Kansas football is being led by a star quarterback, just not the one you expected
Kansas football coach Lance Leipold’s Jayhawks are accomplishing a lot of firsts this season.
And it’s not star Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels leading the Jayhawks to these feats — it’s backup quarterback Jason Bean.
Starting in place of Daniels (back injury), who was not with the team in Ames, Iowa, Bean led the Jayhawks to several more accomplishments by beating Iowa State on Saturday.
KU earned its first road win in Ames since 2008 with a 28-21 victory over Iowa State. In the process, Kansas also clinched its first winning season since 2008. The Jayhawks are 7-2, 4-2 in Big 12 play.
“This team keeps chipping away and knocking down barriers that haven’t been done in our program for a long time,” Leipold said. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of them. Tough place to play. Matt’s (Campbell, ISU coach) got a heck of a team.
“Two years ago, we came in here and we were embarrassed. It was an early measuring stick about how far we needed to come as a program. Two-plus years later, to come back in and be able to do this is another big step for us.”
Bean finished 14-of-23 passing for 257 yards with one passing touchdown and no interceptions.
The stat line didn’t do Bean justice — it was perhaps his best game in a Jayhawk uniform.
“I don’t know if the numbers are going to jump out at you, but he’s so much different as far as his demeanor on the sideline,” Leipold said. “He’s anxious to get back out there and attack the situation.”
Even through some adversity ... and injury.
In the third quarter, Bean suffered a low hit that left him down on the ground in pain. After the game, he said the hit “kind of scared me.” He realized he was OK after he tested his leg by putting weight on it.
Third-string freshman quarterback Cole Ballard came in the game and handed the ball off while Bean stood on the sideline. The next play, Bean rejoined the action.
“(I was) pretty worried,” Leipold said. “We’ve got a true freshman that’s played like five snaps, I don’t know, five snaps against Missouri State.”
Oftentimes, the Bean experience oscillates between one excellent play and another head-scratching one.
That wasn’t the case Saturday.
Bean went through his progressions and delivered balls with pinpoint accuracy. When needed, he stepped into the pocket and avoided the rush. He did everything KU needed him to do and then some.
As KU hung onto a three-point lead (21-18) early in the fourth quarter, Bean delivered Kansas’ knockout punch with one pass.
Bean faked to the sideline as if he were going to run the speed option, then stopped and delivered an accurate deep ball to wide receiver Lawrence Arnold.
Arnold caught the pass just over a defensive back hoping to break it up. He jogged untouched for an 80-yard touchdown.
“It’s just a play we worked on all week,” Bean said. “I feel like all game we’d kind of been baiting them to come down low enough for us to get past them on that play. We did and LJ got behind them. I delivered the ball and he did the rest.”
On KU’s next drive, Bean iced the game by lobbing a pass to Kansas tight end Jared Casey on third down, which allowed Kansas to run out the clock.
“It was just put in as a dump play that was going to happen, that we were going to sell run,” Leipold said. “There were a couple choices there, but it wasn’t like ‘Let’s get the ball to Jared.’”
Instead?
“Let’s call the play,” Leipold continued, “that’s going to work.”
Bean had a big part in that.
