Published Sep 9, 2023
Jayhawks won in all phases from coaching to playing physical
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Jon Kirby  •  JayhawkSlant
Publisher- Football Editor
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@jayhawkslant

If the Jayhawks continue to play like they did against Illinois and the second half of the Missouri State game, they are going to be an issue for opponents all season.

In a nationally televised game, the Jayhawks took the fight to Illinois, a Big 10 team who prides themselves on being physical. For much of the contest Kansas matched Illinois physicality and then some.

All week I said going into the game the two key factors will be the scheme Andy Kotelnicki puts together for the Illinois defense and the physical side of the matchup.

The Jayhawks passed both with high grades.

Against Missouri State, Jalon Daniels did not play, and Kotelnicki kept the playbook simple. But that all changed against Illinois. Kotelnicki went deep into his bag of tricks that includes motions, multiple formations, and some wrinkles he did not show last season.

The Illini were on their heels all night. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is known for his defensive mind when he moved up the coaching ranks as a coordinator at Kansas State and Wisconsin. Illinois is also breaking in a new defensive coordinator in Aaron Henry.

They got to see the offense in full operation mode.

“Obviously, when you play an early season opponent, they have the entire year to look at your film, so I think in the first two games it's very evident that some of the things that we need to do,” Bielema said. “Especially on the defense side of the ball, just look at closely what we're doing, how we're doing it, and be able to make plays.”

The Illinois coaches had their hands full with the multiple looks and schemes the Jayhawks gave all night. 539 yards and 27 first downs later they got to see everything the Jayhawks had in the playbook and then some.

Bielema knew the challenges his defense would face but got to see some new things Kotelnicki did not show on film.

“They did some extreme things,” he said. “They put up an extra wide A and B gap and they schemed us on one drive where had never shown that and it's something that we got to adjust to on a fly. There were a couple trick plays, but that's kind of what their offense is. Lance and his staff, this is kind of what they are. They do some old school traditional, midline triple option stuff and they put new waves on it.”

Just as impressive as the offensive scheme was, the Jayhawks answered a question that was asked all week. Can they match the physicality of Illinois? The Illini are built with a big offensive line and return many players in the front seven from one of the nation’s best defenses last year.

Illinois was able to break off one big run when quarterback Luke Altmyer scrambled for a 72-yard touchdown run. For the most part the Kansas defense played a physical game, flew to the football, and never let the Illinois offense get on track.

The physical mindset started last spring when Leipold put the players through an intense spring football season. They commented several times on how demanding March and April were. That continued into fall camp and was an emphasis for the last nine months from Leipold.

Defensive coordinator Brian Borland has added some new twists to his scheme as well. On passing downs the Jayhawks are moving Jereme Robinson from defensive end to the inside and bringing up linebackers like JB Brown and Craig Young to get more athleticism on the pass rush. They also use sets with Patrick Joyner and Austin Booker giving them three defensive ends along the front.

It resulted in six sacks and nine tackles for a loss.

“We've looked at everything for a way to create more,” Leipold said. “We could put JB on the outside a few times or we've gone to some packages, essentially with Jeremy moving inside with three defensive ends. Again, much like our offense, we want to be as multiple as we can defensively to match up with people, find opportunities, put pressure on the quarterback and do different things. So hopefully we can expound on it a little bit.”

Kansas beat Illinois every way a team can. They won the X’s and O’s battle and beat Illinois at their own game with a physical brand of football. If this is the Jayhawk team we will see for the rest of the season there are going to be more of the same results.