Lance Leipold breaks down Kansas' continued growth in bowl prep

The Kansas Jayhawks are headed to a bowl game for the second time in head coach Lance Leipold‘s three-year tenure with the program. Ahead of that bowl, Leipold broke down how Kansas is continuing to grow while prepping for the game.

Leipold broke down the team’s practice schedule and emphasized that there are a lot of emotions that come with a bowl game.

“I thought today we moved around well,” Lance Leipold said. “Now we’re gonna start hitting it here with the practices next two days. We’ll take Monday off and then we’ll hit it three more. So, now it’s kind of they worked through the finals.”

Kansas will be playing UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on December 26th. The opening line, according to FanDuel, listed Kansas as a 12.5-point favorite.

Both of these teams are having excellent seasons in their respective program’s histories. UNLV is in the middle of its first winning season in a decade, while Kansas is going to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since the 2007 and 2008 seasons

“Excited to see the next two days. I think they’re getting back in that mode of where are we gonna get ready to go and a lot of different things. Guys are getting that chance to get some work. You’ve got some seniors that are really approaching their last week of college football. All those different things,” Leipold said.

“So, it’s exciting and emotional and all that said, ready to get out to Phoenix.”

Lance Leipold gives his first impressions of UNLV matchup

Ahead of the bowl against UNLV, Lance Leipold shared his first impression of the Rebels.

“Yeah, I’ve gone through most of their games just as I’ve been traveling. I’ve been trying just to get through the course of some of their games. I know the staff started on some. We’ve got everybody back in here Thursday after some travel. So, preliminary stuff [has been] put together I’ve watched. Again, a great year by them. One of the best years in, I don’t know, what did they say? 30 years or so. They do a great job on offense. Schematically, there’s some things that, principles that they use option game like we do. They’ve got a stable of backs that can make people miss. They’ve got an excellent receiver, a very good tight end that they use. Those have been the two main guys in the pass game which I could really see,” Leipold said.

“Defensively, a unique part of this was Coach [Barry] Odom was at Arkansas last year. Right around this time is when he got the UNLV job. So you kind of look back at those Arkansas games from the regular season a year ago in our bowl prep and you can see some things that again that carry over to what they’re doing this year. So, they beat an SEC [Vanderbilt]. They played Michigan early this year. Once they settled in with their young quarterback who had an outstanding year. They’re a dangerous team and we’ve got to be ready.”