Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - KU Football Offense + Slow-Starting Defense + Lance Leipold Nebraska Talk via Locked On Big 12

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

The KU Football offense has been elite with Jalon Daniels. How can the Jayhawks' defense be better, such as starting faster and being opportunistic. Plus, more talk about Lance Leipold and Nebraska. Show via Locked On Big 12.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!NugenixNow get a complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T when you text COLLEGEto 231-231. Text now and get a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever, with key ingredients to help you get back into shape fast.LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!UpsideDownload the FREE Upside App and use promo code Locked to get $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more.Underdog FantasySign up on underdogfantasy.com with the promo code LOCKED ON and get your first deposit doubled up to $100! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

on today's Locked On Jayhawks we talk with Josh Neighbors of Locked On Big 12 I'm Derek Johnson you can hear me as well on Rock Chalk Sports Talk Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 on KLWN thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts on today's edition of Locked On Jayhawks, your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts. On today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, we got a chance to catch up with Josh Nabors with Locked on Big 12 on his show asking a bunch of questions about KU football and this strong, surprising start to the season. So we thought we'd share it with you here.

Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. I'd like to thank LinkedIn Jobs for being the official college football recruiting sponsor across the Locked On College network. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply. Here is conversation with Josh Nabors. So, Derek, I mean, let's talk about this offense. That's been so fantastic.

I mean, I think to me, the big thing is they can threaten to run the football on every single day. And look, they've been efficient passing, somewhat efficient passing. I, I, so I got crushed actually what your thoughts on this first. So I got, I took some heat from Jayhawks fans. We were like, watch tape, watch tape, watch tape. And they were saying Jalen Daniels, a better pass than giving credit for it. Well, the Tennessee tech game was awesome in terms of efficiency. He was low sixties in the next two games, which is fine. It's not bad. But to me, what I'm seeing is I think number one, the design of the plays is fantastic. Number two, he's not 110. Like I think a lot of, he opens up some of the passing stuff with his legs,

which is fine. That happens. A lot of NFL quarterbacks are doing that. And three, I think he's coming along as a passer, which means that there's more room for this offense to grow and get better, in my opinion. So what are your thoughts on the offense and my assessment of Daniels as a passer?

Do you think I'm being too harsh? I love Jalen Daniels. I think he's an amazing leader. I think he's maybe the most important player in all of college football this year to a team. I mean, you cannot take him away from this team. They're as good. But what are your thoughts on this offense and maybe the room to even get better than they are right now the number one offense and efficiency in all of america yeah so like i would say there's there's obviously room to grow there and that this is or it has been more of a running team

that it is a passing team especially when you look at the triple option and everything he's still putting up bigger numbers than we've seen from a ku quarterback in a long time though over eight yards per attempt. He's first in total QBR on ESPN, which that does take into account some of the other stuff as well. The biggest thing that I can compliment him on is the third downs. Like KU has, and I think you see this a lot. Teams that have good quarterbacks tend to convert third downs more than ones that don't. And there's other things that go into that, like down and distance.

And when KU is running the ball well and setting themselves up in third down and short, third down and medium, it's going to be a more desirable situation for Jalen to throw in. I think that's what we've kind of seen here, though. He has been money, and when they've needed passes, he's completed them. He has been so clutch at doing that. The big question for me, it's not that I don't think he can necessarily do it. It's kind of an unproven thing at this point.

What happens if KU faces a team this season that they're not able to run everywhere, right? You had 200 rushing yards against West Virginia. You ran at six and a half per pop against Houston, 280 rushing yards. Obviously, against Tennessee Tech, you were able to just do whatever you wanted on the ground in that game. What happens in a game where KU only has 120 rushing yards? Are the defense able to key on that? Or KU is in a lot more 3rd and 7s, 3rd and 8s?

We've seen him convert some of those. That'll be the question for me. It's not that I don't think the talent is there. The arm talent on the kid is there. He has the ability to scramble and move around in the pocket it's just that we maybe haven't seen it a ton necessarily because this hasn't been a pass first offense or a team that has been set up in a lot of those downs which is a good thing but certainly it'll matter more like if you're playing Baylor you can't expect to run for 280 yards against Baylor and honestly actually that was an example

I used like them in particular, right? But here's the thing. We're talking about a Kansas team at three games in. We haven't had to ask that question because the offense has pushed people around up front. And I'll give the guys this. I think also the receivers have done a great job blocking. I mean, they've run the ball.

They've run, I mentioned the other day, and they mentioned on broadcast, the KU game on the radio. They've run counter. They've run inside zone. They've run outside zone. They've run sweeps. They've run, I mean, power. They've run the RPOs.

