Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 11.15.19

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

Football previews Pokes; Bill Self speaks highly of signees Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, y'all? Happy Friday. Welcome in to Locked On Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG College broadcaster and University of Kansas insider. This is Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and a chance to hear from all the voices within Kansas athletics. Got a packed show here on this Friday. First off, we're going to talk Kansas football as they take on Oklahoma State. We're going to do a deep dive on Oklahoma State. We're going to hear from guys like Andrew Parchment and Carter Stanley, get a clip from Les Miles as well on what the mindset is for this KU football

team. Second segment, we're going to hear from Bill Self and KU players and of course go over our Friday Five and tell you about the one Big 12 basketball game that was in action last night. And of course, preview all the football games that are happening on Saturday. And then final segment, we'll hear more from Bill Self and KU Hoops. The basketball game is taking place tonight, of course, at 7 o'clock at Allen Fieldhouse against Monmouth and then KU back in action on Tuesday, hosting East Tennessee State. They, of course, were the team that was picked to finish first in the same conference that UNC Greensboro was picked second. So a lot to get to. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's start by talking Oklahoma State, this Cowboy football team, which seems to always be solid, if not good, under Mike Gundy. They're 6-3 this year, 3-3 in conference play. And we're going to kind of recap their schedule first and then dive into some of the logistics, some of the guys they've got. Their first game was a Friday night game on opening weekend in the Battle of the OSUs against Oregon State, and the Big 12 OSU won 52-36, did Oklahoma State.

They then took care of McNeese, no problem, 56-14, and then disposed of Tulsa, 40-21. So Oklahoma State, a perfect 3-0 non-con record. And then the Big 12 slate started, and OSU started 1-3. They lost to Texas. That game was in Austin, 36-30. They then beat Kansas State, which is looking like a really good win right now, 26-13, and Stillwater. Lost to Texas Tech on the road, 35-45.

And then against Baylor, a game that many people thought was an upset opportunity for Oklahoma State. The Bears scored a lot late, and they won 45-27. So that put them at 1-3 in the conference and 4-3 overall. And then back-to-back 34-27 wins. One in Ames against Iowa State and then one back at home against TCU. So this team sits at 3-3. In terms of stats, logistically, Oklahoma State, as always, is near the top of the league in terms of offense. They're third in the Big 12 in scoring offense, 37 points per game. Oklahoma, by the way, they lead that by a landslide at 48. OSU is second in total offense and first in rush offense, of course, highlighted by Chuba Hubbard, who has ridiculous numbers.

Chuba Hubbard, 178 rush yards per game, which is far and away the most in the Big 12. The next closest, Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma's quarterback at 96.6, and then Puka Williams at 95.6. Hubbard, a ridiculous 6.8 yards per carry, and he's got a league-leading 18 touchdowns as well. He also has a 92-yard touchdown earlier this year, so he is their main guy offensively. That's going to be option number one for a Kansas defense that really struggled stopping the run against K-State. Kansas is not going to have to worry about NFL prospect Tylan Wallace, who unfortunately for the Pokes, tore his ACL at practice a couple weeks ago.

He is out for the year. He led the Big 12 in receiving yards per game and was second in the Big 12 in receptions per game. So no Tylan Wallace for Oklahoma State. Their quarterback is Spencer Sanders. His numbers in terms of efficiency are similar to Carter Stanley's and they've got another wide receiver in the slot who seems like he's been there forever, Dylan Stoner, do Oklahoma State. So a high-powered offense without question for Oklahoma State. On the defensive end, this team's a little bit susceptible. They're seventh in scoring defense,

seventh in sacks allowed, which could be an important number, and they're eighth in pass defense. Oklahoma State is also minus four in turnover margin. KU is minus five. So who's going to win the turnover battle, and will that have an impact on this game? I think it's no secret that Kansas' first primary duty is going to be taking care of the run game defensively and making sure that Chuba Hubbard does not get loose. Offensively, obviously, the Jayhawks are trying to get back to the groove that they were in the first couple games with Brent Dierman as the new offensive coordinator. up over 500 yards total offense in both of those games Carter Stanley talked to reporters earlier this week and said that he likes the way this offense is going I feel really good about this offense you know we you know we had a great week this past week by week you know just internally looking at what we do good and, you know,

