Wednesday Walkthrough: Texas Week
Saturday’s tilt between the Kansas Jayhawks and Texas Longhorns has been circled on the calendar all year for KU faithful. While hype was expected, the full weight of this matchup may not have been.
Put another way, there probably weren’t many fans who expected that this would be one of the biggest games in college football in Week 5, let alone the biggest in the Big 12.
Texas is a heavy favorite for a reason, with one of the most talented rosters in the country and with as much hype as any Longhorns squad in recent memory. KU, meanwhile, is the understandable underdog, and a decisive one at that according to some sources, but at their best, the Jayhawks can hang with anyone. Plus, as we all know, upsets in Austin are somewhat en vogue for Lance Leipold’s program.
Let’s take a look at the matchup and what Leipold had to say ahead of this weekend’s marquee matchup.
LISTENING IN ON LANCE
“It’s old news. It doesn’t matter. Both teams are significantly better. Honestly, it's so far in the past, we got to keep moving. Yeah, it helped this program, it helped our players. I hope it's the last time I have to answer that question this week. Honestly, I do. I really want to focus on our team now and where we're going because that's what's important.”
Images of KU’s 57-56 victory over Texas back in 2021 will be conjured up around college football all week. Heck, it was even mentioned in our introduction mere sentences ago. But Leipold isn’t deviating from his typical game-week mindset or from the program’s ethos. As he said following last weekend’s win over the BYU Cougars, he doesn’t want his team getting comfortable with the success it’s already had at the risk of hampering future growth and success. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’s ready to move on from a two-year-old win.
"The penalties against us and what resulted in those drives, much like it is many times in football, are very consistent to success and non-success. You give them extra plays, they're going to score. You play behind the chains, you're probably going to punt. And that played out and we have some controllable penalty penalties that we've got to get better at, especially going on the road to this environment."
Over the last two games, Kansas is averaging seven penalties and 61.5 penalty yards per contest. That simply won’t do in a game in which the Jayhawks will have to be great on the margins in order to pull off an upset win. Even beyond this week, the Big 12 schedule is too challenging and grueling to give away crucial plays and yardage with penalties. If it’s obvious to observers, rest assured that the coaching staff is ready to address it.
To play on ESPN versus one of their other channels versus ABC, Fox, there's a lot that goes into those decisions by those networks...For us to get on those means a lot. It's kind of a quiet compliment and hopefully we can do this more often.”
KU’s game against BYU was on ESPN this past weekend, and the game against Texas will air in the midday slot on ABC (not to mention next week’s afternoon matchup with the UCF Knights on Fox). This kind of exposure, on the most accessible channels that show major college football, is extremely valuable to a program like KU that’s growing its brand in tandem with noticeable on-field improvement. Leipold also made the important point that it’s not just about getting the Kansas and Texas fanbases engaged, but also putting on a product that will garner more casual viewers. For KU to be in those conversations is an important step forward.
“I think our defensive line has continued to show improvement. Different guys have stepped up. I think Gage Keys played his best football since joining our program...Devin Phillips gives us that thick body inside we've talked about, Austin Booker continues to show up, Jereme Robinson's been very consistent, but we're going to need more."
Whether it’s Leipold or defensive coordinator Brian Borland, there’s been a lot of attention focused on defensive line depth for the Jayhawks this year. This list of standouts on the defensive front have been impressive to say the least, including in the BYU win, but against a team with size like Texas they will have to be even better. And staying fresh throughout the game will be pivotal, which is where that depth becomes a huge factor this weekend.
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
When: Saturday, Sept. 30 at 2:30 p.m. CT
Where: Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas
Spread: Kansas +16.5
Through four weeks, this Longhorns team has lived up to the hype. They own one of the best wins in college football this year, a 10-point victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, and they've scored at least 31 points in every game so far. Their defense is also allowing just 12.5 points per game and has limited three of its opponents to 10 or fewer points.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers is off to a great start this season, possibly reinvigorating his NFL Draft stock. He's already thrown for 1,033 yards and nine touchdowns with no interceptions, all while completing 64.3% of his passes. And while Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson are gone, this rushing attack is still formidable. Jonathon Brooks is thriving as Texas' top option in the backfield, averaging 5.8 yards per carry with nearly three times as many carries as any other UT ball carrier.
This spread has moved toward Kansas considerably since opening. Per Vegas Insider, KU was originally a 19.5-point underdog, but it now sits at just 16.5 points. According to ESPN's Bill Connelly and his SP+ metric, Texas is the seventh-ranked team in the country and is projected to win 39-19 this weekend. SP+ currently has Kansas ranked 40th.
JAYHAWK TO WATCH
Realistically, you could make a reasonable argument for probably half a dozen or more players this week for Kansas. But we’re going to go with an easy and obvious one: KU’s biggest superstar.
Last season, Jalon Daniels wasn’t fully healthy when Kansas and Texas met in Lawrence. He was just returning from his shoulder injury and it was an ugly afternoon for him and the entire Jayhawks roster in a blowout loss. This is an even better Texas team and a tough environment on the road, but who wouldn’t want to see one of the country’s best quarterbacks go into battle at full strength against a potential national title contender?
Daniels hasn’t thrown an incomplete pass over his last two second halves. He’s been efficient and explosive through the air while packing a dangerous punch on the ground, too. Your biggest players are supposed to show up in the biggest moments. Yes, this sounds dramatic, but this could truly be the permanent legacy moment for Daniels if all goes well.
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