Film Room Favorites: KU vs. Texas Tech
The Kansas Jayhawks may have lost more than just a game when they fell to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday. Namely, it may have lost quarterback Jason Bean, whose status is up in the air after suffering a head injury in the defeat.
Cole Ballard put forth a valiant effort in relief, though iffy play calling and understandably suspect execution doomed KU in the end. There’s a chance he has to play again this week, which means the Jayhawks have to be as crisp and smart on offense as they’ve been all season.
KU ran a few things that were conceptually appealing in the low-scoring loss to Texas Tech, such as the misdirection fly sweep to Tanaka Scott in the second quarter, but when the execution is completely botched it’s hard to toss that into a highlight package like we’re trying to do here. The problems don’t lie exclusively with Ballard, not even close. But if he is the guy going forward, the Jayhawks have to be willing to trust him to make at least a few plays, otherwise Saturday’s matchup with the Kansas State Wildcats could go sideways in a hurry.
Let’s dive in and see what things stood out positively on film in this past weekend’s losing effort.
HANGING TOUGH
We’re going to start with a couple different plays that Ballard made in an effort to further emphasize why KU needs to turn him loose if he has to start going forward. First, a look at what he can do in the passing game.
While Ballard got on a bit more of a roll late in the game, we’re intentionally starting with a play from the first half before he really got in a rhythm. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking quarterback play, but it’s enough to feel confident that, at least in some circumstances, you can trust him to throw.
Ballard's willingness to hang in the pocket is a blessing and a curse. On the down side, it led to too many huge losses on sacks and a number of big hits. The bright side, though, is that it allows him to make challenging passes in structure like this one. He hangs in, gets blasted while delivering the throw and still tosses an accurate ball.
The play design itself makes things much easier for an inexperienced quarterback. Only one route, that of Mason Fairchild, uses the middle of the field. Everything else in the pattern stretches out the defense to open up a gaping window. Daniel Hishaw swings in the flat, Doug Emilien runs a short out breaker, Lawrence Arnold clears out a cornerback and safety with a vertical route and, maybe most importantly, Quentin Skinner runs a shallow crosser that holds a linebacker about 10 yards downfield just long enough. Fairchild does a good job of shutting down his route right at the sticks, screening the defensive back and picking up the first down.
Again, this isn’t anything earth shattering. And we know that there’s an obvious dropoff in passing talent and confidence from Jalon Daniels to Bean to Ballard. But Ballard isn’t completely incompetent as a passer, and with the right schematic setup he can find success through the air.
TAKING OFF
No one is going to confuse Ballard’s athleticism for that of Bean or Daniels. However, he showed a propensity for making plays with his legs against Texas Tech and made it clear that KU’s option staples can stay in the playbook when he’s on the field.
The FS1 broadcast gave Ballard major props for his ball handling on this play, and Twitter blew up with posts about not knowing who had the ball on this play. Ballard and Hishaw sell the inside run action beautifully, with outside linebacker Myles Cole (6) crashing down, over pursuing the running back and wiping himself out of the play.
Emilien comes in orbit motion on the snap, running behind the quarterback, and when Ballard sprints right it catches the linebacker in no-man's land without any support. It's a win-win for the Jayhawks at this point, as Ballard can either keep it himself for a first-down gain or he can toss it to Emilien on the perimeter.
The positive gain was set up thanks to the scheme itself, but maybe the most impressive part of this clip is how Ballard finishes the run. He gains roughly five more yards after he's first touched, pulling defenders with him as he covers the ball and goes down. This is a fundamentally sound run by a walk-on quarterback, with extra window dressing to out the defense in further conflict. Everyone from Ballard to the skill players to offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki deserves props here.
HE’S A DIFFERENT ‘CAT
Interestingly, Ballard’s presence brought a new wrinkle to a recently added staple to the KU offense last game.
When we’ve featured plays out of the Wildcat formation in recent weeks, the ball has been snapped directly to Devin Neal with either another running back or a tight end alongside him in the backfield. This week, though, we saw the quarterback line up next to the tailback, with both acting as though they’d catch the snap. Kotelnicki and this offense are always adding and adapting.
Jared Casey, after shifting from the slot to inline left, does an excellent job sealing the edge, which actually should have allowed pulling right guard Kobe Baynes (70) to climb to the second level to block the pursuing linebacker instead of double teaming someone who was already out of the play. Even so, that edge block springs Neal, who uses his speed to jet outside and pick up a few extra yards beyond the sticks.
Kansas has done a masterful job of turning Wildcat direct snaps into successful gains in recent weeks, and as long as the blocking is effective it’s a great way to get your best offensive player involved quickly.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
And that last sentence is a perfect segue to our final clip. Ballard needs to be effective if KU wants to win, but it’s also always smart to just give the ball to your best player.
There's a lot to like with this play. Ballard holds the ball for the perfect amount of time before pitching it to Neal. The offensive line does its job well up front, while the perimeter blocking from the receivers is sensational. But this is about Neal, who continues to "wow" us on a weekly basis at this point in his career.
The most significant part of this touchdown run is the cutback move he makes when left one on one in space with a defensive back. Angling left with about four yards of cushion that's closing rapidly, Neal jams his foot in the ground, fluidly cuts back over and accelerates. He puts the defender on skates, races by him and has too much speed to be caught from behind. I will say it until I'm blue in the face: This is an NFL running back and he's going to make an impact at the next level. He's got the full set of skills you could possibly want in a back his size.
Dating back to when Bean took over the starting quarterback job “full time,” we’ve been talking about simplifying the offense, riding the running backs and making his job as a passer as easy as possible. He’s proven that he can do more than just the bare bones with this offense by now.
Ballard, however, is far less experienced. He can make plays for you, but relying on your superstar ball carriers and scheming up easy windows and completions will undoubtedly be pivotal if it’s Ballard under center going forward. It won’t be easy to win with that setup against Kansas State, but it won’t be impossible, either.
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