Film Room Favorites: KU vs. Cincinnati
The Kansas Jayhawks blasted the Cincinnati Bearcats this weekend in a game that instilled plenty of energy and good vibes in and around the program after the heartbreaker a week before. Feel free to use whatever adjective you like to describe the victory: Blasted, plastered, eviscerated, dominated, wrecked, etc. However you slice it, it was a convincing and wholly enjoyable experience (well, save for the run defense).
Plenty of moments, reps and plays stood out on film in Saturday’s big win. That included one of the most remarkable defensive plays of the season, greatness from a living program legend and the return of a folk hero quarterback. Let’s dive into the best of the best from the regular-season finale in the Queen City.
BRYANT’S BRILLIANCE
There are three unquestionable takeaways from Saturday’s Kansas win. First of all, that was one of the worst college football TV broadcasts of the season. Secondly, Cincinnati is horrendously coached on both sides of the ball. Lastly, the most spectacular interception of the year now belongs to Cobee Bryant.
Admittedly, there isn’t a whole lot of extra analysis that this play needs. It’s just an incredible individual effort by Bryant to adjust, pick the ball out of the air and somehow hang on to it. Every time you see it, it feels more and more impossible that he made this play.
His coverage is great in the first place, matching Bearcats receiver Xzavier Henderson step for step. Even a regular old pass breakup here could have been lauded, but to actually complete the play is just outrageous. Every single 2023 football montage video on YouTube needs to feature this pick.
APPRECIATE NO. 4
Devin Neal is one of the greatest running backs in Kansas Jayhawks history. This is a program that has had plenty of great ones, and he is already right near the top of the list. None of us know whether he’ll come back for one final season to claim KU’s rushing yards and rushing touchdown records, so we had all better appreciate him and his career while we can.
He gave us plenty of chances to do that this weekend.
We'll start with Neal's first touchdown, which is also one of many examples of KU using late shifts and motion to its advantage. Cincinnati wasn't ready for this run (a common theme), keeping three defenders outside the box to the right even after Torry Locklin flexed into the pistol. Most of the defense crashes toward the middle of the formation with one edge defender running himself out of the play to the run side. Locklin doesn’t end up getting out in front to seal off one of the pursuing defenders, but the setup is drawn up perfectly and it ends up not mattering, anyway.
Neal has the speed to beat the defense to the outside, then shows off his toughness to finish off the run. As we've pointed out countless times this season, there aren't many backs in college football who have the combination of finesse and strength that Neal does. He just wouldn't be denied here.
Next, instead of a shift from speed to power, we see Neal flip from shiftiness to that top-end speed.
This is just wild. Once again, the multi-man shifts pull the Bearcats' defense away from the play, and the final motion by Luke Grimm ends up neutralizing the safeties by changing their rotation and forcing them to focus on the right side of the play.
Neal's effort after the mesh is just astounding. He makes the right cut to bounce back inside, then nimbly steps through a tackling effort from a linebacker. Watch his helmet as he's breaking that tackle: He sees the boundary corner break inside for the tackle and, before even being free from the initial tackling attempt, bounces back outside and hits the gas. Two defensive backs finally catch up to him, but because of the pre-snap motion forcing the defense's attention to the other side of the field they need to cover a lot of ground to finally make the stop. Schematically, this play rules, but it’s Neal’s all-around excellent that makes this particular rep click.
Finally, for Neal anyway, his final touchdown of the day.
Most teams that run any set of plays from the wildcat just leave their quarterback on the edge to stay out of the way. Kansas, on the other hand, uses its quarterback in jet motion because he has freakshow speed (more on that later). The Jayhawks pull both RG and RT around to the left, and that pair, Armaj Reed-Adams and Kobe Baynes, open up the initial running lane.
Patiently as ever, Neal waits for the lane to develop and blasts through it, getting an extra block from Mason Fairchild to take out the only remaining second-level defender. The wide receivers do a solid job of blocking downfield, creating a massive cushion for their running back to cruise through. These direct snap plays have become such a dynamic weapon for Kansas, and they're an easy way to give your best playmaker as many touches as possible.
PRECISION PASSING
What can you say about Jason Bean at this point that hasn’t already been said? What he’s meant to this KU program can’t be overstated. One of the biggest reasons why he’s taken the Jayhawks to the next level offensively is the massive strides he’s made as a passer. He’s always been a great athlete, but he has developed into a far more reliable passer than he was even last season.
Let’s check out two plays that show off some of those developments. First, a confident conversion on a third-quarter third and long.
Design-wise, this isn't anything otherworldly but it's an effective call on third down. The blitz off the corner leaves Lawrence Arnold isolated on a safety. While trying to maintain depth, that DB leaves plenty of cushion for Arnold on his corner route. He's cooked by the time he diagnoses where Bean is going with the ball.
This is just a confident throw from the veteran quarterback, Easy read, poised and composed in the pocket, unloads and places the ball in the perfect spot. Seriously, you couldn't have placed this ball any better if you handed it right to Arnold.
Then, you have masterpieces like this:
This clip has everything. Twin wings. Tight end pass protection in the backfield. Play-action bootleg. And, most importantly, a picture-perfect deep ball. Two clips, two absolutely flawless throws by Bean.
He's always been a strong deep-ball thrower, but the confidence with which he's letting these rip is a noticeable improvement and a big deal. There's no hesitation, just a lot of trust in his arm and his receivers. Not to bring up bad memories, but iffy/slow decision making was a costly part of the final play of last season. Being more confident in his decisions has opened up so many more possibilities through the air in 2023.
And again, just look at this dime. It’s a spectacle.
RUN THE TRIPLE
Watching Bean run is a true joy. Watching him race past even the fastest players on opposing defenses is even better. He scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns against Cincinnati, slicing up the Bearcats with a pair of option keepers.
In the first half of the clip, KU brings Grimm in orbit motion as the pitch man. That would have drawn a defender outside and possibly caught them in no-man's land like we saw two weeks ago in the Texas Tech game. Cincinnati shows absolutely no discipline or option integrity, though, so he ends up just watching Bean sprint from behind. Every defender in the box was sucked in by the inside run action, leaving a boulevard-sized running lane around the right end for Bean.
The second touchdown was a zone-read, not triple option, but it was a success either way. Once again, nearly the entire defense commits to the initial run action. The edge defender crashing is one thing, but the linebackers completely sell out for Daniel Hishaw running right. It was astounding to watch how undisciplined the Bearcats were defensively, especially as the score got out of hand. Once again, Bean has an absurd amount of running room, and if you’re going to allow him to get a full head of steam like that you don’t have a chance of tackling him.
Credit is owed to Arnold, too, who seals off the cornerback and then throws up the touchdown signal while Bean was 30 yards from the end zone.
To be blunt, this is a bad Cincinnati team playing out the string at the end of a miserable season. Kansas did what it should have done and blew the Bearcats out. This was one of the best all-around performances the Jayhawks have had all year, even with the slow start and the spotty run defense. It’s hard to ask for more heading into your bowl game than all your star players showing out in Week 13.
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