KU football tries new trick: ninja kickoff returner

Who’d have guessed that the Jayhawks’ crimson-and-blue color scheme would be turned into camouflage? During a game no less.

To be honest, it was just the blue uniforms. But the Jayhawks’ LaQuvionte Gonzalez did a great job of hiding himself in the end zone during Saturday’s game against Iowa State at Memorial Field.

KU was returning a kickoff, and Gonzalez was prone in the end zone. His uniform color matched the end-zone color. Gonzalez sprang to his feet and received a lateral.

Take a look:

If that video doesn’t play, you should be able to see it thanks to this tweet:

After the game, which Iowa State won 31-24, KU coach David Beaty talked about the play. Beaty said it was special-teams coordinator Joe DeForest’s idea.

“We felt we were going to need a momentum changer in this game and something that would help us — man, we thought we might be able to get completely out on that one,” Beaty said. “I thought maybe he got down a little bit. Had he not gotten down quite as quick, he might have been able to hide a little bit better. I think their sideline saw it, but I thought it was a really cool design by Joe, and I thought our kids executed it pretty well. It gave us the best return we had of the day if I’m not mistaken.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2016 at 2:14 PM.