This adjustment from KU Jayhawks football QB Jason Bean wowed staff: ‘It was awesome’
Kansas quarterback Jason Bean missed his read.
This was early in the fourth quarter of KU’s 17-14 win over South Dakota, and Bean had receiver Kwamie Lassiter coming wide open over the middle. He didn’t trust his teammates blocking in front of him, though. He thought a blitzer might get to him. He shifted his feet.
South Dakota came away with a sack ... and Bean got an earful from KU quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski when he returned to the sideline.
“Just got antsy in the pocket, trying to get out too early,” Bean said. “Kind of blew an assignment.”
What came after that, though, is what has KU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki so encouraged as KU prepares to play at No. 17 Coastal Carolina on Friday.
Bean listened to his coaches — then on the game’s biggest play made the proper adjustment.
“In the past, I’ve dealt with scenarios where guys struggled to make those corrections from week 1 to week 2, let alone within the same game,” Kotelnicki said. “So for him to do that tells me that his upside is still just rising.”
Trailing 14-10, KU faced a fourth-and-10 on its final possession. Kotelnicki called the same play, and South Dakota brought the same type of blitz.
This time, Bean remained confident. Running back Torry Locklin stepped up to make a crucial block. And Bean stepped into his throw, choosing tight end Mason Fairchild this time because of the safeties’ wide alignment.
The pass was accurate, with Fairchild bringing in a 20-yard reception on KU’s eventual game-winning drive.
“I think just having that (earlier) play replaying in my head throughout the game, knowing that, ‘I’ve got to sit back there and trust my guys,’” Bean said. “Then when it came to crunch time, I sat back there and believed in those guys and was able to do it.”
Kotelnicki, while frustrated KU’s offense didn’t take advantage earlier, was encouraged by how quickly Bean corrected course.
“His ability within a game to listen to what we were saying and take that feedback and then make it count ... it was awesome,” Kotelnicki said. “Which again is exciting for us as a staff, because that stuff isn’t always natural. It doesn’t happen all the time.”
Kotelnicki noted two other instances where Bean did something similar against South Dakota, as both of the Jayhawks’ touchdown passes to Lawrence Arnold were plays that hadn’t worked earlier in the game; Bean, though, was effective with them when they both were called again.
There were other reasons for Kotelnicki to be bullish about Bean’s future. One was simply the quarterback’s raw speed, which turned some busted plays into positive gains against South Dakota when Bean simply escaped the pocket and beat defenders to the edge for a few yards rushing. Having a QB run game also adds additional stress to defenses that don’t always have to account for a mobile signal-caller each week.
Bean, who completed 17 of 26 passes for 163 yards, said he most wanted to clean up his accuracy for Week 2, believing a few poor throws kept KU from big plays. Kotelnicki also wants to see improvement with game management, while believing that will naturally come with additional repetitions in the offense.
For one game, though, Kotelnicki saw enough to make him optimistic about what could be ahead.
“The fact that we can go back to a play, and he can digest the information that we’re giving him about, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. Here’s what the throw is going to be,’ and then execute it,” Kotelnicki said, “that was probably what I’m most excited about.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
