Three Takeaways: Despite the loss, Kansas is legitimately good.

The Kansas Jayhawks didn't get the result they wanted, but they showed against the TCU Horned Frogs that they ARE a good team.

It was likely to happen at some point, and today the Kansas Jayhawks gave up an early second half lead en route to their first loss of the season. In a matchup with the undefeated TCU Horned Frogs, we saw two different games: a low scoring defensive battle in the first half, and a couple of high-flying offenses in the second half.

But even in the loss there are plenty of thinks to take away, both negative and positive. We'll make sure to dive in over the course of this week, but here are a few takeaways from Saturday's victory:

Maybe Kansas DID have a real QB competition. 

There were reports back in camp that there was a legitimate quarterback competition taking place, but I don't know that anyone actually believed it. Sure, Jason Bean looked good in limited time against Tennessee Tech, but with the struggles we saw last week, there didn't appear to be any thought at all to bringing him in to replace Jalon Daniels during that game.

But when Daniels suffered a shoulder injury in the first half against  TCU, Bean stepped in and played very well. So well that some other fanbases were wondering why Bean hadn't been playing from the beginning.

Lance Leipold can’t be that good of a coach if he wasn’t starting Bean from the jump. All those close games KU had would have been blowouts if Bean was starting.

— scottwildcat (@scottwildcat) October 8, 2022

And yes, Bean WAS impressive in this game. After a few opening drive jitters, he came out in the second half and immediately led the Jayhawks down the field to score. His four touchdown passes on the day were absolutely beautiful throws, and it's easy to see why he pushed Daniels for the starting job.

It's definitely Jalon's job when he gets back. But the way Bean is playing, he can afford to take his time to heal all the way.

The receiving roles are solidifying.

Yes, this team has a huge number of options in their receiving corps. And that means that any particular game can see a player or two take on a starring role. And this game was no exception, with Tanaka Scott catching a huge 52 yard touchdown pass and Mason Fairchild catching 3 passes for a total of 80 yards and a touchdown, including a ridiculous catch where he turned over the wrong shoulder first and had to turn around before catching it.

But even with those single-game breakouts, there are three options that are recurring. Luke Grimm has turned into a sort of safety blanket for the Kansas quarterbacks, and in this game he had 6 receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Lawrence Arnold only had 3 catches for 41 yards, but he was targeted 6 times total, including some important spots.

And continuing his emergence was Quentin Skinner, who had 4 total receptions, including two fabulous catches on deep balls thrown by Bean.

This is a good defense

This might seem like a strange statement after the Jayhawks gave up 38 points and 9 plays of 15 yards or more. And there were definitely plenty of times where TCU made the defense look a bit silly. The Jayhawks missed a lot of tackles that could have ended drives, and ultimately there were just too many points given up.

But this game went into the half with the Jayhawks only down 10-3. And that included TCU having an advantage on time of possession, plays and yards. And the offense routinely put them in very difficult positions. Quick three-and-outs in the first quarter. Drives inexplicably fizzling. A fumble by Jalon Daniels just before going into the end zone, giving TCU the ball with a lot of momentum.

But Kansas also had some pretty big plays on the defensive end. A series that ended with a Lonnie Phelps sack, a Craig Young tackle for loss, and then another stop by Young on a big scramble.

This defense still has a lot of work to get where they want to be, but they have a lot of playmakers that have shown the ability to step up in big moments.

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