They've done the whole series. They've done all of it. And I think that's what's most impressive is that this team has been coached and executed to the point where it's not mattered what West Virginia or Houston or Tennessee Tech, but still on the road, it hasn't mattered what the other team was doing. They've been able to execute after getting punched in the face to perfection. And that's one we'll touch on too.

They've executed perfection. They need to stop being the fighter that has to get knocked down first before they can get back up and going. You mentioned Baylor. It won't work against the Bears. Probably won't work against Oklahoma State. Probably won't work against OU. It won't work against Texas, I don't think, those four teams.

But they're 3-0 to this point. It has worked. Might work against Duke. I think the next step here is we've got to start fast. Yeah, 100%. and a lot of that is is on the defense because they've done a good job adjusting but you know you have to I think even this week against Duke in a game where they're or they have been so far kind of a weak schedule so so we'll see what it looks like against you know more of a power five team we saw

them obviously against Northwestern but Northwestern's kind of struggled there. But Duke has been really good at running the football. And that was something last week against Houston that like if you take out the sacks that you got against Houston, they are they were averaging over five yards per carry. That was a bugaboo of the defense last year. They gave up over six yards of pop on the ground. That was the worst number in the power five. That was one of the worst numbers in the entire country. So, so like you kind of want to see that number be a little bit better but yeah it's it's it's just something where you can't continue to chase points and they've done a

good job chasing or not doing that in that when they have gotten down 14 nothing or in the west virginia game 14 nothing and 21 7 of still just sticking with the offensive identity and being like, hey, we're down 14, we're not going to rush it, we're still going to run the football and everything. We're not going to rush our system and just all of a sudden start airing things out everywhere. But what happens if the slow start leads to you being down 14 into the second half as opposed to the first quarter or the second quarter that's where the problems arise so there is a lot of pressure i think on them to come out

swinging on that defensive side of the ball specifically offensively even though it has maybe led to them being down 14 nothing or 21 7 in the last couple games they still have been able to get it going early maybe just not on the first drive. It's the defense that I want to see if they can kind of pick it up in the early going of the game. More of our conversation with Josh Nabors from Locked On Big 12 here on Locked On Jayhawks in just a moment. But first, these days every new potential hire can feel like

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Do you think my assessment of them being an old school Big 12 defense is right? I mean, I think they have a talent to not be, but it feels like when they played, like when they play Oklahoma state, right? It feels like it's going to be a, all right, we're going to give it up a little bit. But when Spencer Sanders makes that mistake, we're going to turn it into a first and goal, a first down into the red zone or a touchdown.

Like that might be the right approach this year for this defense. And look, you know, I'm not saying that's the approach you always want, but for a team that's coming from a two and 10 season to hang with a top level team in the big 12, like that might be the approach they need. Yeah.

We actually had this conversation on, I forget if it was my radio show or locked on last week of like, is Kansas just turning into prime Texas tech? You know what I mean? Like hell yes. But, but they run the ball instead of throwing as much. Right.

Exactly. Exactly. They're like a, a kind of coastal Carolina typey offense where it's like this spread option type of thing. Tulane kind of does the same thing, but, but yeah,

they're becoming that where it's like last year they give up 42 points per game this year. The defense is better. There's more talent. There's more depth, but they're still giving up a lot of yardage to where it's, you're going to be in some of these shootouts. It's 42, 42 at the end of regulation against West Virginia, you give up 30 points to Houston in that game to where for Kansas to have to win these games, they're going to have to put up high 30s. They're going to have to put up 40-something points because the defense isn't one that's just going to completely stop you. So, yeah, you do have to, if you're not going to be a defense that is just stalwarts on that end,

you have to find ways that you can make up for it. So like what you said with the turnover stuff, can you be opportunistic? Can you force more turnovers? Can you come up with the big strip sack or interception like we saw kenny logan off the tipped up ball in the air off of uh one of his linebackers like can you come up with those key plays can you come up with drives where you're able to bend but not break that was something last year's team didn't do a good enough job of either

uh last year's team bent a lot and they broke a lot. They gave up, like I said, over 40 points per game. But the red zone numbers of opposing teams in the KU red zone last year, it was over like 80% of drives ended up in touchdowns. And the gap between them and the eighth best team in the Big 12 last year in red zone defense, I think it was Texas Tech, was like the same distance as the gap between the eighth best team to the second best team in touchdown percentage in the red zone so just being more opportunistic like that might be enough for the defense to just make improvements from last year and given how good the offense has been maybe that is enough for this team to go bowling

the guys that cover three i believe call it red zone roulette is what that is the term they've coined it and here's the thing you have to be good enough, call it red zone roulette is the term they've coined it. And here's the thing. You have to be good enough, though, to play red zone roulette. And, like, KU was not last year, and they are this year. And that kind of gets us to the point of development. This program is going. And the head man.

