Film Room Favorites: KU vs. Missouri State
The Kansas Jayhawks have to be happy about a lopsided win over the Missouri State Bears in their season opener, even if they took a somewhat circuitous route to get to their authoritative final score.
It wasn’t a perfect Friday night for KU, understandably so for the offense with Jason Bean getting the start at quarterback over Jalon Daniels, who was still recovering from a lingering back issue. But the Jayhawks responded to the personnel change and an iffy start admirably, and we’re going to take a look at some of the most significant, fun and interesting plays from the victory in our first Film Room Favorites of the season.
Lance Leipold and the rest of the Kansas coaching staff were in midseason form, or at least close to it, with this past week’s game plan. The offense played largely to its strengths while the defense showed glimpses of what it can be at its best this season, even accounting for an inferior opponent. The four plays you’ll see in the coming paragraphs will showcase some of the best that KU had to offer against Missouri State.
We’ll start this week by jumping right to the fourth quarter and a two-play sequence that showed how this Kansas offense can use misdirection and ball fakes to crush you through the air and on the ground.
FAKE SCREEN WHEEL
We talked repeatedly during our summer film room sessions, dating back to the very first one, about the concept of gravity and how a defense’s attention in one area opens up opportunities somewhere else. Enter Torry Locklin here, motioning out from Bean’s right hip to the left flat.
Before Bean even looks left, take a peek at the second-level defenders for Missouri State already crashing down. There are three pieces of this play that draw the defense’s attention to Locklin: The simple fact that the veteran back is flexing out at the snap, Bean’s pump fake in that direction and Trevor Wilson’s feigned block on the line of scrimmage.
Wilson’s move is particularly devastating, because as his defender crashes downhill it allows Wilson to get an almost perfectly clean release down the sideline. By the time the defender realizes where the ball is headed, he’s mincemeat. Plus, the safety has no chance because the boundary receiver’s vertical route pulled him too far downfield. Great job by Wilson to adjust to the throw and haul it in, and a stellar yet simple design turns this into a relatively easy chunk gain.
HISHAW FINISHES THE DRIVE
We’re not done with Wilson yet, because he served an important, though less appreciated, role on the following play, too.
There are plenty of folks who believe constant motion is nothing more than window dressing, and some play callers spam it to the point at which it feels superfluous (the Matt Canada Special), but it truly does serve a vital purpose.
Here, Wilson motioning from left to right before the snap pulls two key defenders in that direction ever so slightly. The widest second-level defender crashes down as Wilson passes him, and Trevor Kardell wipes him out of the play (before being hurled down himself), and the field-side safety also pulls toward the middle of the field. Because of that, the safety can’t get wide enough to cut off Daniel Hishaw’s running lane, instead getting swallowed up by Mason Fairchild on the edge. Sometimes KU will employ 12 personnel and use the tight ends as pass-catching weapons, sometimes it will use them as blocking weapons. That versatility is extremely valuable.
Credit to Doug Emilien for the downfield block, and the rest of the run is just Hishaw showing off why teams at the next level could be interested in his services. He's got speed, quick-twitch movement and is willing to finish a run with physicality. Sequencing plays like these back to back put defenders in dangerous conflict and open up plenty of opportunities for explosive plays, which we know are vital for this offense.
DOUBLE-BACK DECEPTION
In our last offseason film room, we spent a lot of time talking about the Jayhawks getting as many playmakers on the field at any one time as they can, plus using those playmakers to the best of their abilities. Here, that meant using your quarterback’s unique speed.
This play is either 12 personnel or 21 personnel, depending on how you want to define it. Based on their listed position on the roster, there’s one running back and two tight ends on the field. However, based on alignment, you have two backs with Jared Casey lined up flanking Bean, opposite Devin Neal.
Bean is reading the right defensive end here. Since he crashes in on the mesh between Bean and Neal, the quarterback tucks and runs right while his running back continues on to the left. All the while, Casey is out in space as Bean’s lead blocker. From there, it’s just a numbers game on the perimeter.
Emilien seals off a linebacker, Casey clears out a cornerback and Bean’s speed is overwhelming for both the recovering defensive end and the second-widest linebacker. It’s an easy first down for Kansas.
You can do plenty of creative and effective things with Daniels’ legs, but it’s a necessity to do those things when Bean is taking snaps. Create mismatches, put defenders in conflict and challenge them with unique physical traits, and you’ve got a recipe for constantly creating opportunities for your biggest assets: your playmakers.
A LITTLE LOVE FOR THE DEFENSE
KU’s defense still has room to grow but displayed flashes of excellence in the Week 1 win. We’ll close this week’s selection with a great individual effort by one of the Jayhawks’ “unsung leaders,” Kwinton Lassiter.
The latest Lassiter to make his mark on the Kansas program, Kwinton made a grown-man play to record his first career interception against Missouri State. He’s the defender farthest to the right on the screen in this clip. He follows the quarterback’s eyes the entire play and gets the perfect amount of depth on his drop into coverage.
Lassiter anticipates the throw, jumping the route before Bears quarterback Jacob Clark starts to bring his arm forward. He doesn’t settle for breaking the pass up, either, instead grabbing and ripping at the ball until he pulls it free into his possession. This is everything you could want out of a defensive back. Focus, anticipation, ball skills and physicality, all of which blended together and led to this takeaway. Leipold raved about Lassiter after the game, and deservedly so.
With a bigger, faster, stronger opponent in the Illinois Fighting Illini coming to town next weekend, the creative explosives on offense and tenacious takeaways on defense for Kansas in Week 1 were hopefully a prelude for what’s to come as the schedule ramps up.
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