Film Room Favorites: Kansas vs. Iowa State
Saturday’s Kansas Jayhawks win over the Iowa State Cyclones almost couldn’t have gone better for KU. Jason Bean looked excellent, the defense played some of its best ball of the season, they responded well to the Cyclones’ comeback effort and picked up their seventh win of the season.
So, of course, there’s a lot to choose from for this week’s film session. We’re going to focus heavily on some Bean excellence, though, from a game that you can easily argue was his best of the season.
In a game in which the running game was minimally effective (though we will feature a Devin Neal run at the end), Bean had to be great through the air to win in a tough environment. Thankfully for KU, he was just that.
GAME WINNER
We’re going to work reverse chronologically as we break down some of Bean’s best from this weekend, which means we’re starting with his game-winning touchdown pass to Lawrence Arnold.
If you will let me editorialize for a moment: I think this is a perfect play.
It’s the right play call at the exact right time. The setup catches Iowa State completely off balance. You end up with a favorable matchup deep. Not only that, but that shot play squelches a lot of the momentum the Cyclones had just generated with their last two scores. This was an Andy Kotelnicki masterclass.
Everything before and immediately following the snap leads ISU to play the run. Motioning Jared Casey from left to right, where there are already twin receivers, is one key the defense is reading. Post snap, it looks like the Jayhawks are running a simple speed option out of the pistol, and you can see the entire defense flow and crash to that side of the field. The defensive line is pushing that direction, and the linebackers and multiple defensive backs all come downhill in pursuit. Only one defensive back is left to take Arnold, who’s just running a go route out of the slot. By the time Bean pulls out of the sprint and looks to throw the Iowa State defense is completely neutralized.
Lest we forget that Bean made a great throw. One of the most impressive parts of the play is how quickly he gets the pass off. After hitting the top of his dropback he lets it fly without and hesitation and with a compact delivery. The throw is on the money and Arnold can waltz into the end zone. This is one of KU’s best plays all season.
SPORTSCENTER TOP 10
One quarter earlier, Bean found Quentin Skinner on another shot play that showcased both pinpoint accuracy and exceptional athleticism.
Let’s start with Skinner, who makes one of the catches of the year here. Iowa State’s coverage is fantastic, with Darien Porter (10) all over Skinner with sticky coverage while also being able to turn and make a play on the ball. Plus, the safety help over the top doesn't leave the receiver with much room to operate. Shortly after his release, Skinner starts tracking the ball and never loses sight of it. He knows exactly where its trajectory ends, allowing to make his adjustment, then he hangs on despite a hard hit and a hard fall to the ground. Skinner deserves massive props for his effort here.
Again, though, we need to take note of a fantastic throw by Bean. Remember that great coverage we just talked about? Well, there’s no coverage for a perfect throw, and that’s exactly what this is. There is a tiny window in which to place this ball where it can be both completed and prevent a defender from making a play on it. Back-shoulder throws are challenging anywhere, let alone 30 yards downfield. The timing, throw power and accuracy all had to be 100/100 to make this work (and not have Skinner get obliterated), and Bean cleared those benchmarks.
PRECISION PASSING
We have one final Jason Bean pass to get to, and it was a first-quarter dart to Luke Grimm.
The setup is key here. Watch the pre-snap motion from Grimm, shifting from the boundary into a trips bunch on the right hash. That motion not only creates extra for the defense but it also expands Grimm’s potential route tree. There’s a switch release out of that bunch, and by the time Bean hits the top of his dropback Grimm has outside leverage on his man with another receiver clearing space with a vertical route.
Jontez Williams (31) still has strong coverage on the play, but Bean once again places the ball with perfection. There’s no guarding this. Right over the top to Grimm where only the sideline can cause an incompletion. He has always been at his best throwing down the field, but the pinpoint accuracy this week was a sight to behold.
BACK TO THE ‘CAT
Remember the Oklahoma game when KU found a lot of success running the ball out of the Wildcat formation, before Kotelnicki said during the week we wouldn’t see as much of that going forward?
Guess how Kansas scored its first touchdown against Iowa State.
Neal does an excellent job getting the ball to the house here, patiently waiting for the blocks to set up before hitting the gas and racing past the defense. He’s getting better and better at the quick shift from patient to explosive mid run.
The blocking scheme is the real beauty here, though. Both guards pull, and left guard Armaj Reed-Adams (pulling outside of pinning left tackle Dominick Puni) takes out the first edge defender. Then you have Casey, who lined up next to Neal in the Wildcat, who gets out in front and seals off another linebacker. It’s all up to Neal from there, who takes care of the rest.
KU has struggled to run the ball against capable 3-3-5 defenses, but tossing in more of these direct snaps to Neal could create a little more success against those fronts
Saturday's win wasn't completely flawless for Kansas, and consistency against all opposing schemes in the running game needs to be improved upon. However, for Bean to be as efficient and as careful with the ball as he was in a hostile environment is as encouraging as anything we've seen from him this season.
There are three winnable games on the rest of the schedule, including the next two at home. If the passing game looks this good in all of them and is at least complemented by more strong defensive efforts, there's still a lot left that this group can accomplish in 2023.
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