Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - SHATTERED: Kansas Jayhawks CRUSHED by K-State in EMBARRASSING Rivalry Loss | Will it EVER End?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Is Kansas ever going to beat Kansas State? It certainly doesn't feel like it after another loss. This time, maybe the most embarrassing of the Lance Light Poldera. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you that every dayers catching each and every episode of the show, including when we have to torment over things like this. Kansas gets dominated, quite frankly, by Kansas State. You spotted them seven points early, and it still didn't matter. They lose the game in honestly kind of blowout fashion at the very end of the game. I'm going to break down why I think this is the worst loss of the Lance Leipold, era at Kansas, what it means for KU moving forward this season and the future of the program.

Starting point is 00:00:56 Also get into our, I guess, plays that swung the game. game, K-States Way, moments of the game, stats of the game, awards of the game, game ball. I don't know. Are we going to get to game balls? It doesn't feel like we should give any out. So maybe we'll just talk more about the state of the program as we continue on on this episode. And today's episode of the show is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's moving the game forward with Mazda, move and be moved. Kansas loses to Kansas State.

Starting point is 00:01:30 in a series where the last couple years you had lost close and it was excruciating in games that you felt like honestly you should have won this was not one of those this was one where they just came in and spanked you they came in and dominated this football game they came in and you know they spotted you seven points and it still did not matter this was never really and honestly like this was not a game where kansas state like you look at the total yards and stuff like this was a game that k you lost in with, again, like more self-inflicted mistakes with the lack of ability to hit big plays themselves, with an inability to move the ball, quite frankly, on the offensive end to the

Starting point is 00:02:08 football. And I really thought this was a game where it felt like K-State, and this is not like a, this is not a new thing for KU in terms of like there have been other games that KU has felt like as, I don't want to say play, but like has approached the game, the game plan to the game or the play calling or the coaching or the play. I don't know how you want to, like, knock it out, but has been not aggressive or has been one where they have played almost timid to a certain standpoint. And again, I don't know if that's playing. I don't know if that's coaching. I don't know if that's play calling or what. But like point being, you approach this game and called plays in this game like the rain was going to be the biggest thing stopping you

Starting point is 00:02:51 and you had to throw a bunch of short passes and run the football over and over again. And I think it was Devin Neal who tweeted during the game like, they're just playing. in coverage every play and daring KU to beat them and they just couldn't and how much of that was the KU players just not winning their matchups. I'm sure there's at least a part of it to that, but how much of that was not attacking to that and just, you know, K-Stay saying, hey, we don't think you're going to, because you look at, like, how many times did K-Stra throw a deep ball in this game? It was a pretty good amount. Like, obviously, you think of the Jace Brown touchdown that made of 35 to 17 that kind of put the game away, but like you think of the deep ball,

Starting point is 00:03:26 jace brown to get to the one yard line that eventually made it later with the touchdown 28 to 14 you think of the the deep post drop that they threw where k you didn't play it aggressively enough and jace brown just i forget it was that one jose brown too but uh boxes out the fender and catches it inside the k u 10 yard line to the six i think that was the drive that k state tied at seven to seven how often did k you throw deep balls how often did k u take shot plays how often did k u even throw to the intermediate range of the field it did not feel like very much at all and i think part of it, you tip your cap to K State, who played a great game, and they clearly scouted KU very well. And this is kind of something I've said leading into it. They're like, yes,

Starting point is 00:04:04 Lance Lightbold's been good off by weeks, but how many of those by weeks have been where KU has been off the buy and the opponent has not been off the buy? When KU plays a team where the other team is on a buy week and they scout KU well, you look at what K State did to the KU defense. You look at what, or you look at what Cincinnati did to the KU defense off a buy. If KU is playing an opponent off the buy, I'm just going to start chalking it up to a loss. I'm also just going to every year, I'm going to start chalking up every time you play K State to a loss as well. That's what it feels like here. It feels like you're never going to see them beat K State. And this is certainly frustrating and it's unfortunate and everything, but that's just

Starting point is 00:04:39 kind of where I'm at. Like, I made the mistake this week of being like, you know what? I've said all long that I'm going to, I'm going to wait to pick KU and a game against K State until I see it happening. and then I convince myself KU is going to win the game. Well, I'm the idiot now. So I think that's kind of where we're out with this. It's like, I'm not going to pick KU to ever beat K State in my lifetime until I see it happens. And that's important. Ever since I've watched KU, ever since I went to KU and so forth, I've never seen KU beat K State.

