Kansas rebounded after a slow first quarter to blow out Lindenwood 48-3 in its 2024 season opener. Lance Leipold spoke postgame about his thoughts on the Children’s Mercy Park environment, getting a lot of players into the game, and his thoughts on the team’s performance.

The team was prepared for Children’s Mercy, complimentary of the atmosphere

Kansas had the chance to practice at Children’s Mercy during fall camp. Leipold thought that experience, along with playing at a baseball field for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and the ongoing construction, helped the team be more prepared logistically.

“It felt like home,” Leipold said. “Through the construction project itself, our players have adapted so well. They’re just kind of used to and go with the flow and control what they can.”

Overall, Leipold thought it was a good atmosphere. With an announced attendance of over 20,000, the intimate environment produced a solid noise level.

“I thought the atmosphere at the beginning of the game and things was excellent,” Leipold said. “There's great energy and then, you know, and then, you know, through those bigger plays, I'm sure in the second half it kind of tapers down a little bit, but, you know, we'll need them back here in a couple weeks, so, you know, for another one. But yeah, appreciate everyone that's come out and, you know, and it's kind of how Travis thought it would be.”

Kansas gets about 75 players into the game

A 27-point second quarter quickly turned the game into a blowout. This allowed Kansas to get players lower on the depth chart into the game. Leipold said that they played about 75 guys. Despite this, the team was still able to go on drives and get stops on defense, a compliment to the Jayhawks’ depth.

“That's good because we've got a lot of guys that worked extremely hard since the offseason being part of this program,” Leipold said. “And you look at it too, Michael, if you look at the end of the Cincinnati game last year and this one, we've been able to put a second offensive line out there and we've been able to drive the ball and most of the time in my career that doesn't always happen.”

One of the guys who had a chance to play was Mikey Pauley. Leipold said they were debating between him and freshman Isaiah Marshall, but decided on Pauley to ensure Marshall’s redshirt and give Pauley his first game action.

“Afterwards, he thanked me,” Leipold said. “He doesn’t have to say thank you for getting in the game. The young man earned it. And, you know, to have somebody local like him come in and make some plays with his feet, it’s great because he’s done a nice job for us.”

Offense shows flashes in Jalon Daniels’ return

While a lot will be made of Daniels getting back onto the field, it was again the Kansas rushing attack that led the way. Devin Neal rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and Daniel Hishaw and Sevion Morrison added a touchdown each as the Jayhawks rushed for 331 yards.

“I thought Devin and Daniel ran the ball hard,” Leipold said. “I thought all our running backs ran hard tonight and that’s good to see because we’re going to need them.”

Daniels was solid for the most part outside of some miscommunication between him and Luke Grimm that resulted in an interception. He later connected with Grimm on a deep ball and Leipold said he thought Daniels and Grimm played really well.

“He [Daniels] was locked in, thought he made good decisions, and then was really happy because you know, the third and one… we had a down to take a shot because we’re going to go for it and it was good to see,” Leipold said. “It was a heck of a throw and catch. I thought Luke Grimm really played well there for like a stretch of 15 minutes.”

Cornerbacks tackling efforts stand out

Mello Dotson did cash in a pick-six, but the cornerbacks’ tackling ability was something that stood out to Leipold postgame.

"I think our corners tackled better than they well in the time I’ve been here and that’s really encouraging,” Leipold said. “They put a little more emphasis on it. I think DK McDonald’s brought some nice things to our program on the back end and really as a defense and one of them was emphasizing tackling every day. And I think it was good to see them do that.”

Leipold also said OJ Burroughs was someone who stood out. Burroughs had two near-interceptions, including one where he brought home the catch but came down out of bounds.

As a coach, Leipold said there were some things communications-wise that the defense can improve on. However, the defense limited Lindenwood to three points, which Leipold called “a good night.”