losses on ESPN win probability, the chances to lose all six games are one in 50,000. One in 50,000. One in 50,000.

Starting point is 00:11:06 But they keep finding ways to hurt us. We still love them. It is what it is, I guess. And same old, same old, unfortunately, both in terms of this season and the KUK-State rivalry. So on we go. All right, let's get to our goats of the game. This is Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:11:26 This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Well, if you had Kansas plus the 10, 9.5, 10.5, whatever you got it at, you would have been good to go, at least for the spread in this game. I told you beforehand, Avery Johnson over rushing yards. That was the easiest bet ever. That one obviously cashed in. Devin Neal touched down. Like, that worked out for KU.

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Starting point is 00:11:58 place so when you get a hunch in the middle of the game you can check out the latest stats if you live play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets just visit FanDuel.com to join today you'll get started with 150 in bonus bets if you win your first five dollar bet that's a fanduel.com never waste a hunch and make every moment more with fanduel an official sports partner of the nfl under our goats of the game if you're new to the segment, good goats, greatest of all time, kind of the newest adage of the term. Bad goats is when I was younger, I remember it was a scapegoat.

Starting point is 00:12:33 It was a bad thing. So here's the good goats. Actually, a good amount for KU considering it was a loss as well. Devin Neal gets a good goat. Probably should have had more touches. 13 carries, 66 yards and a touchdown. Now, maybe in the back of your mind, you're thinking, hey, this guy's playing through an injury. We don't want to overdo it. I get it, but certainly at the end of the game, it's like the gloves come off at the end of the game, you know? But 13 carries, 66 yards and a touchdown,

Starting point is 00:12:54 and that was against the number one defense in the Big 12 against the run. So the fact that he was still able to produce at basically around five yards a pop is very impressive. Plus, he had five catches for 36. I continue to like the fact that they are getting him involved in the passing game. These last, I would say like three games, which is something that they haven't really done in the past. And I think it's a good way to do it.

Starting point is 00:13:14 That's it. Some of the runs that he had were just like him just saying, I'm going to get this. Like you think about the one pass where Jalen threw it into the flats. I think it was on the, it was actually, I think the play he got injured on at the beginning of the game, they ended up going to get the touchdown. It was like a third and five,

Starting point is 00:13:29 third and six. Jalen just lobs one into the flats room. And it's basically just Devin verse one K state defender. He's got to either make a miss or basically drag him to the first down line. And he did just that. It was really impressive. It was just,

Starting point is 00:13:41 that was basically what Devin did all game. It was just, you know, what Devin did all game it was just you know continuing to fight for everything and every play that he got a chance to he was going to put Kansas in the best position to win the game Trevor Wilson gets a good goat how about that Trevor Wilson coming in there and making some big catches four catches for 69 yards uh no special teams mistakes this time from Wilson that belonged to somebody else this year for KU. But you think of Trevor Wilson typically being this guy who is really good with the ball in his hands, speedy receiver.

Starting point is 00:14:14 He was making contested catches that were tough grabs. That was nice to see. He had himself a big game for KU. Luke Grimm had a good game. Four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. He just continues to have that nice connection with Jalen Daniels. Caleb Taylor had a good game. Four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. He just continues to have that nice connection with Jalen Daniels. Caleb Taylor had an excellent game. Early pro football focus grade is a 90, which I think is the highest PFF grade for KU defensive tackle so far this season.

Starting point is 00:14:36 I think defensive lineman this season. He had two tackles for loss in the game. He really flashed for KU overall. Mello Dotson gets a good go. He had five targets against him. He only gave up one catch, and it went for three yards. He obviously had that injury that that was a little bit scary, but obviously ended up being okay and coming back in the game. He was excellent for KU in coverage. Jalen Daniels, I would say, until the final four minutes of the game, right? And even the last drive, like I don't necessarily, like I said,

Starting point is 00:15:05 I think some of that on the last drive was seeing K-State continually blitzing. Like, maybe there is an onus on Jalen to, I don't know, throw the ball quicker or change the play. I don't know his ability to do those sorts of things, and I don't know, like, the passing concept on some of those blitz plays. Like, they could have been, they didn't have a hot route. They didn't have somebody quick to throw the football to, right?