Starting point is 00:05:09 It just is what it is, I guess, at this point in time. Like K State is KU's daddy in this series. That's just what it is. I know it sounds crappy and it's unfortunate to talk about, but it's true. It's 100% what it is. You've lost 17 straight in this. series. It's despicable. And yeah, I mean, you couldn't even keep it a game here. You came in with the better record. You came in favored and you got blown out. Insane, man. Insane. Jalen Daniels struggled.

Starting point is 00:05:34 Clearly, the rain is not Jalen's friend. I was trying to think like how many games have we seen Jalen play in inclement weather or in rain? It's not as many as you would think because of some of the injuries. I definitely think the rain is not something that Jalen plays well in. I think we saw a little bit of that in this game. But I don't even know if this is a rivalry anymore. It's just a right of passage for K. State, and it feels like no matter what's going to happen, like they're going to come out on top of your.

Starting point is 00:05:59 Jalen struggled. The KU's defense is just not good. I think that's kind of where we're at with this. And then, you know, the first play of the game, your special teams goes down and makes a huge play for you. You force a fumble. You end up going down and scoring a touchdown of which,

Starting point is 00:06:13 honestly, like did Jalen fumble or did he not? I think probably a little bit lucky in KU's favor there. but point being, even after that play, you still found a way to give up a big special teams play to equalize there, right? To where even that big special teams play that led to a touchdown your way ended up being neutralized by the special teams touchdown

Starting point is 00:06:33 you gave up later in the game. So it was just a wash in a game where you had an opportunity for it to be a big advantage for you. It was just not. And it's, again, we talk about this all the time. It's the stupid plays in the series, right? It's the bad snap that leads to the K-state touchdown on special themes. It's game management. KU ends up getting a touchdown at the end of the first half

Starting point is 00:06:53 and K State doesn't score. But I swear, man, that was still not good game management. You were running hurry up with 4.30 to go in the first half before you got a touchdown. It's like, no, be patient. Run the clock. Like you do not want them getting the football back late. And then Kansas is the one who uses a timeout with like whatever it was, 38 seconds or something in the goal to go situation against K State. Instead of it being K state using the timeout, that was dumb. And again, it ended up working out for K-Stade didn't score with the ball with like 30 seconds left in the game and KU ended up getting a touchdown. But again, bad process there. KU's addicted to throwing on third and one when

Starting point is 00:07:29 to me those should be, like if you want to throw on third and one your own territory, I actually have no problem with it because those are situations where you might not go for it on fourth down. When you're in plus territory, which was the case in a couple of their third and ones, when it's like, hey, you're at their 35, you're at their 40, you're at their 30 yard line. You might go for this fourth down regardless. Run the ball on third. down because if you lose a yard or if you get stuffed, you can still go for fourth and two. You can still go for fourth and one versus if you throw the ball and it gets intercepted or you get sacked and it's out fourth down and 11, you can't go for it on the fourth down again.

