Guaranteed Rate Bowl Jayhawk Spotlight: Luke Grimm
During the regular season, we highlighted a Jayhawk who performed admirably each week. We Continue it here after a KU bowl victory in Phoenix. During the course of the season, we only highlighted the wide receivers one time, back in week ten when we spotlighted Quentin Skinner and Lawrence Arnold. I debated writing this piece with both Luke Grimm and Arnold in mind, but after some deliberation, decided that Grimm did enough to warrant his own article. And this isn’t taking anything away from Arnold who had an absolutely spectacular game against UNLV (six catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns is nothing to sneeze at), but every catch that Grimm made was huge and he never got the appropriate love from us that the others received. Let’s break down his performance in the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Luke Grimm’s first catch of the day was for a touchdown. Even though ESPN barely even showed the scoring play in real time, Grimm was open on the sideline where Jason Bean found him and the Raymore, Missouri native then scampered in for the score. That got the game tied up at seven and the Jayhawks started to roll from there. That six yard TD reception was an anomaly for Grimm however and brought down his yards per catch ratio down quite a bit. For the game, he averaged 40 yards per reception, the next three being huge gainers.
On the next KU offensive possession, Grimm made an instant impact. On the fourth play of the drive from their own 40 yard line, Jason Bean found Grimm in wide open space on the right hand side. UNLV got confused at the line of scrimmage and Grimm and the Jayhawks capitalized. Grimm was waving his arms like a maniac in open space and Bean found him. From there, it was an easy trot into the endzone. Another 60 yards for Grimm, another seven points for Kansas and the Jayhawks had their first lead.
After a UNLV missed field goal, KU got the ball back in a favorable spot, the 34 yard line. But after two opportunities to move the ball, the Jayhawks were facing a third and ten situation. No worries, because the Bean/Grimm combo was on the case. This time the duo connected on a 51 yard connection down the middle of the field to the UNLV fifteen yard line. That play set up Lawrence Arnold’s highlight reel catch in the corner of the endzone. It was 21-7 Kansas and Luke Grimm played a huge role in each of the KU scores.
With Kansas up 42-30 and after the KU defense forced UNLV into a turnover on downs, a bit of insurance was needed. Luke Grimm provided it. In that drive’s third play from scrimmage with seven yards to gain for a first down, Jason Bean found Luke Grimm for a 43 yard score. This time Grimm was sprinting down the left side of the field and Bean found him perfectly in stride. Luke was tackled into the endzone, capping a spectacular game by the junior wide receiver.
He finished with those four catches for a whopping 160 yards and three touchdowns. It was quite the season send off for trio of junior wide receivers and leaves Kansas fans drooling at the prospect of what they could achieve next season.
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