If anyone would have guessed the first interception of the year went to Malcolm Lee, they would have been lying.

But they would have been correct.

Lee, who plays defensive line for the Jayhawks beat the odds that would have usually gone to a defensive back or even a linebacker.

Jarret Doege, the quarterback for West Virginia, threw a simple short pass and Lee was waiting. It was a screen that West Virginia had success with early and Lee recognized the play as it developed.

“That's just something we drill week to week,” Lee said. “Screens are a pretty big part of any offense's game plan. You've just got to feel when your blocker leaves. You're not that good if you're turning the corner and, all of a sudden, your blocker is gone.”

Lee had seen it work for the Mountaineers earlier in the game and was ready for it when he picked Doege off.

“There were a couple of plays they were really getting us with, so I was keeping an eye out for that,” he said. “I think it was a four yard rush, I saw the tackle and the guard leave, so I knew it was a screen, and just started backpedaling a little bit to see if I could read the quarterback's eyes, see where he was going to throw it so I could make a play. He just lobbed it up to me. Just having to be in the right place at the right time.”

The defense had several good moments during the game, but started to wear down in the second half. West Virginia ran 28 more plays than the Jayhawks and won the time of possession battle.

It put the defense in bad positions, but Lee said it is the job of the defense no matter what the situation is.

“That's not my problem,” Lee said. “You'd love to get some long drives and some points, but, at the end of the day, I'm here to play defense and it's not really my concern what the offense is doing. It's my job just to stop them from getting into the end zone.”

The defensive line accounted for 12 tackles, three for a loss and Lee’s interception. He believes the line will continue to improve and grow since many of them have been in the program for a year or less.

“Marcus Harris, DaJon Terry, Jereme Robinson, and Caleb Taylor, we've got a lot of them,” he said. “We've got a lot of really young guys in there. I know Caleb Sampson and myself, we still have two years of eligibility after this. We will see if Sam wants to come back up here after this season. There's a lot of room for improvement. We've only been with each other for about a year. The ceiling is really, really, high. I've got a lot of optimism for our group.”