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Monday Notebook: Football Good? Football Good!

Landen Fields
Here are the noetworthy stories from Kansas athletics for the week of September 17, 2018:
1. Football Good!?!?

KU absolutely blasted Rutgers on Saturday by a score of 55-14. 55-14! 55 points! From Kansas! In one game! In football! Hoo boy, that was fun. The Jayhawks dominated on both sides of the ball. The defense caused six turnovers and the offense rushed for 405 yards. Rutgers was outmatched in all measures of the game. That was a fun sentence to type. Usually Kansas is the one completely outmatched.

Running back Pooka Williams was untouchable, getting 19 carries for 163 yards and a touchdown. He’s the Jayhawk’s version of Tyreek Hill: very fast and unbelievably quick – possibly unfairly quick – in space. Williams is nearly impossible to tackle one-on-one in the open field. Four star recruits are fun! I think KU may have found their offensive identity in this game, which is hilarious because it’s exactly the opposite of what David Beaty wanted to implement. Beaty wanted this to be an Air Raid offense, but now KU looks like a team poised to run the ball 60%-70% of the time. Kansas ran the ball 48 times opposite 24 pass attempts against Rutgers.

Quarterback Miles Kendrick played most of this game, including all of the second half. With the way the offense looks, I would honestly expect him to start against Baylor next week. Kendrick went 6-for-11 passing for 66 yards and a touchdown. He added six carries for 28 yards and another score. If you’re going to be a run-first team you might as well go with the quarterback who can more adequately run the read option.

Kansas’ defense was incredible on Saturday. They allowed just seven points (one of the Rutgers TDs came off of a blocked field goal), and caused the aforementioned six turnovers, three of which came in the first quarter. Safeties Bryce Torneden (who looks like a much better player this year than in previous seasons) and Mike Lee each contributed a pick six. Rutgers had one competent drive. It was amazing to see (or listen to. I was in a car for about eight hours on Saturday so I was forced to listen to the sweet velvet that is Brian Hanni’s voice).

(Ed. Note: Yuck.)

Kansas was fun guys. They looked more than capable. In fact, they looked like an actual college football team. It takes more than just playing a bad team to beat somebody 55-14. The Jayhawks were good. Legitimately good. I might even pick them against Baylor. Maybe you should too. Unless you’re RCB writer Jake Smith, then please take Baylor because you’ve picked against KU in both of their wins and for them in their loss. We love you Jake. Rock Chalk!

2. 2019 Recruit Christian Braun Commits to Kansas Basketball

6′-5″ four star small forward Christian Braun out of Overland Park, Kansas committed to play for Bill Self and the Jayhawks on Monday. Braun has a great natural passing ability for his size and seems to have a nice jump shot as well. He will factor into another deep backcourt in 2019. Braun is the first recruit of the 2019 class but certainly won’t be the last. 2018 Late Night in the Phog is ten days from now. I’m not jumping up and down to The Hum, you are.

Landen Fields

I’m a junior in high school. I’m also homeschooled, which gives me the ability to watch ESPN all day. I love the Jayhawks, and I love to write about them. I’m also a huge fan of Star Wars, Marvel, and action/sci-fi movies. I hope to have a career in sports media one day, and I am grateful for this first step into a larger world.

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