trying to implement that for these last three games. And while Oklahoma State's defense isn't at the top of the Big 12 in very many categories, KU wide receiver Andrew Parshment said that his wide receiver coach, Emmitt Jones, has been talking about the Oklahoma State defense for a long time. Coach Jones has been talking about the Oklahoma State defense since the moment I stepped on campus in January. So he's been talking about A.J. Green a lot. So I'm very excited about the matchup. I've seen he got invited to the Senior Bowl and those type of accolades and accomplishments that I want for myself as well. So it's gonna be a very tough task for me going against him. So I look forward to the competition. A.J. Green, one of the talented members of the Oklahoma State

secondary. Another talented member, Colby Harvell Peel. He's first in the Big 12 and passes defended. He's forced five turnovers, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles. He's also recovered two fumbles. So Harvell Peel is going to be an important part for this Oklahoma State defense. Andrew Parchment was then asked, why did Emmitt Jones talk about this Oklahoma State defense? Why did he single them out?

For us to realize the caliber of players that we're playing against in the Big 12. People say Big 12 don't got a lot of defensive backs, but we do. Got a lot of long, fast guys as well, former track runners, especially a lot of guys from Texas that just go out there and compete at the end of the day, and they don't like to get embarrassed. So we just got to go out there and compete all four quarters and look up at the scoreboard, hopefully we can come away with a win. That's the hope. And for Coach Les Miles, it's all about finishing the year strong.

This team 3-6, they know that there's still a sliver of possibility that they can make a bowl game, and they're going to keep believing it until the record tells them otherwise. Here's Coach Miles talking about KU's mindset heading into this game. We want to play well and demonstrate the ability of a real quality football team. And if we do that, the opportunity to win the games that we want to win will be there. So we have to, it's not let's win games, it's let's practice hard, let's improve, let's get this thing done. Let's take it to the field as a team let's everybody in this seat that they're currently sitting in improve and then now you know

we're we're looking at a different team and a team that's used the bye week effectively that's coach les miles in advance of ku's battle with oklahoma. It's a 11 a.m. kick tomorrow in Stillwater. Hopefully the guys come out and get off to a fast start. That would be a great sight to see and put up a good fight and shock the world with an upset in a game that they're 17.5-point underdogs. All right, coming up on the show, we'll have the Friday 5 next segment. We're going to hear from Bill Self and KU players as it's game night at Allen Fieldhouse once again, KU and Monmouth at 7 p.m. This is the Locked On Podcast Network,

the local experts on the biggest stories. Let's take a look around the Big 12, see what's going on this weekend on that front. Let's start with men's hoops. West Virginia travels to Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. That game is tonight at 6 o'clock. In addition to KU against Monmouth at 7 o'clock, another 7 o'clock tip. Texas hosting Prairie View A&M, and Baylor is hosting Texas State. That game is taking place at 8 o'clock in Waco.

Football on tap this weekend. All 10 teams are back in action. Of course, KU and Oklahoma State with the 11 a.m. kick. TCU travels to Texas Tech. That game is also at 11 a.m. A couple 230 p.m. kicks. Kansas State hosting West, and Iowa State hosting Texas. Of course, the blockbuster of the Big 12 is Baylor hosting Oklahoma. That game at 6.30 on ABC. That'll be a big one without question. There is also a Sunday basketball game before our next show. Oklahoma State is hosting Yale.

That game at 1.30 on Sunday. And that's your Big 12 outlook for this weekend. All right, time for Friday 5. I'm going to stick with college football this weekend. I had no luck in two attempts. I think they were both bad beats in my opinion, but when you're betting, putting your faith in anybody and any time it doesn't work out, I think you're going to count that as a bad beat. Vermont minus 4 didn't cover last week, and neither did Baylor minus five. Both teams were covering late in these games and then completely blew it. Vermont's was in the last five seconds.

Somehow they turned it over and they did not cover. St. Bonaventure covered against them. And then, of course, Baylor was up by ten relatively late in the Armed Forces class against Washington, and they not only didn't cover, but they completely blew the game. Washington ended that on a 16-3 run and won by three. So I'm staying away from college hoops for a week, and I'm going to go to five college football games.

