Is KU football at Arizona a ‘must-win’ game? Here’s the perspective of 2 players
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU must win games to build fan turnout, atmosphere at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
- Players tie attendance to performance and promise explosive plays to draw fans.
- Bowl eligibility stakes shape urgency: win vs. Arizona could build fan momentum.
Growing up a Jayhawks fan, left tackle Calvin Clements watched his fair share of struggling Kansas teams inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Before he joined KU as a player, he had no childhood memory of the Jayhawks ever playing in a bowl game.
Now, Kansas (5-4, 3-2 Big 12) is one win away from making its second bowl game since Clements joined KU — and third in four years overall. Still, Kansas’ season hasn’t gone exactly as planned.
KU lost both rivalry games this season: at Missouri and at home vs. Kansas State. Some fans — though certainly not all — have started to tune out since the Sunflower Showdown defeat.
That was reflected in the student-section turnout at “The Booth” when KU faced Oklahoma State on homecoming weekend. The official attendance for the game was 39,511, but the energy in the stadium didn’t match it.
The upper tier of the student section was empty before kickoff. Even after filling in, that area had more than a dozen empty rows across multiple sections.
There’s only one home game left for the Jayhawks, against Utah on Nov. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Clements believes the path to packing “The Booth” goes hand in hand with winning. Kansas plays Arizona (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) on Saturday and Iowa State after an off week before playing Utah.
On Monday, he acknowledged the student-section turnout against the Cowboys was less than ideal.
What will it take to change that?
“I think just playing good football,” he said. “I think building anticipation for a bowl game and playing good football is going to bring them in.”
Defensive end Dean Miller shared a similar sentiment but noted he appreciated the support from fans who were present in the stadium.
“The simple answer is just win,” Miller told The Star. “If you keep the ball rolling, keep getting wins — people want to come see that. You make plays that are exciting for the fans to see, explosive plays on offense and on defense getting takeaways.
“It’s on us to bring them out. It’s on our performance. Play on the field is going to make fans want to come and show up and show out for us. That’s on us.”
That’s why it’s so vital for the Jayhawks to clinch bowl eligibility over the next few weeks. The KU football fan base is looking for something to cheer for, as Miller noted.
The Jayhawks are also chasing redemption from last season, when they failed to make a bowl game after a 2-6 start. They lost the final game of the season to finish 5-7.
“It’s incredibly important,” Miller said of making a bowl game. “Obviously, we missed out last year, so I feel like the guys that we still have here from last season are hungrier than ever just to make sure we can secure that, first and foremost.
“Obviously, Arizona being our first opportunity to do that, we are definitely going to come out swinging. You look at them, a five-win team as well, so obviously they’ve got the same thing on their mind. … I’m sure they are looking at us as a must-win game, but that’s exactly how we are looking at it too.”
