I had a lot of random thoughts all night and when I woke up this morning. Probably a lot more than 10, but here are 10 that stood out.
1) What was the most important key to the game?- My MVP is Andy Kotelnicki after re-watching the game. The offense showed some things that West Virginia simply wasn't ready for. This was the first time the Jayhawks showed the option offense for a whole game. They ran it a couple times with Jason Bean at the end of the Tennessee Tech game but not enough for West Virginia to be prepared for it. The game plan was executed close to perfection. The Jayhawk offense did a little bit of everything, but not a whole lot of one thing.
They ran option, quarterback designed run plays, and enough vertical routes that West Virginia was off-balance much of the game. The front seven is the strength of the West Virginia defense. KU couldn't just line up and just play the power game. For most of the night Kotelnicki turned the West Virginia defense into a guessing game. They didn't know what KU would run and there were enough wrinkles West Virginia never felt comfortable.
In fall camp Kotelnicki said putting the offense together was like a puzzle and he was trying to fit all of the pieces together. Against West Virginia the puzzle was a perfect fit. He called a great game and the offense executed it.
2) The defense got better as the game went on- The numbers weren't great giving up 501 yards, 42 points, and 6.5 yards per play. But the defense came out of the half ready to play. I don't know if Borland yelled at them, threw a clipboard against the wall, changed the scheme, or what happened. But they looked entirely different than the first two quarters. Until JT Daniels took West Virginia on the final drive in regulation the defense only gave up seven points for the first 28 minutes of the second half.
Kenny Logan said they didn't make adjustments. They just started playing better.
"We didn't really make any adjustments," Logan said. "We just stayed true to who we are. We just cleaned up the little things."
3) Spreading the ball around in the ground game- Remember last year when Devin Neal got hurt, Hishaw was out injured, and Gardner went in the portal? They were basically out of running backs. I liked to see Hishaw and Neal with 10 carries each. I still don't know how I feel about Daniels getting the most carries but he looked good. They sprinkled in Morrison and Thomas and those kind of things will keep players healthy (hopefully) and fresh.
4) KU took care of business on the money downs- You want to know how you win football games? Go 11-of-15 on third down and 1-for-1 on fourth down. When you do that it is going to be hard to lose games.
5) Special teams did their part- Reis Vernon finally got a punt and has only punted twice on the year. But he averaged 44.5 yards per punt. The special teams recovered a muffed punt that led to points. Borcila was 7-7 on extra points and the kickoff coverage unit gave up 14 and 18 yards on two returns.
6) Changing a culture and believing- They fell behind twice by 14 points in the first half. The KU teams we have seen in the past fold and never recover. But that is part of the believing and culture change process. The players have bought into the system and this time they didn't fold. I don't have the stats but I would like to know the last time KU won a game after trailing by 14 points. I want to take this moment to talk about the coin flip and getting the ball after half. It was a big sequence trailing by 14 to score before the half cutting it to seven and getting the ball to start the third. When KU scored on the first possession of the third I thought the KU players started to show more energy and West Virginia started to hang their head.
7) Sometimes the ball has to bounce your way and turnovers: Hishaw and Thomas both fumbled but were able to get the ball back. The stats don't show Thomas fumble but he did. On West Virginia's turnover on special teams the returner fumbled right on the sideline. It bounced right into the hands of Tory Locklin. The old saying about turnovers usually plays out to be true and the Jayhawks played a clean game winning the TO battle 2-0.
8) Integrating the transfers/portal players- Leipold and his staff have done a great job taking 20 new players and meshing them into the team. Trust me, this is not easy to do. As a matter of fact it is hard. You have to find a balance to keep current players on the roster and manage the new players on the roster.
Something Craig Young said after the game made me think of this. Not every transfer is playing as many snaps as we thought, but they are starting to get in the game a little more each week.
"Just being a family first. Not putting yourself first, just putting the team first. Do whatever you want to do for the team to win and everything. So it's us just being family first and not having a "I" in team." Young said.
9) Jalon Daniels was close to perfect- If Jalon Daniels keeps playing like that his name is going to be in the headlines a lot more. 18-of-29 passing for 219 yards and 12 carries for 85 yards. When he gets everything clicking he is hard to defend. He was almost flawless and the most important stat...zero turnovers.
10) Building off the win- The ole 24 hour rule is in effect. Have fun and forget about it. There will be another tough road game coming next. Houston will have their backs against the wall. This is a Power Five team coming to their house and a future conference opponent. I got word early in the year there were talks about getting out of the Houston game but their admin was against it because they felt this was an attractive game for their fans.
This is the first home game Houston will play after going on the road to UTSA and Texas Tech. They will be ready to play. They will have a lot more film to see KU's offense and what they did against West Virginia and will be prepared. This is a winnable game. But KU has to play well. They just can't show up. If they can find a way to win you are going to have a 3-0 KU team versus a 3-0 Duke team in Lawrence in week four. If that ends up being true I think you will see a great crowd and environment. But you have to take care of business.
