I am heading to Axtell, Kansas, this Friday to get a look at Brandon Schmelzle. Judging from the point spreads in first six games, I don't expect it to be a competitive game. Anyone here seen him play?

Other notables:

Sevion Morrison- (8) 77.3
Bryce Cabeldue- (52) 53.0
Tevia Noa- (14) 49.6

Extra snap counts to mention:
Cole Ballard- 5
Bryce Cohoon- 2
Calvin Clements- 5
Daniel Hishaw- 9
Leyton Cure- 8

I know after the UNC game, a lot of you were calling for us to dump Grimes for the James Madison OC. I'm looking at their results this year and man, it is crazy how wildly inconsistent they are. They managed 70 vs UNC and 63 vs Ball State, but they only scored 13 on Gardner-Webb, 14 on Georgia Southern, and 19 on UL Monroe. Not sure that's what we're looking for after all.

- We look at the Houston game and give our predictions

- Houston play-by-play voice Kevin Eschenfelder is our guest

- The latest in recruiting and visitors expected at the Houston game

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Haven't looked at the updated stats but I had in my notes going into the weekend games they were ranked 15th against the pass

There have been some rumblings over the last few weeks that JuJu Marks could open up his recruiting. I haven't heard anything of concrete evidence but there is definitely some truth to the fact that Nebraska was making a push at him.

I've made some calls this evening but haven't found anything out but definitely something me and people in our network are monitoring.

Funnel your hatred here. I’m not a Jayhawk who pretends I don’t hate them. I hate them. **** them.

Interesting looking at Sagarin ratings this morning and projected spreads for KU games.

KSU -9.91
ISU -2.56
BYU -4.76
CU -0.01
BU -2.49

Thought it would be worse.

Please consider Locklin on wheel routes. They're fun.

Sincerely,

Stacy Sneed.

University of Houston

I was not surprised by the offense and what they did to a slightly above average Houston defense. If you have been paying attention you could see things start coming together at the West Virginia game. The offense has been making strides but yesterday was the first time that I thought the whole package clicked.

Daniels got things going with the QB draws, some option mixed in, they ran wildcat, and took some deep shots. And then Daniels looked elusive on the few times he was pressured and created something out of nothing. That looked like the JD of old but you could see some of that all coming together in recent weeks.

I have been told several times that Daniels is knocking the rust off and getting back in the groove and I will be honest, there were times I wasn't buying that excuse. But the more I think about it, the more I believe it and will go one step further. I think Daniels starting to look better over the last few games has helped Grimes settle into a game plan and play-caller.

When Daniels gets it all going it allows Grimes to dial up things that are in the playbook with confidence. Yesterday the tight ends were wide open. The QB draw came back into play. When KU gets all of that going it really puts stress on a defensive coordinator. I think early on when Daniels was struggling with certain areas, it makes it harder what to call. But recently, Grimes is starting to open things up like we saw the past two seasons.

KU's offense is now ranked 5th in the Big 12 games averaging 414 yards a game. Like I said, and have been saying, since West Virginia it has started to look better and better.

While I am dishing props to Grimes, the same needs to be done for Borland. They blitzed Houston with different looks yesterday. They brought blitzes from LB, CB and safety. Grant got a sack on a blitz. Cobee got a TFL on a blitz. Listen when you have 12 TFL and six sacks you are doing things to create pressure and confusion. Mix in the fact Houston's OL is bad and that is a recipe for disaster for an offense.

Houston was doomed once they fell behind. They are not a good offensive team and their vertical pass game is as bad as anyone in the league. But credit KU for taking advantage of that.

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I was confused watching K-State last night. I swear the OC must have been out of the office and someone else was calling plays. First off, their run game struggled which you don't see often. Giddens got hit hard and the West Virginia front four was physical. I didn't see Giddens do much. Then I thought I was having an outer body experience because I rarely saw Johnson leave the pocket or run the ball. Then I went to look at the stats this morning to see how many rushes he had. Guess how many?

Zero. That shocked me, but watching live I noticed he wasn't running.

KSU will load the box and something will give against KU. The KSU defense is only giving up 85 rushing yards a game. Daniels is going to have to hit on some passes. And Grimes will have to get creative in the run game like they did last year. I'm sure he will study the tape from last season. They beat KSU up on the ground, but it was out of multiple looks.

That night game will make it tough.


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Before the season I said losing OU and Texas would make this a regional league. It would lose a lot of appeal with national coverage but it would still produce entertaining games for people who follow the league. And it has done just that.

Listen, the football isn't great compared to other games on. When you watch Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia, Texas, etc those games are played on another level. They are just better teams and games. The Big 12 is stacked with a bunch of teams barely above average and a little below average. But it has made it fun to follow because any team can get beat on any Saturday (or Friday).

I guarantee teams like KSU, ISU and BYU who are fighting for the league title right now, look at KU on film and know they can present problems. I have said KU isn't a bad team. They just played bad football at the wrong times. The Jayhawks are capable of beating anyone and I think they can give BYU and Iowa State a lot of problems. I haven't made my mind up on KSU yet because they might be a taller task.