Starting point is 00:15:27 Like that's been a valid criticism of the Jeff Grimes offense that a lot of times they're throwing a lot of difficult concepts and there aren't a lot of gimmies over the course of, of their route concepts in their games. And so I kind of put the, the last drive more on the coaches and the play calling and stuff than I do on Jalen. Obviously, the fumble, though, very bad. You can't have a fumble in that situation.

Starting point is 00:15:50 You at least hold on to the football. You punt the ball away, pin them deep, and hope that they don't drive long enough to kick a field goal. Although you could argue that, you know, in a sense, fumbling there at least gives you a chance. Because if you do, I mean, it just depends how it works out right if you end up punting the ball away and K-State goes down and kicks a field goal because that longer time for them to drive you probably don't get another chance to drive back down yourself at least this way they kick the field goal and you still have time I don't know I don't know man but besides that Jalen did play a really good game the first 56 minutes or whatever he played an awesome game he was hitting he throws for KU and again keep in mind that he should have had a touchdown pass to Quentin

Starting point is 00:16:29 Skinner right I mean the stats were solid for Jalen they didn't jump off the page it's not like he had like 300 yards but if Quentin Skinner holds on to that football all of a sudden now it's looking more like 250 passing yards with another touchdown on there and and a solid rushing day like Jalen played a very good football game for KU. And even the interception he had, yes, that was not a, you know, he thrown to double coverage. That's not ideal. But I know Trevor Maddich, like in the halftime, I guess,

Starting point is 00:16:58 report, whatever you want to call it for ESPN. Like he thought it was pass interference on K-State that disallowed Trevor Wilson to even get a chance to make a play on the ball. Maybe it just becomes incomplete if that doesn't happen. So who knows? Offensive line, you gave up only two tackles for loss and one sack all game long against a very disruptive K-State defense. That's actually very good.

Starting point is 00:17:17 You also had 5.6 yards per carry overall as an offense against a defense coming in that was giving up just 2.7 yards per carry. And sure, again, at the end of the game, you weren't great at keeping pressure from Jalen Daniels, but that was more up just 2.7 yards per carry. And sure, again, at the end of the game, you weren't great at keeping pressure from Jalen Daniels, but that was more about K-State blitzing and KU not running quick passes or having the pickup or having the open hot route, right? I mean, there's only so much you can do. All five of your offensive linemen can pancake the guy that they're blocking, but if they blitz six guys, they're still a free guy. You know what I mean? So offensive line was really good for KU in this one.

Starting point is 00:17:47 Specifically, if I'm looking at PFF grades, Logan Brown had an 85 grade. He had an 80 pass block, 90 and a half run block, and he even had the toughest matchup to deal with with K-State's leader in sacks, who had seven of them. So good game for Logan Brown. As far as the bad, Jeff Grimes, you got to let Devin Neal try to ice that game, in my opinion, and they didn't really do that. You also didn't adjust to them pressuring at the end of the game. I will say it wasn't all bad. I would say there was a lot of good from Jeff Grimes

Starting point is 00:18:18 in this game, but in critical moments, it definitely failed for KU. Not a stellar game for the KU linebackers. I'm lumping this all in one big thing. I do feel bad for Cornell Wheeler because he's probably still playing through a bit of an injury that probably slows him down. He probably isn't playing at the same game speed that he was pre-injury right now. So that's unfortunate there. But Tywon Berryhill, Cornell Wheeler, and Logan Brown, they all graded below 60. And I'm talking more of the traditional linebackers, like actually, like Jason Gilliam, who played a good amount of snaps actually graded really well for KU, but the traditional linebackers, all three of those Berryhill, Wheeler, Brown graded below 60 for KU. They had a combined five missed tackles. They had a combined nine targets against them