Starting point is 00:08:02 I don't know why they keep doing that over and over again. That's a little frustrating. Just the plays where, yeah, Jalen throws the interception off Keaton, Quebec's hands. Is it one that Keaton, Quebec? I probably wish that he would have caught probably also as a bad pass. It was certainly behind him. this one too from a game management perspective like would it have mattered no i don't think it would of because again case eight wins the game by 25 but like you're down 28 to 14 and you kick a field

Starting point is 00:08:28 goal on i think it was fourth and nine fourth and 10 fourth and 11 somewhere in that range you can feel a tip of the cap to lay if marjan who makes the kick like good on him for making it on a long field goal in a raining day but like that should factor into it too the fact that that's going to be a harder kick in the rain but even if it's even if it's perfect ideal conditions you're down 14 in a game where you cannot stop them. You have to go for that. You have to try to get a touchdown there. They played to keep it close as opposed to playing to win the game.

Starting point is 00:08:55 And that is so incredibly frustrating. Again, I don't know that it would have mattered. But yeah, I guess the other notes I had written down, like again, like I think that was probably Jalen Daniels' worst game came at a unfortunate moment. Like I guess Danielan Daniels just isn't going to have it. He's had some very good moments, very good games at KU. I don't want to take away from that. He had to been having a great year coming up into this game. This was his worst game in the season.

Starting point is 00:09:17 And unfortunately, I just don't know that there's going to be a signature win in Jalen's career. The K-State offensive line worked to the KU defensive line in pass blocking. KU wasn't able to get anything there. And then here's the other thing. Going back to the idea that it felt like K-State play called aggressive, whereas with KU, it felt like they play called more afraid of the rain. How many explosive plays did K-State have? And there's at least a handful I can think of off the top of my head, whether it's deep passes or whatever.

Starting point is 00:09:43 How many explosive plays did KU have? struggling to think of any, right? So I think kind of the bottom line here is this. Lance Leipold sucks against rivals. That's just kind of the nature of the beast. KU's defense isn't very good. KU just can't beat K-State. And it feels like I don't know when that's going to end.

Starting point is 00:10:02 You're going to Manhattan next year. You're going to have kind of a rebuilding year. And honestly, at this point of bowl games, in doubt. You're four and four. How many of these games are you going to be favored in down the stretch? I think you'll be favored against Oklahoma State. Outside of that, I think you're going to be an underdog in the other three games. what does this all mean to recruits you've got a really good recruiting class in the class of

Starting point is 00:10:20 2026 especially in state what does this mean you know because their seniors in high school they would have been one years old one year old zero years old depending when they were born the last time the k ub case date are you going to get any decommits out of this are you going to get any flips to k state what does it mean for the class of 2027 28 i don't know and i kind of said i guess this is where i'm kind of bad because obviously this is the most frustrating loss and i think this is the worst loss of the as the program overall in this season for KU, because all off season long, I kind of said, win six or seven games, make it to a bowl game and beat one of your rivals. Beat K State or Missouri and make it to a bowl game, and that's a successful season.

Starting point is 00:10:58 I don't know that they're going to make a bowl game anymore, and you didn't beat either your rivals. So it kind of feels like this season's going to be a failure now. And that adds to the disappointment from this game, a game that you were finally favored over K State and the, I mean, certainly over the last three times you played K State, you played them closer than you did today. And just a very disappointing outing all the way around. Let's get to our moments and plays of the game that determined it. Our stats of the game are awards of the game. If we can call it that, game balls and plenty more. This is locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:11:32 And today's episode of the show is brought to you by Mazda, moving the game forward. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it. These are the moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, they move culture, and they keep the game moving forward. I'm struggling to find a moment that moved the game forward. I guess do we go back to Lave Marjan? Every time Lave Marjan hits a long field goal for KU, it's a good moment for Kansas.

Starting point is 00:11:58 But then if I guess the last two weeks after it happened, KU couldn't do anything. So I don't know. I guess I feel good about the Kicking game for KU with Lave Marjon moving forward. Okay. When you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like that, every highlight. There's more to every Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved.

Starting point is 00:12:22 Very frustrating day and I'm sorry for KU fans here. This is locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making us your first listen every day. You can give us a follow at D. Johnson Radio at L.O. Jayhawks. Real quick, I will say quick jump ahead to the awards of the game. Shout out to the, I was at the KU game with my wife. It was our anniversary. Unfortunately, this sucks and it's sad. My wife turns me as we're walking back to the car and goes, I feel like our anniversary is ruined. So that sucks. So thank you to that one. Obviously, we're going to turn around.

