Lance Leipold on getting back in win column, good rush defense
Lance Leipold said after the game he told his team the importance and perspective after his team’s 38-21 victory over Oklahoma State, which improved the Jayhawks to 5-4 on the season.
The win marked Kansas’ fourth straight year with at least five victories, something the program hadn’t accomplished since 2006-09.
Leipold said his message to the team centered on staying together through a challenging stretch.
“It was, and yeah, we needed it. But as I told them, winning five games at Kansas hasn’t happened a lot, and we can’t forget that,” Leipold said. “Every Saturday, half the teams win and half lose. It’s hard. We always talk about this conference and its parity and you never know what’s going to happen.”
He praised both players and staff for staying the course even after identical 42-17 defeats to Texas Tech and Kansas State.
“I’m proud of our players and our coaches,” Leipold said. “When skepticism tries to dent your program, you have to keep working. We’ll be back in here tomorrow working like always. Between the open weeks and everything else, it’s felt like a long stretch, so to find a way to get a victory means a lot.”
Good effort by defensive front
The KU defense delivered one of its better performances of the season against the run, holding Oklahoma State to just 72 yards on the ground. The Jayhawks limited running back Rodney Fields, one of the Big 12’s most productive rushers entering the game, to only 59 yards on 15 carries and a 3.7-yard average.
Field entered the game as the sixth-ranked back in the conference getting 5.4 yards a carry.
Leipold credited his defensive line and linebackers for setting the tone and responding well as the game went on.
“I thought in the second half especially, we were disruptive,” Leipold said. “I thought Tommy Dunn showed up. Marcus Calvin showed up again. Blake’s been very consistent. D.J. Withers got banged up but fought back in there. I thought Dean Miller was really flying around.”
Leipold added that the overall front seven’s effort helped stabilize the defense and slow down Oklahoma State’s game plan.
“That front seven settled down, got some things going, and the defensive performance gave us a big chance for this victory,” Leipold said.
Offense looked good in second half
Quarterback Isaiah Marshall’s 43-yard run proved to be one of the game’s bigger plays, giving the offense some momentum at a time where they were looking for something positive. Leipold noted how that play, along with a successful option run to Camp Pickett, helped Kansas build second-half success.
“It was a very big spark for us,” Leipold said of Marshall. “I told him right before I came up here that his run was huge, it gave us a boost when we needed it. The option play to Cam Pickett was another nice run that gave us momentum. Isaiah came in and gave us that spark.”
Leipold admitted he had hoped to involve both Marshall and Cole Ballard, but the overall offensive rhythm in the second half was a difference-maker.
“The frustrating part about the targeting call is that I was hoping to get Cole and Isaiah both in the game and get some other guys touches, but it wasn’t meant to be,” he said.
When asked about the offense’s improvement after halftime, he clarified that the team had been productive but only had two drives. Leipold was asked about a “sluggish” start but cleared the air they were two-for-two scoring points on first half drives.
“I guess I’d say, what do you mean by sluggish? We only had the ball twice and scored both times,” he said. “We had 10 points, but we scored on both possessions. We just didn’t get off the field, and it was a very fast first half. For a game that we didn’t punt, I think it was huge.”
