Three keys for Kansas Jayhawks Football against the Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Kansas Jayhawks got a much needed bye, and also get to return home to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys with bowl eligibility on the live. And the Jayhawks have some pretty important pieces returning, as head coach Lance Leipold noting that quarterback Jalon Daniels and cornerback Cobee Bryant have returned to practice.
The Cowboys showed some vulnerability on the road against Kansas State last week, and the Jayhawks have a chance to make it two straight losses. But in order to do that, I'm looking for three key things on Saturday.
Defensive Pressure
The Jayhawks were able to use the bye week to heal up and prepare for the remaining games on the schedule. If he is able to return, cornerback Cobee Bryant would be a boost to this secondary that has been tested with injuries. More importantly, Cowboys quarterback Spencer Sanders left the game against Kansas State with an upper body injury, and it is currently unknown if he is available for Saturday. The next quarterback on the depth chart is Gunnar Gundy. Gundy stepped in for Sanders in the loss and was 2-out-of-7 for 16 yards and an interception. With Gundy under center, a key to this game is defensive pressure.
Defensive end Lonnie Phelps has had time to recoup and will be fresh to take on the Oklahoma State offensive line. Phelps currently has 6.5 sacks which ties him for 24th in college football. Applying pressure against a freshman quarterback could result in some questionable decision-making. But even Sanders has shown some difficulty dealing with pressure this season, and fighting an injury isn't likely to help. The Jayhawks have 19 sacks on defense for a total of 121 yards which ranks them 48th in the country.
Jayhawk Faithful
The Jayhawks will be returning home to Lawrence, Kansas, and will be playing their first home game since October 8th against the TCU Horned Frogs. I talked about this during the bye week as a key for the remainder of the year. The Jayhawk faithful need to show up and support a football team that is one win away from becoming bowl eligible. Like defensive pressure, the crowd is a key to a victory. Head coach Lance Leipold talked about the home crowd noise saying, “One of our assistants talked to an opponent (we’d played at home) & they admitted they’d not prepared for crowd noise, and it wound up being a factor in the game.”
The crowd can be a factor for not only a freshman quarterback, but also an entire Oklahoma State team that has never seen a hyped up Memorial Stadium. Not only can the defense apply pressure, but so can the home crowd. If Kansas is able to qualify for their first bowl game since 2008, the crowd will need to be a big part of that.
Elite Offense
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki opened his presser by saying "It's November 1st today and I want everyone to know it's ok to start listening to Christmas music starting today." We as Jayhawk fans might be getting some gifts early as Jalon Daniels returned to practice which could indicate he is preparing to start against the Cowboys. Whether it is Daniels or Jason Bean this offense has to continue playing at an elite level.
We have seen some incredible play from the offense and in the first eight games, the offense has averaged 420.9 yards per game and an impressive 7.1 yards per play. Through the air, Daniels and Bean have completed 128 out of 197 passes for 1855 yards. On the ground, the Jayhawks have rushed 274 times for 1512 yards. The reason this is a key for this game specifically is this.
The Oklahoma State defense has given up the most yards with 3,642 in the Big 12 which is 455.3 yards per game. The Cowboys' defense has also surrendered 249 points and an average of 31.1 points per game which places them 9th out of the ten teams in the Big 12. The Jayhawks' offense could take advantage of this poor defensive opponent and help secure a win allowing the Jayhawks to become bowl eligible.
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