Here’s what KU Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold was most pleased with in South Dakota win
Kansas coach Lance Leipold said a rewatch of the film from KU’s 17-14 victory over South Dakota brought out many of the same emotions he’d had following earlier practices in training camp.
Some days, Leipold would see flashes of greatness and feel optimistic about the program’s short-term trajectory. Other days, he’d walk back to his office much more concerned.
“I saw probably parts of each,” Leipold said when describing his team’s game tape from Friday’s opener.
Above all else, though, Leipold says a rewatch clarified his team had accomplished an important step as it works to build a winning culture.
“The thing that I was most proud of is the things that I maybe saw on film last year when things didn’t go right, and how we responded Friday night and overcame that,” Leipold said. “And yeah, you can say. ‘It’s an FCS team’ or whatever. All those other things that I’m not going to worry about right now.
“The fact is, this team came from behind when it had to, and it had a fourth-and-10 and other things, and we found a way to win a football game. And that’s the part of having some resolve and (being able to) persevere over things that I found out that I didn’t know how we would respond.”
KU certainly had lots of adversity to overcome late.
Late in the third quarter, following an 83-yard kickoff return by Kenny Logan, the Jayhawks went scoreless after a fourth-and-3 pass from the South Dakota 6 fell incomplete.
Two possessions later, Leipold went for it with a 10-7 lead on a fourth-and-1 from his own 46. Quarterback Jason Bean appeared to push forward in the pile to get the first down by at least half a yard, but the official marked him short, and Leipold chose not to challenge while saving his team’s final timeout.
“Those things that, ‘Oh, here we go, again,’ type mentality ... we really worked through those pretty well,” Leipold said. “And that’s what I’m really proud of.”
Though South Dakota took the lead late in the fourth quarter, Bean engineered an 11-play, 64-yard touchdown drive to put KU back ahead, 17-14, with just over a minute to play.
Other areas Leipold said he was pleased with included the team’s special teams play. Along with Logan’s long kickoff return, KU also averaged more than 40 net yards per punt, made all its field goals and had three touchbacks out of four kickoffs.
“You always kind of worry about that early in the season when you watch these early games, college or professional, that special teams seem to play a bigger factor,” Leipold said. “And I thought were pretty solid that way.”
A few more positives Leipold pointed out: His defense played with confidence, and KU received strong performances from its defensive ends and secondary. Leipold also was happy with ball security; KU had no fumbles and no turnovers, which was an important factor on a day when the offense struggled overall.
The challenge will be tougher this week. KU plays at No. 22 Coastal Carolina on Friday, while entering as an early 27-point Vegas underdog.
“It’s a short window, and there’s a lot of things we’ve got to get done,” Leipold said, “and a lot of that we have to clean up from Friday night.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2021 at 2:50 PM.
