Across the beat: Getting to know Kansas

Fifty-two days before Duke and Kansas’ blueblood basketball programs meet in the Champions Classic, their unbeaten football teams will square off on Saturday.

Call it the Champions Classic of the Gridiron.

To get to the Jayhawks, we’ve enlisted the help of Jon Kirby, publisher and football editor of JayhawkSlant on the Rivals network.

Here’s a five-part Q&A on Kansas:

1. Let’s start with a simple vibe check – with Kansas holding the same 3-0 record as Duke, what are the feelings around this program right now as far as how sustainable this is?

Answer: I really believe this is a one game at a time scenario. Lance Leipold is a very detailed, organized coach. I know the fans are looking down the schedule and pointing to winnable games with three straight home contests coming. But he certainly is not and he said that at his press conference.

They have one of the top offenses in the country and are second in third down conversions. If the offense can keep doing what they have then it is sustainable. The question is going to be can defensive coordinators come up with a scheme to slow it down.

2. Lance Leipold has appropriately gotten a ton of credit for having this team off to a good start in just his second season, but is there anybody else who gets overlooked in playing a key role in this rebuild?

Answer: There are several people who have a hand in the success.

I’d start with strength and conditioning coach Matt Gildersleeve. He came from Buffalo and has been instrumental in the weight room and he’s also very involved with nutrition.

Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki would have to be at the top of the list right now for the Broyles Award. His offense through three games has exceeded expectations.

Their inside recruiting department has done a very good job of mapping out the strategy and navigating the transfer portal.

Leipold made staff changes and there seems to be good chemistry with all of the coaches going in the same direction. The successful start has been a team effort from all ends of the program.

3. Last year’s game between these teams in Durham was tight midway through the third quarter, and then it felt like Kansas faded down the final stages of the game. Looking at game scripts from Kansas’ last two games, that’s an issue that appears to have been reversed. How have the Jayhawks become closers?

Answer: First of all, the defense has played better in the second half of games. That game in Durham last year was a track meet where the defenses went on vacation. Remember, Kansas had 550 yards of offense in that game.

KU has also done good job with the running game in the second half and chew up the clock. Their running game seems to get stronger in the second half.

And overall, it is confidence. They believe they can win.

4. It appears that Duke dodged a bullet last season with QB Jalon Daniels missing that game. What’s been the key in his development?

Answer: It really started at the end of last year. He got in the second half of the Kansas State game and did some nice things. They weren’t moving the ball and the coaching staff went with him to finish the game. Then it exploded the following week when they scored 57 points to upset Texas.

They decided to pull his redshirt so he could start the final two games of the season and the momentum has carried over since then.

Quarterback coach Jim Zebrowski has done a nice job developing him and Kotelnicki has a scheme that matches his strengths.

5. Kansas has started each of the last two games in 14-0 holes – has that been fluky, or is it a concern of Leipold’s that the Jayhawks haven’t started faster?

Answer: On Tuesday Leipold said they need to come out and play more aggressive and confident to start the games. Eventually they catch on and play better. But at some point, that will become an issue as the teams get better.

It happened against West Virginia and Houston, so it isn’t a long-term pattern yet. Right now, I chalk it up to being more fluky, so we will see how they come out against Duke. They will be at home in front of a packed house on Saturday and I expect a better start than the last two games.