I didn't see any NFL lines that really jumped out at me, but the LSU-Alabama game last week was such an emotional game that I'm going to bet on the team that lost and bet against the team that won. Alabama is minus 18 at Mississippi State, and Mississippi State is a team that really has underachieved the entire year, and when you can get Alabama anything under 30, essentially, against a team that's not very good I'm pretty happy with so I think Alabama wins this game by 30 easily covering the minus 18 remember they're gonna have a chip on their shoulder they lost to LSU and they're not in the college football playoff as of today so I think Alabama steamrolls through the rest of the season beginning in Starkville

this weekend and then LSU is taking on the other team from Mississippi, Ole Miss. Ole Miss is at home this game in Oxford, and Ole Miss is plus 21, I think, because of the emotional win. LSU does not cover. I obviously think they have no problem beating Ole Miss, but I think Ole Miss covers the three touchdowns at plus 21. SEC game that I'm going to stay with. Three straight SEC games for me. Auburn is plus three at home against Georgia. That's a battle of two top 15 teams. I just don't have as much faith in Georgia as I want to. I think they're going to drop out of the college football playoff. I think they lose at Auburn, but Auburn, I'm going to stick, take the points that are given to me. I'm

going to stick with the plus three for Auburn. Georgia is out. Alabama is in next week in the college football playoff. And then two big 12 games, so sticking with the major conferences. Texas plus seven at Iowa State. Yes, Texas defense is suspect, but they've been a little bit better recently. I'm going to put faith in the veteran quarterback, Sam Ellinger. UT, I think, should be able to cover seven in Ames. And then the big game, the blockbuster game.

We didn't have it circled as a blockbuster at the beginning of the year, but now it is. It's Baylor against Oklahoma. I like the Bears plus 10. They're undefeated. Oklahoma, big favorite going up against an undefeated team. Oklahoma just cannot seem to get stops when they need to. They were 15-point favorites against Iowa State. They led that game 42-28, and then Iowa State came all the way back and almost won.

So Oklahoma's defense has not been stout recently, and I think the Bears are too good to be getting 10 points. I like Baylor plus 10. So recapping this week's Friday 5, I'm going straight college football this week. Alabama minus 18 at Mississippi State. Ole Miss plus 21 against LSU Auburn plus three against Georgia Texas plus seven at Iowa State and Baylor plus 10 against Oklahoma this week's edition of the Friday Five all right getting back to our Jayhawks now and switching gears over to the

Hardwood game night Kansas and Monmouth tonight but before we talk about this year's team we're of course excited about the newcomers that will be on next year's class KU signing two four-star recruits and a five-star recruit two of them actually officially signed their letter of intent on Wednesday and then yesterday Jethro Muscadine it was announced that he had officially signed KU had officially received the paperwork on Jethro the big man now he Now, he, of course, is the four-star coming in, and he's got a lot of tools. Bill Self at his press conference talked about all three of these guys and how he's very excited for this year's class. There's been a lot of years, a lot of years, where during the fall period

we're not even, you know, have what's thought to be a highly nationally ranked class. And I'm not saying this ranks up there with Joe and Wiggs and, you know, Selden and Frank and those guys. But I do think, considering everything that's happened, I think it's a terrific class. And they're all three were our main targets. I mean, I don't think we could have recruited better than what we did at the respective positions that we were recruiting. And perhaps the guy with the most upside, maybe in terms of at the next level,

is the big man, Jethro Muscadine. Here's Bill Self talking about him. Jethro, to me, is one of those guys, kind of like a Marquise Moore. How good can he get? I mean, his ceiling is high. He can run. He can jump. He made two or three threes the other night in his high school game, and he plays in a highly competitive situation. He's going to be really good. He's active, shot blocker, but he's not ready yet, but he's going to be really good. Undoubtedly the blue chip of this recruiting class, five-star guard Bryce Thompson. Bill

Self talks about how he is very familiar with Bryce's family and how big time a gift that was for the KU basketball program. Bryce, you know, I've known for a long time and, you know, we couldn't have recruited a better ambassador slash player than Bryce Thompson for our program. He's terrific and he's a combo guard. He'll be able to play some on the ball but certainly play off the ball. And we've always had our most success with combo guards. It seems like to me, play multiple ones out there. And, you know, I think he's got a chance to be a special player.