Starting point is 00:19:02 for seven catches, 88 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions. It was not a good game for the linebackers. And, you know, overall, I've liked what J.B. Brown has done this season and what he is. I like what Cornell Wheeler is when he's healthy. I do feel like J.B. Brown, though, should be used more as like a like how the Chiefs use Leo Chennault, this

Starting point is 00:19:22 run stopping linebacker. You're going to blitz him. Sometimes he'll play as a defensive end, sort of. Maybe he's not really in passing downs a ton. Like that should be the usage of J.B. Brown. I feel like it's a combo of misusage for KU and also like they just haven't been able to bring in all the dudes that they want to.

Starting point is 00:19:41 It feels like those are my biggest questions right now about recruiting. I guess that's a future episode. Like what are you bringing in at linebacker and receiver? As far as the last bad goat, though, special teams. You missed a PAT. Like I said, thought you should have gone for two in that situation, but nonetheless, you missed it. Damon Greaves, who actually has been good this year, had a bad game. That was not a good game for Damon Greaves punting the football. And then, I mean, the big one, I forgot to mention this, honestly, in the open, but like, Jamil Croft, what are you doing? Like, what, what are you

Starting point is 00:20:08 doing? I think Jamil Croft is going to end up having a good career. I think he's a very talented corner, but what are you doing in that situation? And I don't know if that's something where, cause you've seen, you've seen that before. If you watch enough football, that the guy stands out of bounds, catches the ball, and then you get it at 35 so you can understand what was going through his head the problem is you have to be standing out before you catch the football and like it was just it was just such a big bone headed play that it didn't just prevent like it didn't just ruin your offensive drive it also led to them having two points and really nine points from getting a touchdown on the next drive and that was such a big swing in the game.

Starting point is 00:20:45 And it's just like you cannot have a clean game against K-State and special teams. And it is just mind-blowing that you can never figure that out. All right, what's next for KU? Our episode is brought to you by GameTime, which has a new feature called GameTime Picks that makes getting tickets to see your favorite teams play live even easier. Game Time Picks filters out the fluff to show you incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. Their curation makes it easier to save more on sports, concerts, comedy, theater, and more. Maybe you need to go to a comedy event to help cleanse your mind this weekend. KU on the bye week, right?

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Starting point is 00:21:44 Terms apply. Again, create an account and use code LOCKEDONCOllege for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONCOllege, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-C-O-L-L-E-G-E for $20 off. Download GameTime today. What time is it? GameTime. Finishing things up on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks, what is next for KU?

Starting point is 00:22:01 Well, as far as for some show stuff this week, we will have a Washburn preview episode on our next episode. Because it is a Washburn preview, we're not going to go as in-depth as maybe some of our other previews. So we're also going to have our two takeaways, two biggest takeaways from the KU football game lumped in with that episode. We'll have a Washburn recap later this week. It'll be another bye week for KU football this week. And then your next game will be the following Saturday against what has been an elite Iowa State squad, an undefeated top 15 ranked Iowa State squad. It's a really good defense. Rocco Beck does, I think, taking

Starting point is 00:22:35 another step in year two. I really like their two outside receivers. They've got a stable of running backs they can rotate in. It's a really good Iowa State team, and they're probably going to have as many fans, if not more, than what kansas has an arrowhead after you have another loss after you have a bye week after you're thinking about basketball season that game is also the saturday after ku plays north carolina on a friday night i believe so you know a lot of people are going to be focusing on basketball but i hope it's good turnout nonetheless because I really don't think that – I mean, yes, there have been lots of mistakes or issues as there are for any team by players, but I think this struggles and these close losses.

Starting point is 00:23:15 I think KU still has talent. I still like these KU players, and I hope they get a good send-out, send-off to finish out their career here at Kansas because they deserve better than this, I think, to say the least. That'll do it for this episode, though, of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page. Back for that KU Washburn preview on Tuesday morning.

Starting point is 00:23:36 See you then on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks' Football suffers another close loss: What went wrong this time against K-State?

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