Starting point is 00:12:51 We'll have a good night. But anyway, point being, thank you so much to our, we're going to give out our award listeners of the game. I had shout out to Dave, shout out to Mort, who, Mort, shout out to you for being optimistic at halftime. It did not work out in the second half, but I appreciate the optimism. A shout out to Darrell, shout out to Jack, all of you guys. And by the way, Darrell, I hope you're enjoying Lucia's in Effingham.

Starting point is 00:13:13 But, you know, shout out to all you guys for coming by, staying hi and that you listen to the show. I really do appreciate you guys and really do appreciate everybody. I don't know what is going to be in store for the rest of the season. Are we going to turn more to basketball content? I guess we'll let the listeners decide on that one and see how things go. But certainly unfortunate there. But thank you to you guys. And thank you the rest of the everydayers who certainly tune in each and every day of the show.

Starting point is 00:13:34 I think our moments of the game, like in the quick moment where you thought, like legitimately, I'm sure other KU fans felt this way too. First play of the game, you force the kickoff fumble, you recover, you eventually go down and get a touchdown, and you're up 7-0. And at that point, I certainly thought this, again, I'm sure other people thought this too, Kansas is winning this game. Because what is defined this series and what is defined Kansas losing in the series? It's the dumb plays, it's the stupid mistakes, it's the special teams plays, it's the self-inflicted mistakes. And it felt like at that moment in time, the tide is turning. state's the one making the dumb special teams play this is how it all comes together comes full circle turns out it didn't case they just spotted k u the points they ended up getting them back

Starting point is 00:14:21 later on the uh and honestly that might be the play of the game is when k u gave the special teams touchdown on the other end on the long snap um i would also say like them getting up that the fourth and one when they were up seven in the second half that was a key moment in the game as well you had made it 21 to 14 you weren't able to capitalize early in the second half offensively, but you had an opportunity, if you would have made that stop, this turned the momentum, they get the first down. And I feel like that. And then the nail in the coffin play, I guess you would say, was the long ball from Avery Johnson to Jace Brown. There was a huge difference in this game in man-to-man coverage. As we mentioned earlier, Devin Neal tweeted

Starting point is 00:14:57 that out for KU. When Kansas was in man coverage defensively, Avery Johnson trusted his receivers and they made place. When K-State was in-man coverage, K-State didn't win far enough or wasn't aggressive enough or didn't attack it downfield enough. I don't know what it was. But the difference of when you had a one-on-one matchup

Starting point is 00:15:20 for K-State versus the K-U-DBs versus the K-U receivers versus the K-State D-Bs, it was a stark difference. And that's certainly unfortunate because it didn't feel like coming into this game that K-State had a huge advantage at the receiver in corner or the receiver and DB position. right maybe you can make an argument they have a slight advantage or you could make an argument

Starting point is 00:15:40 Kansas had a slight advantage but it felt like it was relatively close between the two certainly didn't feel that way on Saturday between these two games I would say the stat of the game I mean honestly you could probably point um to the sacks like that would be one of them in a game where okay so kU was coming off the uh Texas tech loss where you give up nine sacks and you didn't know exactly like what the offense line was going to look like even though the games before you would only give it up I think was six sacks coming into that game. And this was the game, too, where, like, Kansas State, you looked at them,

Starting point is 00:16:13 and we kind of brought this up in the week leading up, the fact that, like, you know, they were really good in, like, sack rate, the PFF, like, pressure grade wasn't great, but certainly, you know, you felt like there was something there. And K State out-sacked you four to zero. KU doesn't have a sack their last two games on the defensive end of the field. So, you know, you have a 30. to zero in sack yards. Like, that's one of the stats of the game. I would also say turnovers was one of the stats of the game in a game where, again, we've talked about over

Starting point is 00:16:45 and over again that feels like KU makes more of the stupid plays over and over again. And yes, K State had that opening fumble, but after that, KU wound up with the next, what was it, three or four turnovers after that point in time. Let's see, K State had two fumble recoveries and had two interceptions. See, I was four to one from that point on. So, Yeah, that's kind of a difference there in terms of, you know, certainly one of the big stats of the game. And then the other big stat of the game, I mean, KU only have 247 total yards of offense in this game. You could point to a lot of things here. 2.8 yards per carry. That's bad.

