Kansas offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes met with the media to preview the Jayhawks’ game against UNLV. Grimes talked about preparing during a short week, emphasizing effort in practice, thoughts on the offenses’ performance against Illinois, and what he sees from UNLV.
Need to flush the loss quickly, crunched for time this week
Kansas’ game against UNLV on Friday will mark the first time the Jayhawks will play on a short week since the Boston College in 2019. This can provide challenges, but it is especially difficult as Kansas has to rebound from a loss. Grimes said it’s important for the team to learn lessons from the loss quickly and stay ahead of schedule.
“You want to learn the lessons that are available from it, but you have to turn the page and move forward a little bit more quickly than you normally would, you know, after a loss,” Grimes said. “Sometimes that's a good thing. So just, you know, really working ahead of schedule to be where we need to be at this point. You know, your first three days of the week, which included a Sunday practice for us, you're getting in 90% of the game plan. And so there's just a lot to be done in a short amount of time, both with us and the players.”
‘A lot of work still to be done’ for Kansas offense
Kansas obviously didn’t play its best game against Illinois. Jalon Daniels threw three interceptions and the Jayhawks couldn’t capitalize enough when they had chances to score. Grimes said the team recognized they’re not where they need to be yet and there’s still work to be done.
“I think our players, I hope, recognize that, you know, it takes legitimate, credible effort every single week to win at this level,” Grimes said. “When you play good teams, every week is going to be a dogfight and it's going to take your best energy to prepare for that and put yourself in position to go out and play your best. And hopefully, they recognize the sense of urgency that takes.”
Grimes agreed with what Leipold said on Monday about the RPO game’s struggles against Illinois. Because Illinois disguised coverage well and played man-to-man defense, the RPO reads became more difficult.
“I felt like this defense [Illinois] disguised things, probably better than a college defense than I've been around, and I thought they did that well in the game also,” Grimes said. “And that makes your RPO game challenging. The other thing that makes the RPO game challenging is when you play man coverage, you don't have those easy access throws, not as easy to just throw a hitch or some of the easier RPOs.
He continued: "The idea behind the RPO game is that in general, if the box is loaded, then there might be somewhere else you can go with the ball and take an easier throw rather than a more challenging run.”
One bright spot of the Kansas offense was the offensive line. The Jayhawks were able to run the ball effectively, with Grimes saying he needs to find ways to get Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw more touches. Kansas was also able to match Illinois’ physical front.
“I thought by and large it was a good performance by them,” Grimes said. “I thought the protection for the most part was good. We were running the ball into heavy boxes and first I got to give credit to the backs because I think Devin and Deuce played really well and exceptionally hard and I got to do a better job of getting them the ball in crunch time. But I thought the offensive line played a solid game against a good front.”
Kansas needs to practice better to get more positive results
Instead of going over the game film from Illinois, Grimes chose to show the practice video leading up to the game. Grimes said the Jayhawks have to prepare better if they want to play better.
“I went right to some practice clips from last week, and then I shared the quote from Bear Bryant; ‘Everybody has the will to win. That's not really what matters, though. It's the will to prepare to win,’” Grimes said. “And I said, if we want to play better, then we've got to practice better and we've got to earn the right to play better on Saturdays.”
Grimes said he thinks he’s seen Kansas practice better so far this week. He needs to go back and look at the film but says the team wants to get better.
“It feels like to me that they're anxious to get better and play again, but I've also learned you don't really know sometimes until game day,” Grimes said.
UNLV aggressive, fast on defense, a look KU has not seen yet
Kansas’ offense was very effective against UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. However, Grimes said UNLV has improved as a defense and has been a dominant group this season. There may be things the Rebels do against the Jayhawks that they haven’t shown yet this year.
"Anytime you're this early in the season and your opponent hasn't been tested, you wonder what's still there that they haven't shown yet,” Grimes said. “But I'd say [they’re] similar, just a little bit better. And what comes with more experience in the system is confidence and play speed and aggression, and you see all of that.”
Grimes said that the front of the defense played with a recklessness that can be hard to stop, and the secondary has length and speed that can be challenging.
“I've been around defenses like this before, and often there's a mantra about just hitting your gap and don't stay blocked,” Grimes said. “And maybe at times that can certainly be challenging for, for an offensive line, both in run and the pass game, just a lot going on on every play, it feels like then in the back end, a lot of experience, a lot of speed and multiple coverages, the ability to play several different types of zone, and the ability to lock you up and run with your man as well.”
