Kansas football has learned some hard lessons over the past decade. But through nearly two seasons in the director’s chair, coach Lance Leipold has raised the competitiveness of the Jayhawks to the degree of bowl eligibility.

Saturday’s regular-season finale at Kansas State will be as true of a Big 12 test as any KU has faced all season long. The Jayhawks, coming off a hard-to-swallow 55-14 beatdown by Texas on a senior day, will be out to prove their ability to dust themselves off and place a competitive product on the field one last time this season.

Earl Bostick, a super-senior offensive lineman, said on Tuesday that Kansas is capable of flushing that game after managing 346 yards against the Longhorns – the third-worst offensive output by Kansas this year.

“We did it before,” Bostick said. “Coming off that bye vs. Oklahoma State, we flipped the page.

It’s now time to turn the page and focus on the in-state rivalry of K-State. We’ve got to treat it like a backyard game because we want to bring the Governor's Cup back to Lawrence. We’ve always dreamed about it.”

Speaking on Monday, Leipold said “every facet of (Kansas’) game needs to be on the uptick this week” heading into Manhattan on Saturday. Kansas State, barreling toward the Big 12 Championship game, enters the in-state showdown fresh off a 48-31 road win over West Virginia.

If Kansas manages a win on Saturday, it’d end a 13-game skid against the Wildcats and be the first win for KU in a regular-season finale since 2008 vs. Missouri. On Tuesday, Leipold shined a light on Kansas State coach Chris Klieman and the job he’s done since arriving in Manhattan.

“They have an excellent football team, a lot to play for, and they've earned that right and they've got a lot of weapons, and one of the best defenses in the country,” Leipold. “It's going to be a big task to go in there.”

Last Sunday, a report surfaced that previously inactive quarterback Adrian Martinez will miss a “couple weeks” as the season wraps up. Behind junior backup Will Howard, who completed 19 of 27 passes for 294 yards and two TDs in Morgantown, the Wildcats have been just as capable throughout Martinez’s absence(s).

Through four showings, Howard’s passed at a 64.9% completion rating and unleashed four of his seven TD passes in Kansas State’s 48-0 shutout of Oklahoma State in late October.

“Will Howard is playing at a really high level, and one of the most improved players probably in college football is Will Howard,” Klieman said after last Saturday’s win over West Virginia.

Kansas safety O.J. Burroughs has been studying Howard’s comfortability at the QB spot since taking over a heavier share of responsibility this season. Outside of the film room, Burroughs expects a raucous environment in Manhattan on Saturday night.

“He can sit in the pocket,” Burroughs said. “He can take hits and when he throws the ball down the field, he can put it on target.”

“It's going to be a very good environment,” Burroughs added. “In order for us to win this game, we've got to come up fast. We got to play physically the whole game and stay disciplined and play, fundamentally, sound football.”

Jalon Daniels returned to the starting quarterback spot last Saturday vs. Texas, completing 17 of 26 passes for 230 yards, two TDs and an interception. Daniels scrambled just twice for 12 yards before Leipold sent in Jason Bean midway through the fourth quarter.

On Monday, Leipold said Daniels clearly didn’t want to leave the game and wanted to continue working on some things in his first game back. Daniels, who’s recovering from a shoulder injury sustained during Week 5, had missed four consecutive games leading up to last weekend.

The presumed starter for Kansas State, Daniels spoke on Tuesday about whether the offense will be tweaked heading into Manhattan.

“I always leave the game plan after Coach K,” Daniels said. “We're in communication about what ideas we believe is going to best work for the opponent, but we're going to have to see Saturday. We're going to go in Saturday with the Kansas game plan that we have, but it's the game of football. You have to make adjustments throughout.”

In the first half vs. the Longhorns, the KU offense missed out on multiple scoring drives, including a missed field goal on a called-back TD pass and a 4th-and-short try. Daniels knows there’s some rust when jumping back into the offense and says there’s a learning curve that goes into the first half.

“It just goes back into being able to get back into the swing of things,” Daniels said.“Tennessee Tech, I didn't do everything that I felt was good enough in that first half, though others might think otherwise,” he added. “I don't feel like I did everything to a T in that first half and I feel like it took that second half to be able to all right, now I'm back into this game. I feel like everything's not moving too fast anymore. I'm able to play my pace of game.”

Our Black Friday Special is LIVE.

It is one of the best promos of the year and you become a member of Jayhawk Slant for just $22 for the year.

Get the latest recruiting news, team coverage, analysis, and chat with thousands of KU fans on our premium message boards.

To take advantage of the Black Friday offer CLICK HERE