And he's got to get stronger, obviously, and improve in some areas. But he's got some things you can't teach from an IQ standpoint. Can't wait for Bryce Thompson to take the reins on this KU basketball program. And obviously strong words from Coach Self there in terms of being a great player slash ambassador for this team. How about what Bill Self says right here about Tyon Grant Foster, the incoming JUCO player. Pretty big words from Coach Self. If he was here now, he'd be playing all the minutes now. He's really a good player. And to think that he just grew up down the street and has just blown it up like this over the last 12 months is pretty amazing. But he is, I don't know if you guys have followed it,

but what people are saying about him that follow that game are raving about him and deserve it. So he's a 6'7", long, do-everything guard. So I don't think that we could have done a lot better than what we did based on our situation, and really proud to have all three in the fold because they're all three going to be terrific players. That's Coach Self talking about the three incomers for this year's class, 2020-2021 KU Jayhawks.

The roster's already looking good. We're feeling so much better about where this program is than we were about six months ago when there were so many question marks. Still a lot of question marks. There's still a lot to get to, a lot that needs to unfold, and who knows how long it's going to take. But Bill Self, very confident that KU will prevail. And no matter what, 120 years, Self also talked about it at his press conference,

the Kansas brand is alive and well and it's big time that Kansas was able to get three guys in the early signing period this year with Roman you can get a free online evaluation and ongoing care for ED all from the comfort and privacy of your home just go to getroman.com slash locked to get a free online visit and free two-day shipping

we'll hear from Bill Self and a couple of the KU players after this. This is the Locked On Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. Finishing up here, final segment on the final show of the week of Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks so much for tuning in. Thank you. We cover a lot of KU basketball, KU football with a lot going on right now. November, the busiest month of the year on that front without question. So getting a lot of sound from these guys. And going to hear more from Bill Self. This game tonight against a Monmouth team that is not one of the top teams in mid-majors.

KU opens as a 26.5 point favorite against Monmouth. They were up by 9 at halftime was Monmouth a couple nights ago against Kansas State, but K-State blitzed them in the second half, ended up winning by 19. So this is a team that maybe has some potential, but not one of the top teams that Kansas is going to host. Tuesday, KU plays East Tennessee State. So today we're going to talk a little bit more about Kansas in this segment than we are the opponent. Normally we'd have a little bit more in-depth look at the opponent. Even Bill Self yesterday at his press conference saying he hadn't seen Monmouth against K-State game yet

because he didn't have Big 12 now. So he empathized with a lot of the KU fans that don't have that either and don't have access to all the KU games all the time. But he said he's going to watch that following the press conference and see what Monmouth did, especially to hold K-State to just 20 points in the first half on Wednesday. But we're going to focus on kind of the theme of the season for this Kansas team, which is you knew coming in that the strength was going to be two bigs for this Kansas team, the depth on the interior, and now we're kind of questioning that.

We've been questioning that because we've been facing a lot of teams in the early stages, including the exhibition season, that have four guys who can stretch it, so there's the whole aspect of, can our four-man, either Silvio De Sousa or David McCormick, get out and defend the perimeter? And also offensively, how is it going to work? Because Doak needs space to operate inside as the five. We've seen a little bit of the two big look, but in the first two regular season games,

we've seen a lot of the four-guard look, something we saw a lot of the past three seasons as well. Bill Self yesterday talked about how so far to him, the offense just looks better with four guards. I actually think our offense looks better with four guards in right now. The thing about it is you can play two bigs and not be as... the way you know bigs are different you know you know Brian Cook we played you know 6'10 6'10 but he was our best three-point shooter I mean so so so and even here you know, 6'10", 6'10", but he was our best three-point shooter. I mean, so, and even here, you know, you play Markeith and Marcus,

well, one of them or both of them could always be a threat, and they're both great passers. It's just our skill set with these bigs are more bangers than they are probably passers and perimeter shooters to keep defenses on. Coach continues talking about how defending with two bigs can be a challenge. How are we going to guard ball swings? And if we switch, can one of those guys, Sylvia or David, stay connected and be a good perimeter defender?