The thing about Lance Leipold is if this guy was – it's really interesting because if he was in his 30s you'd have some questions about like is there a tracker you know his tracker like is is he established enough he's 59 58 is that correct i believe 58 i don't know when exactly his birthday is but yeah so the boy still like you know not that he's going to die anytime soon, but, like, he is older-ish. And for a guy who's that age, who's been in college ball for a long time, if a Nebraska comes calling, I mean, you have to at least consider it. And you and I talked last week, we talked on the roundtable about,

look, like, you know, would Nebraska love hiring love hiring lance lipo all the fans probably not but they don't go to bowl games and so what's the first step to becoming anywhere or to even seeing if you can become what old nebraska was and i know you all you know people at ku obviously you know missouri person too like that stuff's not lost on us. We still follow the other Midwestern teams closely. The first step would be hiring a guy who like the floor is going to be a solid foundational floor, the ceiling. I've got no clue, but the guys won titles in Wisconsin, Whitewater. He won Mac titles at Buffalo. And I'm not saying, you know, what a title here at Kansas, but like,

good Lord, man, that's not a good program. It has not been, we all know this, but they are dangerous this year. And all of that stuff into account. Why would you not want that? The next key for, uh, you know, Travis golf and company is making sure it's worth as wild as they can. Some more of our conversation with Josh Nabors from Locked On Big 12 here on Locked On Jayhawks in just a moment.

But first, betonline.net is your number one source for all your pro and college football betting needs and sports information this season. Find all of the latest college football and all football league developments, game matchups, news, and podcasts, including games in week, what are we in? Week three, week four, I don't even know anymore. BetOnline is also your continued source for all your sporting wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores.

The fastest and easiest way to check in on all your favorite sports and events, including MLB, MMA, boxing, golf, and college football. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action. BetOnline, where the game starts want to get ku favorite over duke put a little extra scratch into the game with the jayhawks looking so good so far yeah i was talking to a friend about this earlier today and he said at what point if you're travis goff at what point if you're kansas do you offer up like the Mel Tucker contract,

like what he got at Michigan State, that 10-year $95 million deal? Is that too crazy? Does KU have that type of money? I don't know. He's making like $2.5 million now by the end of his contract because it goes up a little bit each year. I think it's up to $3.5 million by the time it's done. David Booth just gave, I don't know, maybe a handful of years ago, he gave like $50 million like upfront for KU to build facilities and stuff. If you're a big donor at KU, I think priority number one at this point, even though they are trying to work on some stadium renovations and other facility upgrades is probably, Hey, what money can we muster up? Because we know Nebraska being in the big 10, you're going to be making a hundred million dollars a year with the big ten money you're gonna have more opportunities for those facility upgrades you're gonna have more opportunities to pay more for your assistance

you're gonna have more nil money to go around all those things matter and obviously they're going to be able to pay lance lightbulb if that's who they decide to go with a lot of money so what can you do to ku if you are ku to make this as difficult a decision as possible right now it's not just about the contract money of how much you can pay him right now the buyout is only four million dollars which in this day and age in college football is nothing or i should say it's five million dollars it goes down to four in december but like you know you see schools paying 15 17 20 plus million dollars to get out of coaches or buy other coaches out elsewhere so any way that you can to try to lure him in and keep

him around at ku is going to be a vast importance for this program moving forward and the one thing is like no matter what happens the sec or the the Big Ten money-wise, Kansas will always maintain their competitive edge in basketball. Is that fair to say the donor base will not let them become uncompetitive? Is that fair? Yes, correct. I think maybe you should apply – like, here's the thing. If my Missouri Tigers played your Kansas Jayhawks in a neutral field, which actually I think they're going to play football here pretty soon.

Am I correct in that? Yeah. I believe next season. Yes. If they played today, Kansas might beat them by like two scores, right? And being able to say that is important around where we went to school. That's an edge worth paying for, in my opinion, right. To be able to, to be semi competitive in the big 12, like who knows, right. Jalen Daniels might be a, uh, might those kinds

of guys might be unique, but the model, the way that, that Lance Leipold always tailors his team's approach to his players strengths at a place like KU that's valuable and I'm with you whatever the Mel Tucker contract means in Kansas terms right I don't need to say money obviously we're not talking about that that much but whatever that Mel Tucker deal is I guess the godfather deal if you will it's worth paying in my, because of what he obviously does with the level of talent that he has. Yeah, and I think when I was talking about this earlier with someone, the way he phrased it in asking to me was, do you do that if they make a bowl game? And my response was, I do it right now.

