OK. You all know what happened over the weekend. So let’s just cut to it and find out which Jayhawks earned their Wheaties.
You’ve seen the tomahawks on the back of the Florida State helmets, the buckeye tree leaves on the Ohio State helmets and the paw prints on the back of the Clemson helmets.
These are your weekly Wheaties.
Each Monday, after every KU football game, we take one last look back at the game that was and hand out different amounts of the iconic breakfast cereal to the Jayhawks’ top performers.
So, be sure to come get your Monday morning Wheaties and feel free to hit up the comments section — subscribers only for now — with any players you feel we might’ve missed.
Picture on the box
• The entire Kansas football team – This one’s easy. It’s one of those team photos, where they sit in shoulder pads in the stands, filling seven or eight rows of bleachers as they archive the roster for posterity. Not every Jayhawk played in the win over Oklahoma, but every single one of them played a part in that win. Whether it’s the walk-ons who show up and run scout team or the reserves who are ready in case they’re needed or the starters who put up the stats, that was a team win and one of the most important in program history. That kind of achievement needs every single smiling face on this roster to be a part of the top Wheaties honor this week.
A full bowl
• Junior cornerback Cobee Bryant – Twenty-six Jayhawk names show up on the defensive stats page after Saturday’s win over Oklahoma and Bryant’s was not one of them. That’s because OU wanted no part of messing with him. The man was not targeted in the game one time and beyond that, he talked the talk all game, talking trash and flashing confidence to the OU players and sideline throughout the afternoon. Plenty of guys talk that trash. But few of them back it up as well as Bryant.
• Sophomore defensive lineman Austin Booker – Continues to be one of the steals of the offseason and continues to wreck games, as well. Booker finished Saturday’s win with 6 tackles, 4 solo and a sack. He also could’ve been credited with a QB hurry on the final play of the game after forcing Dillon Gabriel to step up and toss the ball to the end zone a little quicker than he would’ve liked. Booker has been one of the best — if not the best — pass rushers in the Big 12 Conference this season and his effort and consistency continue to top out at an all-Big 12 level.
• The Booth Brothers – KU running backs Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. were absolute beasts in this one. They finished with 37 carries for 163 yards and 3 TDs and nearly had a fourth but a holding penalty brought back what would’ve been Deuce Hishaw’s third TD run. You’ve seen them do their thing all season long and they just keep getting better. Power and speed, vision and finesse, tenacity and poise, these two have it all and they’re as good a 1-2 punch at the running back position as there is in the country.
Nighttime snack
• Junior wide receiver Lawrence Arnold – Arnold made three catches for 79 yards in this one, and he was targeted six times. But two of those three grabs were absolutely huge, including the last one, a 37-yard catch-and-run game-breaker that came on 4th-and-6 and set up the game-winning score. Arnold has been ultra-reliable all season long, flashing sure hands, good routes and the ability to rise to the biggest moments. He did it again on Saturday and helped KU pull off one of the biggest wins in program history.
• Senior quarterback Jason Bean – On the strength of that final drive alone, Bean deserves to be on this list. He's a fighter, he never quits, he gives all he has even when it's not always pretty and he finally showed the ability to flush the negative moments and respond to them with a winner's mentality. After tossing an interception that looked like it had sealed KU's fate, Bean and the offense got the ball back one more time and the reserve-turned-starting-QB delivered a beauty of a game-winning drive, making plays with his legs and his arm. Bean was emotional after the victory and he deserved to be. It wasn't the prettiest day a KU quarterback has ever had but it certainly was one of the grittiest.
Drink the milk
• Junior wide receiver Quentin Skinner – How about Q’s play on that ball that was tipped and then caught by the Jayhawk on the deflection after he went out of bounds and came back in to make the grab? Incredible stuff. Skinner, an Oklahoma native by the way, finished the day with 2 receptions for 32 yards, including that one, but also was good on the edge and down the field as a blocker, proving, yet again, that he’ll do whatever is asked of him to help this team win.
More from Saturday's KU victory...
• PHOTO GALLERY: KU 38, No. 6 OU 33
• PHOTO GALLERY II: Let the celebration begin
• KU QB Jason Bean saved his best for last – in the Jayhawks' locker room
• Bean TD run reminiscent of similar run vs. OSU in 2022
• 'That's one you rush the field for'
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kutickets.com