And if we don't switch, how do we get back to shooters? That would be the thing. If you play four guards, we can switch. It shouldn't be quite as difficult. That's the kind of stuff that we still are working on, but in defense of those guys, they've never done it before. Silvio's never played on the perimeter, and David's never played on the perimeter,

so this is new to them as well. I think they're getting better at it. That's Bill Self, and one guy who we know is going to be on the court no matter what the lineup looks like is junior Marcus Garrett, known as a lockdown defender. He was named to the all-Big 12 first team. Actually, he was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last year. So he's going to be out there, whether he's guarding the four

or guarding the one, two, or three. Marcus is going to be on the court. He was made available to the media at yesterday's press conference, and he was asked about kind of his outlook on what it's like being out there with two bigs versus four guards. Playing with two bigs, of course, I think I advantageous rebounding the ball. That's Coach's, like, biggest thing. If he was saying if we couldn't rebound, why play two guards?

Because everybody else is really going to play four guards around one. So I feel like we got our two bigs out there. We should punish them in the paint. And when the floor is spread, that's when the court is more open for us to drive and keep. So that's a good way to look at it. If you're a KU fan, look at it the way Marcus Garrett does, where you can be optimistic no matter who is out there.

You've got the size on the interior that Kansas can look to use as a major positive and a major advantage against their opponent when you've got two bigs out there. But when you've got one big, you've got a lot of guys like Devon Dotson, like Marcus Garrett, who can drive and kick. And hopefully with Isaiah Moss inching closer and closer to 100%, that gives KU another element with a knockdown shooter available from the outside as well. I talked earlier about how KU is a pretty big favorite in this game, 26.5-point favorite over a Monmouth team that was picked to finish fifth in their league. A little bit different than some of the teams that KU normally plays that are picked first or second. But as always, mid-major is going to get up for Kansas. It's going to be their Super Bowl, right? Coming into Allen Fieldhouse, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for their players.

On the Kansas side, Marcus Garrett talks about what this team can look to do tonight's game. Basically, us being able to go out four guards and being able to go out on the perimeter is the biggest thing for me that I look at. And us being able to feed the ball to the post. I feel like our post haven't been able to get off yet, and I feel like if we get them the balls in the right spots, it's easy for them to score. Yes, Monmouth, yet another team that will be featuring four guards, so we'll get a chance to see a four-guard lineup of our own a lot, I'm sure.

But Bill Self did say yesterday that we'll continue to start two bigs. That seems to be the theme. Kansas is going to continue to start two bigs, see how it goes, see if they can establish something offensively with their size on the interior, while at the same time, you know, hopefully being able to guard people on the perimeter, and if not, you know, mixing and matching with four-guard lineups as well. Christian Brown, Tristan and Aruna, Isaiah Moss, hopefully we'll all get a lot of playing time tomorrow,

get to see a lot of different lineups, and what should be an easy KU win, to be quite honest, and then a tough game coming up on Tuesday against East Tennessee State. That before the Maui Invitational Thanksgiving week. Make your plans. First game is going to be Monday the 25th against Chaminade, and then a couple TBA games and game times on Tuesday the 26th and Wednesday the 27th. A lot to look forward to. An exciting time for Kansas basketball.

An exciting time here on Locked on Jayhawks. We heard in the first segment from Les Miles and a couple of KU football players regarding their tilt with Oklahoma State. That's tomorrow kickoff at 11 a.m. Second segment, we heard Bill Self's thoughts on the three incoming recruits who have officially signed to be Jayhawks next year. And we also got through our Friday Five, hoping for a 5-0 week on that front, as always.

And then we just heard from Marcus Garrett and Bill Self talking about the four-guard look versus the two-big look. How can KU have success? And that'll be a storyline as the season goes on, I'm sure. Thanks so much for tuning in. We'll catch you on Monday. This is Locked On Jayhawks, a product of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. And Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.