1) What was the most important key to the game?- My MVP is Andy Kotelnicki after re-watching the game. The offense showed some things that West Virginia simply wasn't ready for. This was the first time the Jayhawks showed the option offense for a whole game. They ran it a couple times with Jason Bean at the end of the Tennessee Tech game but not enough for West Virginia to be prepared for it. The game plan was executed close to perfection. The Jayhawk offense did a little bit of everything, but not a whole lot of one thing.
They ran option, quarterback designed run plays, and enough vertical routes that West Virginia was off-balance much of the game. The front seven is the strength of the West Virginia defense. KU couldn't just line up and just play the power game. For most of the night Kotelnicki turned the West Virginia defense into a guessing game. They didn't know what KU would run and there were enough wrinkles West Virginia never felt comfortable.
In fall camp Kotelnicki said putting the offense together was like a puzzle and he was trying to fit all of the pieces together. Against West Virginia the puzzle was a perfect fit. He called a great game and the offense executed it.
2) The defense got better as the game went on- The numbers weren't great giving up 501 yards, 42 points, and 6.5 yards per play. But the defense came out of the half ready to play. I don't know if Borland yelled at them, threw a clipboard against the wall, changed the scheme, or what happened. But they looked entirely different than the first two quarters. Until JT Daniels took West Virginia on the final drive in regulation the defense only gave up seven points for the first 28 minutes of the second half.
Kenny Logan said they didn't make adjustments. They just started playing better.
"We didn't really make any adjustments," Logan said. "We just stayed true to who we are. We just cleaned up the little things."
3) Spreading the ball around in the ground game- Remember last year when Devin Neal got hurt, Hishaw was out injured, and Gardner went in the portal? They were basically out of running backs. I liked to see Hishaw and Neal with 10 carries each. I still don't know how I feel about Daniels getting the most carries but he looked good. They sprinkled in Morrison and Thomas and those kind of things will keep players healthy (hopefully) and fresh.
4) KU took care of business on the money downs- You want to know how you win football games? Go 11-of-15 on third down and 1-for-1 on fourth down. When you do that it is going to be hard to lose games.
5) Special teams did their part- Reis Vernon finally got a punt and has only punted twice on the year. But he averaged 44.5 yards per punt. The special teams recovered a muffed punt that led to points. Borcila was 7-7 on extra points and the kickoff coverage unit gave up 14 and 18 yards on two returns.
6) Changing a culture and believing- They fell behind twice by 14 points in the first half. The KU teams we have seen in the past fold and never recover. But that is part of the believing and culture change process. The players have bought into the system and this time they didn't fold. I don't have the stats but I would like to know the last time KU won a game after trailing by 14 points. I want to take this moment to talk about the coin flip and getting the ball after half. It was a big sequence trailing by 14 to score before the half cutting it to seven and getting the ball to start the third. When KU scored on the first possession of the third I thought the KU players started to show more energy and West Virginia started to hang their head.
7) Sometimes the ball has to bounce your way and turnovers: Hishaw and Thomas both fumbled but were able to get the ball back. The stats don't show Thomas fumble but he did. On West Virginia's turnover on special teams the returner fumbled right on the sideline. It bounced right into the hands of Tory Locklin. The old saying about turnovers usually plays out to be true and the Jayhawks played a clean game winning the TO battle 2-0.
8) Integrating the transfers/portal players- Leipold and his staff have done a great job taking 20 new players and meshing them into the team. Trust me, this is not easy to do. As a matter of fact it is hard. You have to find a balance to keep current players on the roster and manage the new players on the roster.
Something Craig Young said after the game made me think of this. Not every transfer is playing as many snaps as we thought, but they are starting to get in the game a little more each week.
"Just being a family first. Not putting yourself first, just putting the team first. Do whatever you want to do for the team to win and everything. So it's us just being family first and not having a "I" in team." Young said.
9) Jalon Daniels was close to perfect- If Jalon Daniels keeps playing like that his name is going to be in the headlines a lot more. 18-of-29 passing for 219 yards and 12 carries for 85 yards. When he gets everything clicking he is hard to defend. He was almost flawless and the most important stat...zero turnovers.
10) Building off the win- The ole 24 hour rule is in effect. Have fun and forget about it. There will be another tough road game coming next. Houston will have their backs against the wall. This is a Power Five team coming to their house and a future conference opponent. I got word early in the year there were talks about getting out of the Houston game but their admin was against it because they felt this was an attractive game for their fans.
This is the first home game Houston will play after going on the road to UTSA and Texas Tech. They will be ready to play. They will have a lot more film to see KU's offense and what they did against West Virginia and will be prepared. This is a winnable game. But KU has to play well. They just can't show up. If they can find a way to win you are going to have a 3-0 KU team versus a 3-0 Duke team in Lawrence in week four. If that ends up being true I think you will see a great crowd and environment. But you have to take care of business.