Starting point is 00:17:24 Honestly, this is what I want to make the stat of the game. K State averaged 21 yards per completion. They didn't complete. They only completed 11 passes. K-State only averaged 3.9 yards per carry. If you would have told me coming in that K-State was only going to complete 11 passes in 3.9 yards per carry, I would have thought KU won the game. But KU only averaged 7.6 yards per completion, not per attempt, yards per completion.

Starting point is 00:17:54 If you're looking at yards per attempt, KU was under four yards per attempt passing. If you're at like six yards per attempt passing, you're like the worst in the country. So that was a horrific game for KU throwing the football. And again, I think there were a little too afraid of the rain. Maybe part of it was, you know, maybe they had right to be afraid of the rain. Maybe that, you know, the personnel just wasn't great in the rain. It felt like it was kind of a combination there. But yeah, that's the big difference in the game.

Starting point is 00:18:20 K State 21 yards per completion, KU at 7.6 yards per completion. Our awards of the game, we're going to give the, we give out the listeners of the game please stop this moving forward of the game. That's going to go to running it on second and a mile. How often does KU get like, whether it's a sack or a penalty or something where it's like second and 20, second and 15? And they run like a halfback draw for like three yards. And now it's third and 12. If it's second and 10, I don't have a problem running the ball because if you get it to third and six that makes things a lot easier, opens up your playbook.

Starting point is 00:18:58 But when it's second and 15, a four or five yard run doesn't change anything for you. just throw it twice. I don't know. Maybe that's, maybe that's too new school of me, but I just, I, that's, that's how I feel. The other, the Thanos, all that for a drop of blood award, that goes to, there was like three minutes in the third quarter. Jalen Daniels are on the plus side of the field. I think they're at the plus 44.

Starting point is 00:19:19 Jaylon's like scrambling around, reverse his field. There's a good little scramble by him, then throws to camp pick up behind the line of scrimmage, jukes by a guy, breaks the tackle, and all that for zero yard gain. And at that moment, it was kind of like, okay, if, feels like nothing KU is doing is easy. And even things that they're making look like, oh, wow, what a spectacular play like that one was. And it's like, oh, that was a zero yard game, which kind of defined the game in a lot of ways. All right, let's try to give out our game balls next. This is Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:19:52 And this episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by DoorDash. It is the weekend. Let's look back and crown this week's MVP on Who Delivered, powered by DoorDash. Just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash Street. saving more every time you order. These plays delivered when it mattered most. I'm going to go with Daniel Hyshaw for Kansas. I thought, obviously, second game back off injury. I thought he looked pretty fresh in the first half.

Starting point is 00:20:13 Obviously, you know, the second half of play for KU, you weren't able to establish run. I don't think as well as you did in the first half. But overall 19 carry, 67 yards and a touchdown. KU wasn't able to move the ball. And again, I think those numbers were better in the first half. I thought Hyshaw looked really good in the first half. I don't think the run blocking was as good in the second half.

