Three Takeaways: Kansas can win in multiple ways

The Kansas Jayhawks took a different path to win against the Iowa State Cyclones, but the destination was the same.

It wasn't the most attractive win for the Kansas Jayhawks, but they were able to hang tough in a defensive battle to defeat the Iowa State Cyclones. And the performance was enough for the Jayhawks to jump into the polls for the first time since 2009.

But with a game like this, there are a LOT of things that you can look at and break down. We'll make sure to dive in over the course of this week, but here are a few takeaways from Saturday's victory:

Special Teams are not a worry

Every time I have tried to evaluate this team, it has been nearly impossible to get a good read on the special teams unit. With the offense as good as it has been, the Jayhawks haven't punted much, and there haven't been very many field goal attempts either.

But in this game, special teams was all over the place. It's hard to give Kansas credit for the missed field goals on the day, because each of those were well within Jace Gilbert's normal range. And we saw snap and/or hold issues on the extra point try. But what we did see was a punt coverage unit that exerted pressure and a punter who consistently pinned the Cyclones back.

It wasn't a perfect outing, as Jacob Borcila missed his only field goal attempt. But the missed field goal was a 50-yard attempt, which is usually pushing the limits of what a college kicker is able to make, so it is definitely excusable. In all, the special teams more than held up their end of the bargain.

The defense is stacked with playmakers

When the Jayhawks earned back-to-back Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week awards, first with Lonnie Phelps in Week 1 and then Cobee Bryant in Week 2, a lot of people were surprised. I was among them. It's not that I didn't think that they were great players. I just thought it strange that a team that was defined by the potential of the electric offense was getting recognized for its defensive players.

But all the players that we have seen step up in other games also stepped up to make big plays here. Kenny Logan had a huge hit in the endzone to jar loose a pass that would have been a touchdown. Craig Young had a crucial sack to end the opportunity for a hail mary pass to end the first half. Sam Burt was constantly in the backfield.

For a defense that has been maligned all year long as one that gives up too many yards and doesn't get many big stops, this was a great performance.

Adaptability is high for this team

The strange thing about a football season is that no matter how well your identity is defined, there will always be a game against a team that can force you to play differently. Iowa State did exactly that. And the defensive response was exactly what you needed to see from this team.

Jalon Daniels and his receivers just couldn't quite seem to connect like they normally do. Lance Leipold confirmed in the post game press conference that they recognized pretty early that the offensive gameplan needed to change to address what Iowa State was throwing at them, especially with their unique defensive front.

And the defense stepped up in a huge way. The ability of this team to lean in to one of their perceived weaknesses to salt away a game is a huge plus that answers another big question about this team.

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