LAWRENCE — Lance Leipold acknowledged Monday his team’s health in the interior of the offensive line isn’t as good as they’d like it to be, right now.
Leipold, Kansas football’s head coach, mentioned redshirt junior offensive lineman Kasen Carpenter is probably doubtful. So, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Anderson Kopp could need to step up at center.
Leipold mentioned redshirt junior offensive lineman Connor Stroh got some playing time this past weekend at Kansas State, and they hope to have him back. But, it’s still too early to know for sure, and on the depth chart redshirt junior offensive lineman Amir Herring is listed as the starter over Stroh at left guard.
But that’s not the only injury news to know for KU. Ahead of Kansas’ game Saturday at home against Baylor, Leipold announced redshirt senior linebacker Jaron Willis is out for the season with a knee injury. Willis has appeared in all six games for the Jayhawks (2-4, 0-3 in Big 12 Conference), and made three tackles.
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“Jaron’s a fine young man in his first year in the program as a senior, transfer from South Carolina,” Leipold said. “He’s a really, really fine young man that’s worked extremely hard, accepted his role, helped us in special teams, was getting better. It’s unfortunate, but that’s another one that — so, another guy down there.”
Here are some more takeaways from what Leipold had to say:
What did the film show, on where Kansas struggled against Kansas State?
Leipold highlighted that in KU’s loss on the road against Kansas State the Jayhawks just weren’t nearly as physical as they needed to be on both sides of the ball, nor did they tackle very well. He mused it was likely the most missed tackles they’ve had in a game all season, so there were a lot of yards after contact. Offensively, Kansas didn’t establish the outside running game all that well.
On special teams, KU did have a kickoff return for a touchdown. But for the most part elsewhere the Jayhawks struggled, especially punting the ball, with one play resulting in a safety. Inconsistency also affected Kansas’ kickoffs, with one going out of bounds.
Is there something behind the mistakes Kansas made in tackling?
Leipold noted that every position coach works on tackling each day, in some way, shape or form. But once the team gets out of fall camp and into the season, there’s not that much live tackling. So, KU needs to continue to reinforce fundamentals and technique.
It’s the same thing, Leipold explained, when it comes to penalties. It’s about fundamentals, hand placement, moving your feet and more. The Jayhawks just have to emphasize it and find ways to replicate scenarios during team sessions so they can improve.
How did Kansas bounce back after the loss?
Leipold acknowledged that the players are disappointed, and feel down. However, they’ve remained coachable as they’ve moved on to the Baylor matchup. He could tell by how they operated Sunday that they were ready to attack that challenge.
Everything Leipold witnessed in meetings Sunday showed him ownership and accountability, as well as an understanding of what needs to be improved upon. That’s all he can ask of the group. He doesn’t see anyone being defensive, or making excuses.
What is Kansas’ identity?
Leipold still thinks they can be an explosive offense, and that defensively they’re improved — although that didn’t show up as much this past weekend at Kansas State. One of the things Leipold heard defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald say to the defense Sunday was that the defense, and especially its front, earned some respect earlier on this season and they have to understand opponents are going to plan for them differently.
The K-State linemen, on both sides of the ball, rose to the occasion that game. KU needed to answer it. So, the coaches will challenge the guys to do so this week because Baylor will challenge the Jayhawks again on both sides of the ball, too.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at JMGuskey@usatodayco.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: See the latest Kansas football injury news before Baylor, plus more