Starting point is 00:20:32 but like I thought high shot delivered and did enough there that if you would have been able to open up the game a little bit more, you know, in the air and try to make their DBs back off a little bit. They were really able to creep up. I thought Highshaw would have had an even bigger game. And considering where he's been coming off the injury, like the way he played against Tech, the way now he played against K State, I do feel good about Highshaw moving forward the rest of the season. And just like Daniel Highshaw delivered for Kansas, DoorDash delivers your Saturdays. With DoorDash Streaks, he saved every Saturday order, stack it up all. season. You could save up to $250, including $100 in DoorDash credits. Order this Saturday and keep the streak alive. Fuel your game day only with DoorDash. Terms

Starting point is 00:21:11 apply from a period through November 18th. This episode is also brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. The NFL season's here and FanDwell has an offer you don't want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. Pick a bet, put down $5 and if it hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Honestly, right? now. Thinking about putting five bucks down on Oklahoma State money line next week. But I don't know, maybe I'm being too much of a downer right now. Come next Thursday or Friday, maybe we'll switch that around. But point being, you know, more positive, Darren Peterson looked awesome against Louisville.

Starting point is 00:21:46 Darren Peterson won an award plus 900 over at FanDuel. So what are you waiting for? Visit fanduel.com to download the FanDuel up today and get started with FanDuel, the official sports partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thanks to join us on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can check us out at L.O. underscore Jayhawks there. And you can find us on YouTube or anywhere you hear podcasts. And then thank you to all the great listeners who tune into the show no matter what. We will be back on Monday.

Starting point is 00:22:15 I don't know. We were originally going to talk like biggest takeaways from this game for KUK State. Maybe we'll do that. Maybe we'll shift more to basketball. Haven't fully decided yet. But our game balls from this one, I guess if we have to give one, out to the offense for KU. Do we go with Daniel Highshaw? I guess Cam Pickett, six catches for 40 yards for KU on eight targets. I mean, Emmanuel Henderson was taken away from this one,

Starting point is 00:22:39 eight targets for just 24 yards. Can't pick. It was kind of the most consistent. It definitely K-State seemed to have KU scouted a lot better than KU had K-State scouted. Some of the short throws and easy completions KU normally would have, K-State was all over it. And it didn't feel like that was the way the other way around. But I guess point being we'll give Kim Pickett the game ball. Honestly, I don't want to give a game ball to offense. I'm just going to give a second game ball to the defensive side of the. Well, do they deserve?

Starting point is 00:23:05 I don't know. See, this is, I feel silly even giving a game ball to really either side for KU, which kind of speaks to how this game went. You know, I will give one to Blake Harold on the defensive side. He had seven tackles with Led KU, which is difficult to do as a defense tackle and shows that he had a really good game. He had a pass breakup. There weren't a lot of plays where I felt like KU was.

Starting point is 00:23:24 was able to get pressure or do much to Avery Johnson, but it did feel like the occasions where it was like, hey, a defense tackle beat, you know, this guard or whoever and was able to at least get semi-close or break through and, you know, get to a defensive or a running back. I did feel like that was Blake Harold consistently. So I do think those, him leading the team and tackles did back up kind of the eye test of him playing

Starting point is 00:23:45 a good game. So that would be my answer. I guess I'm just going to give one game ball for the defense. It's going to go to Blake Harold. And then we have, I guess the one special teams won. to Lath Marjohn, making a tough kick, you know, 47 yards in rain. Not an easy thing to do, but, uh, yeah, man, it just feels like K state, obviously K state's got KU's number.

Starting point is 00:24:06 It feels like every time you play him, you get out coached, you make more mistakes. And they just, they seem to scout you better. They seem to scheme you better. They seem to just outperform you in the one-on-one opportunities they have outside of like a few moments here there like it felt like devon neal out one-on-one them the last couple years and unfortunately it wasn't enough because of some other things that happened and unfortunately this year you didn't have enough out one-on-ones and yeah they just they dominated you and uh k state owns this series and i'm not sure when that's going to change if ever all right that'll do it for this episode of locked on jahawks

Starting point is 00:24:43 so you can find her show anywhere you get your podcast including on our youtube page where you can like and subscribe to the show see you next time with loj

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - SHATTERED: Kansas Jayhawks CRUSHED by K-State in EMBARRASSING Rivalry Loss | Will it EVER End?

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