Kansas hits the road for Oklahoma after a three-game homestand ended in a 38-31 loss to TCU before a third consecutive sold-out crowd at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Now, the Jayhawks (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) hit the road for the first time in 28 days for another Big 12 road challenge in Norman.
The headliner this week is the expected absence of Kansas' starting quarterback Jalon Daniels, who exited last week’s game against the Horned Frogs late in the second quarter due to a right shoulder injury. Kansas coach Lance Leipold said Daniels is “doubtful” for the OU game and that his current status is day to day on Tuesday.
Jumping into the pocket in Daniels’ place was backup Jason Bean, who grabbed a one-score lead for Kansas on two consecutive touchdown passes coming out of halftime. Bean finished the game vs. TCU by completing 16 of 24 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns.
“(Bean’s) leadership throughout the week has been pretty remarkable,” running back Devin Neal said of his teammate. “We haven't missed a beat with him. He's confident, we're confident in him and we're excited to get rolling.”
Leipold has taught this Kansas team to roll with punches, no matter the result, according to offensive lineman Mike Novitsky.
“Unfortunately, this game is pretty violent,” Novitsky said. “Some dudes can get hurt and not play, but it's the next-man-up mentality. We're very confident with anybody in the locker room coming out on the field. We're very confident with them in the huddle.”
With Bean leading the Jayhawks in search of their sixth win on Saturday, the offense squares up against a Sooners defense that’s allowed 29.2 points per game through six weeks. Add to the mix a questionable OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel - who remained in concussion protocol on Monday night - and the lines get even blurrier when reading Oklahoma.
Daniels might be absent, but his speed factor sure isn't
Daniels and Bean are both mobile quarterbacks in their own ways: Daniels’ speed includes a lot of misdirection and rapid cuts, freeing up the turf for a decent chunk of yardage, while Bean will tend to blast off when the play collapses or when he sees some green.
Novitsky says keeping the defense on its toes gives Kansas a strong edge.
“It can, definitely, get chaotic for the defense late in the play when the scramble drill starts to go,” Novitsky said. “It could definitely give us the advantage on the play and, with the Bean’s crazy athleticism, we just got to stay on our blocks longer. That's one thing that we kind of been talking about is that we got to hold our blocks a little bit longer and give him more time because he has that ability to extend the play and keep the play going for us.”
Resetting the tone of the offense
Kansas walked into a tough and rowdy road environment during Week 2 at West Virginia and pulled out its first Big 12 win of the season, defeating the Mountaineers 55-42 in overtime. Now, separated by a tough loss to TCU, Kansas walks into Norman with a clean slate.
Neal feels this team can respond to last week’s close finish.
“Sometimes those losses can kind of be humbling for you and set you in a better direction,” Neal said. “Now the pressure is kinda off of us in a way, and you obviously don't want to lose games, but now that we did experience that, we kind of stepped back, see where our feet are and we're ready to go execute again.”
The Oklahoma defense has struggled throughout its last three showings, giving up 49 unanswered points against Texas last weekend. But Novitsky says Saturday is still going to be a hard-nosed battle against the Sooners, who rank 14th nationally with 44 tackles for loss and second-best conference tackler in linebacker Danny Stutsman (55).
“They're active and they’re very multiple,” Novitsky said. “They're very talented and physical. So it's going to be a great test for us up front.”
