Fresh off of a bye week in which they hit the reset button, tried to get healthy and started looking ahead to the second half of the season instead of back on the 1-5 start, the Kansas football team began preparations for its Week 8 matchup with Houston on Sunday night.
The Jayhawks (1-5 overall, 0-3 Big 12) were off on Monday and they’ll get back at it full-go on Tuesday ahead of this weekend’s clash with the Cougars (2-4, 1-2).
Here’s a quick look at a few things we learned about the state of the Jayhawks entering this week’s home game against Houston at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
No 10-point shots
There’s little doubt that the Jayhawks, like their fans, are disappointed about how the first six games of the 2024 season went. But, according to head coach Lance Leipold, they’re also not pressing too hard to make up for those outcomes.
To use a basketball analogy, they’re not down 18 and searching for the non-existent 10-point shot.
That should not surprise anyone. From Day 1 at Kansas, Leipold and his coaching staff — as well as nearly all of the players — have been very methodical about how they have approached building the program.
Consistent effort, steady progress and that famous mantra of getting 1% better every day have been the rallying cries. And that continues to be the case as the Jayhawks strive to get this season back on track.
“We’ve talked about trying to flush the past, so to speak,” Leipold said Monday. “We’ve got the second half of the season starting now and we’ve got to look at how we’re gonna really come out of these last six games.”
He said if this team was 6-0 instead of 1-5, they’d be talking about and emphasizing many of the same things.
“Your process and your practice regime and things that you do (doesn’t) change based on wins and losses,” Leipold said. “To me, that’s knee-jerk reactions.”
He added: “I really admire our guys. They’re disappointed, frustrated, just like many of us are — fans, everything — but this group continues to work and stick together.”
He also noted that the maturity of this team and its high number of experienced veterans has really shined through in the way that they have embraced the concept that you win and lose together and that the blame for the rough start is to be shared by everyone.
Areas to target for improvement on defense
One of the other things the bye week opens the door for is the chance to spend a little more time self-scouting to see if you can identify trends or tendencies that can quickly be addressed to help turn things in a better direction moving forward.
For the Kansas defense, one area the Jayhawks can do better is in finding a way to force opposing offenses into more third-and-long situations.
It’s not just third down either. Leipold said that KU’s inability to put opponents in longer down-and-distance scenarios has contributed a great deal to KU’s defense not getting off the field, with opponents sustaining longer drives and needing shorter gains to keep the chains moving.
While looking back at the past does not do anything to change it, the message that they’re close continues to be one that resonates and also helps keep everyone fighting to move forward on the same page.
“I think the approach is we’ve got to keep attacking it and working at it,” Leipold said Monday.
Injury update
While the bye week(s) is always a time to get as healthy as possible and give key players handling heavy workloads a little extra rest, it does not appear that the Jayhawks’ bye week cured all of KU’s ails.
Leipold said Monday that captain and starting linebacker Cornell Wheeler remained “doubtful” for this week against Houston, and that senior cornerback Cobee Bryant was “highly questionable” with a lower leg injury that he suffered in the loss at Arizona State.
Wheeler was injured late in the loss at West Virginia on Sept. 21 and has missed the last two games. Bryant was injured late in the loss to ASU.
Wheeler’s absence has been felt throughout the defense and in many areas, and Bryant, who is among the KU defense’s highest rated players so far this season per Pro Football Focus, is an integral part of everything the Jayhawks do defensively and his absence, should he not play, would be felt just as strongly.
Senior Taiwan Berryhill Jr. and freshman corner Jalen Todd continue to operate as the next men up at each position, according to this week’s depth chart.
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