Will enjoy watching them fight to a top 7 finish every few years in the SEC for the rest of eternity.

We heard last year that JB Brown was probably the best pass rusher on the team before Booker even emerged. The lack of blitzes with him in the prevent shell defense this year has been so maddening. Nice to see someone reminded Borland that JB can create pressure.

How Wheeler tracks Johnson and they pressure with Brown next week will be pivotal to the success of the defense.

Crazier things have happened. We have zero pressure and maybe we can take advantage of being an underdog again. I mean, we're good for an upset every couple years, and if we somehow pull it off, it would help redeem the season tremendously. Whats the likelihood 5%? 10%? I wouldn't count on it but it would actually be very KU of us, so it's non-zero..

But didn’t see Kelly Leipold on the sideline and we whipped ass. Just saying that the less distractions there are on the field, the better. Might not be a coincidence.

Good time for the streak to die imo

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Just heard from my source that Bryson Tiller was back in town for another visit this past weekend. That's two visits, I believe, that the family has paid for in getting to Lawrence.

1) BYU 7-0(4-0)
2) ISU 7-0 (4-0)
3) Sheepf*cker Tech 6-1 (3-1)
4) Texas Tech 5-2 (3-1)
5) Cincy 5-2 (3-1)
6) Meion State 5-2 (3-1)
7) Arizona State 5-2 (2-2)
8) TCU 4-3 (2-2)
9) West Virginia 3-4 (2-2)
10) Arizona 3-4 (1-3)
11) Utah 4-3 (1-3)
12) Kansas 2-5 (1-3)
13) Baylor 3-4 (1-3)
14) UCF 3-4 (1-3)
15) Houston 2-5 (1-3)
16) Okie State 3-4 (0-4)

One area Grimes has done very well all season is scripting plays on first 1-2 drives and I thought the staff did an excellent job scripting plays to get JD’s confidence and rhythm going. High percentage throws to sidelines 0-10 yards, over the middle. More pre snap activity (QB’s are creatures of habit), early down runs to stay ahead of the chains.

My favorite call was the read option call on 4th and 2 - JD is so good on the read and falling forward as a runner - call a play that your QB does well and in the process - hold him accountable for success or failure. And followed up with play action to Casey for the TD - that is what we are referring to when discussing game management. No surprise JD played better as the game progressed - set up for success, build confidence, and then make plays.

Does Houston suck? Yes. Is KSU a different animal? Yes. Is it frustrating that it took 5 games to figure this out? Yes. But credit where credit is due - it seems like a lot of time was spent in the bye week watching old game film bc the offense resembled more of what we did in 2022 vs. 2024 in terms of managing the game via the QB spot and playcalling.

Oh, and F*ck K-State.

Getting hammered by Indiana. Are you smiling @vighawk

Naturally I keep track of all the former Jayhawks, all of them....BUT just to watch an individual my must watch is Steph Curry.
How about you

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men's basketball will play a charity fundraising exhibition game at Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 25. The contest will be played at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Start time and broadcast information will be announced soon. Ticket-wise, Kansas will hold a donor sale for its small allotment for the game with that information to come later. General public ticket sales will begin Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. CT through the Arkansas ticket office.

The Kansas at Arkansas contest is part of a series exhibition games sponsored by CareSource in which proceeds from ticket sales will benefit mental health providers and charities within each school's footprint. Kansas will donate proceeds from the game to the Kansas City based Fore The Kids Foundation (forethekidskc.org). Arkansas will donate proceeds from the charity game to Arkansas Children's Hospitals.

"We are excited to be able to go play at Arkansas in an exhibition game and help raise money for a great cause, as the proceeds will go to mental health charities," Kansas head coach Bill Self said. "This game will give us a good idea to see where our team is before the season starts. We wanted to play on the road to give us an opportunity to experience what our first road contest will be like as opposed to experiencing it for the first time in the regular season."

This will be the third charity exhibition game Kansas will have participated over the last seven seasons. In October 2017, Kansas played Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri which raised money for Hurricane Katrina relief. Last season, in October 2023, Kansas played at Illinois to provide financial resources for rapid response and recovery for the devastating wildfires in Maui.

Kansas leads the overall series with Arkansas, 8-6, and the two teams last met in the 2023 NCAA Tournament second round in Des Moines, Iowa, with Arkansas claiming a 72-71 win. The 14-game series dates back to 1946 and the Oct. 25 contest will be the first exhibition meeting between the two schools.

The KU-Arkansas contest will pit Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coaches with Bill Self, who enters his 22nd season at Kansas, and Arkansas first-year coach John Calipari.

In 21 seasons at Kansas with a 588-143 record, Self is three wins from becoming the winningest coach in Kansas basketball history. He will pass Dr. F.C. "Phog" Allen who was 590-219 in 39 seasons at KU (1907-09; 1919-56). Additionally, Self has a career record of 795-248 in 31 seasons and is five wins from becoming the third active NCAA D1 head coach to amass 800 all-time wins. Calipari is first at 813-260 entering his 34th season, while Tennessee's Rick Barnes is next at 806-415 entering his 38th career season.