You know what I mean? Before any more of this Nebraska stuff continues on. Doesn't matter. Right. And so I think especially like, you know, you're in a weird position here where I think this is going to have a lot of, I guess, long-term impact on the Big 12 in general, because think about it. If the top two candidates right now, I think BetOnline released an initial list and Lance Le leipold i want to say was sixth or seventh on the odds list he was 10 to 1 matt campbell was the favorite i i saw another uh betting site today that updated the odds it had matt campbell at one it had lance

leipold at number two on the betting odds so i mean you're you're not just talking about what's this going to have an effect on ne on Nebraska but part of the conversation of how good is your program going to be in your conference it's not always just about you like it is if you're Alabama or you're Georgia of course it's about you you're getting all the best players right so you don't really need to worry about what other team is doing because you're just going to be better than them but from certain programs sometimes it's about well what program is down what program is going to open up the avenue for us to surpass them and be better than them and for so long iowa state was a two or three win team until matt campbell kind of took over right so if you're

talking about the nebraska job if they hire lance leipold does kansas go back to what they were and now all of a sudden west virginia is like okay great we don't have to worry about losing to kansas like we did this year or if iowa state loses mac campbell does all of a sudden that vault to school like kansas or some of these other schools above an iowa state and they drop that back down and get like it's crazy how much the nebraska job even though they're no longer in the Big 12, could have an effect on the Big 12. I think the one good part of this is that a lot of people there think they're better than Lance Leipold, which they're not. But I actually think it's an advantage for KU, right? This is when, if I'm Travis Goff, man, I'm in the room tomorrow morning.

I'm making sure we're doing this now because look like they've, they've contacted urban Meyer. All right. That is something they have now. Well, that, that is a, you know, do you want the job? Who do you think should take the job? Matt Campbell? We number one, I think also his age would probably lend to that too. Right. Kind of makes more sense where he is. And so I think while Lance Leipold, I'm not saying he's not worthy of the job but maybe take the time where he's not the number one guy to make sure he's not

the number one guy because you're paying him too much money that's just that's how i feel about it do you agree or disagree yeah i agree you want to make it as difficult as possible because you're right there's there's going to be whether it's age whether it still is track record it's you know one of those things where it's hard to describe to a fan like we have seen it before right when gene chizik went to to uh auburn from iowa state where the record wasn't great but it's hard to get the donors it's hard to get the fan base on board when that's not there lance leipold could still have a six and six season for kansas which would be you know huge party here in lawrence if you make a bowl game right but then when you see it running across the ticker on ESPN, if you're a Nebraska fan and you're not like in the weeds of college football of what six and six

men at Kansas, you're seeing it come across and you're going eight and 16 in his two years at Kansas. Why is this guy coming to Nebraska? So you're right. It's not the sexy hire. I think it would be a good hire, but you're right. There's going to be other guys above him on the list, whether it is a Matt Campbell, whether it is who knows if like a Mark Stoops

or something like that would take the job. I would imagine Matt Rule is going to get fired some point here soon from Carolina. Who knows where he would be on the list if he wants to get into the coaching game right away

or take a year off or what that is. But there's going to be other candidates in front of him. So you're right. Try to make it as, as unappealing to Nebraska as possible. So you can further him down the list because who knows what coaches are taking the job,

who knows what coaches aren't taking the job and how far they're going to go down that list. Yeah. I'm with you on that. I think, I think it's gonna be very, very, very interesting.

Also our friend, I'm sure you talked to him before Jesse Newell, obviously now covers, I think it was coming to be very, very interesting. Also, our friend, I'm sure you talked to him before, Jesse Newell, obviously now covers – I think he's coming to the Chiefs now. Yep. Does a fantastic job. He said at five wins, they build the statue of Leipold. So we're two away from Jesse's prediction there, them building the statue.

Derek, love Locked on Jayhawks. I'm so glad to have a Kansas host now. I'm so glad you got to come on board for this awesome season. Where can people find you? If they find the show, let them know where to get their Jayhawks fix. We have a lot of Jayhawks fans talking shit to me in the comments, so I'm sure you'll have a more brighter view of it. Where can they find you and your work?

Yeah, so go to Locked on Jayhawks. You can find it anywhere you find your podcast. You can subscribe to the show. So you're always catching everything. We're going to be up on YouTube shortly. I think that'll be next week, but for now you can check out all the audio side of everything. And obviously you can give me a follow.

I'm going to put all my work on a Twitter page, which if you're watching this on YouTube, you can see it right below at D Johnson radio. All right, Derek, man, appreciate your time as always. Absolutely.

Anytime. That was our conversation with Josh Nabors on Locked On Big 12. Coming up on tomorrow's show here on Locked On Jayhawks, we're going to be joined by Scott Chasen to talk some more KU football. If you have anything you'd like for the show to talk about or want to follow along on the action, you can reach out at DJohnsonradio on Twitter. And don't forget to subscribe to the show so you're getting all the latest

with Locked on Jayhawks. That'll do it for today's episode. Have a good rest of your day. I'll see some of you later on Rock Chalk Sports Talk. Bye!