One Last Run - Chapter 5 | Operation bounce-back

With one season remaining and just one credit hour on his class schedule this semester, the time has arrived for Kansas wideout Luke Grimm to pour everything he’s got into his final season of KU football.

As he does, we’ll follow him every step of the way in this weekly diary that will chronicle Grimm’s 2024 season.

Some of what you’ll read here, in Grimm’s own words, will focus on the stuff happening between the lines — big wins, memorable catches and the grind of the season. But a lot of it will focus on Grimm the person, a 23-year-old senior who has given everything he has to the program and seen it pay off in a big way.

The Grimm File

Age: 23 | Height: 6-0 | Weight: 190 | Position: Wide Receiver

Notable: Last season, Grimm became the 16th Jayhawk to reach the 100-catch mark for his career... The senior wideout enters the 2024 season with 126 career receptions, putting him within striking distance of climbing into 4th place (155) on KU's all-time receiving chart and with an outside shot at cracking the top 3 (214 and 219)... He also is less than 300 yards away from reaching the top 5 on KU's receiving yards list... Dubbed "The Grimm Reaper" early in his career, Grimm appeared in 6 games as a true freshman and has finished each of the past three seasons in the top four in receptions, including leading the team in 2022 and finishing second last season... A 3-star recruit by Rivals.com, 247 Sports & ESPN, Grimm was ranked as the No. 7 wide receiver in the state of Missouri by Max Preps in the 2020 class.

Now, with his team holding massive goals for the 2024 season and the excitement surrounding Kansas football at an all-time high, Grimm is grinning from ear to ear about the potential for his final run with the Jayhawks.

KU wideout Luke Grimm laughs with teammates during warm-ups before the Jayhawks' Week 3 home game against UNLV. [Sarah Buchanan photo]

Despite those high hopes, the Jayhawks have opened the season with a 1-2 start after back-to-back losses at Illinois and last week to UNLV at home.

In Chapter 5 of “One Last Run,” Grimm explained how he has handled the recent losses and talks about bouncing back and why the slow start doesn’t have the Jayhawks panicking.

“After the UNLV game, I just walked straight to my girlfriend’s car and started watching film because I was just so mad. I didn’t talk to anybody. I had family members there, I walked by them, waved to them, said, ‘Love you dad, love you mom,’ but I didn’t want to talk to anybody because I was at the point where I was gonna explode and that isn’t good for anybody.”

As agonizing as it might’ve been, the purpose of those film sessions immediately after the loss was to see what he could’ve done better and what the team as a whole could’ve done better to avoid the outcome they were dealt.

“When you lose a game where it’s like you’re in it the entire time and it’s just mistakes you make that kill you, that first night you’re just so pissed. You go home and watch film and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, if I would’ve just done this or this, we could’ve been able to score, get a first down, whatever it is.’ But then once that next day hits and we’ve got film and practice, you’ve just got to flip the switch and all your focus and attention is on the next team.”

Grimm said it was a tough road to travel to get to the point of fully turning the page to Week 4 and the getting ready for the upcoming game at West Virginia.

“It’s a long night. Even though I’m tired, I don’t want to go to sleep because I just feel like I can’t.”

Sounds a little bit like torture.

“Yeah. Yeah. It’s not a fun feeling to go through.”

The recent losses also were not the first time Grimm has dealt with such frustration. He was a part of the 2020 team that went 0-9 and he said the aftermath of the Illinois and UNLV losses this season is a world away from what he experienced as a freshman in 2020.

“My freshman year, I felt helpless because we just kept losing no matter what. But this time, it’s way different. We just shot ourselves in the foot. So, you get back to practice and you practice harder and you want it more because you know that if we didn’t make those mistakes we would’ve won. That definitely does help to have that perspective.”

It also helps to have faith in his teammates, most notably quarterback Jalon Daniels, who has struggled with interceptions during the first three games of 2024.

Grimm said he’s not concerned about Daniels moving forward.

“Not at all. I think the biggest thing is we come out and we play good football and then we just don’t get a rhythm. Whether it’s JD throwing, somebody in basketball shooting, when you don’t get to make a throw for 10-12 minutes of the game — really 30-40 minutes of live time — it’s just really hard to find that rhythm. And we haven’t had that in the second half of games yet.”

Because of that, the Jayhawks have emphasized finishing practice as well as they start during the past few days.

“Tuesdays are long practices, Wednesdays are long practices, and the first half is always really good. Now we need to make the second half look as good as the first.”

All in all, Grimm continues to see and sense a lot of positivity and optimism about the rest of the season from his teammates.

“The vibe is good. I wouldn’t say anybody’s moping or anything like that, it’s more of an anger where we know that we didn’t play good football. And everyone’s real eager to show that that’s not our Kansas brand of football and we’re about to bring it this week.”

“Sometimes you’ve just gotta get punched in the mouth and see how you respond. That’s basically it. You could wish, you could hope, you could say we could’ve done this better, but sometimes you just gotta get punched in the mouth and see how you respond to it.”

“It’s the first three games of the year; 25% of the season is gone. But this is technically the start of the season. Every game from here on out is as big as the next game.”

Next up, Grimm and the Jayhawks will look to get back on the winning track in their Big 12 opener at West Virginia in Morgantown. Saturday's kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. central and the game will be shown on ESPN2.