Darrius Moragne has career-high performance in opening week

After the Jayhawks pulled off a last-minute win over Indiana State all the talk was about the offense and the game-winning drive. Sometimes the efforts of defensive linemen go unnoticed in a win like the Jayhawks had in their opener.

But when the coaches go over the game film you can bet Darrius Moragne is going to get some love from the coaching staff.

The senior played his best game as a Jayhawk with seven tackles, a sack, and had the only quarterback hurry of the day.

“I'm just doing my job and so was everybody else,” Moragne said. “I wouldn't make plays if everybody wasn’t doing their job because we are all one together.”

Moragne was humble after his performance finishing second on the team in tackles from his defensive line spot. If you paid close attention you could see the guy who has an NFL frame was giving the Indiana State offensive line trouble all day.

“I learned a lot this week just in the film room,” Moragne said. “I watched a lot of film, so I knew it was coming before it happened. Then on the inside like Jelani (Brown) sees a lot, so he let us know what's coming and then we just feed off each other.”

At 6-foot-7, 294 pounds Moragne is going to attract the attention of opposing offensive coordinators. When he showed up to Kansas, he had the frame and the weight has come with hard work. He has put on close to 30 pounds since spring football.

“I was 265 (pounds),” he said. “That was this spring. I just knew I need to get my weight up. For me to be more effective and dominant I knew what I had to do. It was real hard work. I knew I had to keep working and keep pushing throughout the whole off season.”

The defense held the Indiana State offense to 17 points and only a field goal through the first three quarters. Indiana State had 10 returning starters from an offense that averaged 32 points a game last year.

“I feel like we played good,” Moragne said. “We had little mistakes, but overall we did good. Everybody did their job. We had good communication for the first game. I know we can still improve.”