No Other Option: Texas facing unique Kansas offense in Lawrence

One of the significant reasons behind the Kansas Jayhawks’ resurgence during the 2022 season is their offense. KU head coach Lance Leipold’s system falls under the spread option umbrella, but according to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, there’s a lot more to it than that.

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“Very unique style of offense, a lot of triple option components to what they do,” Sarkisian said Monday. “Everyone talks about playing the Army’s, the Navy’s, the Air Force’s of the world and how difficult they are to defend. Well, Kansas has a lot of those same elements. They just do it from little bit more of a spread-type set with the quarterback in the pistol, and things of that nature.”

“There’s still those elements. They still force you to play disciplined football. You’ve got to play the dive. You’ve got to play the quarterback. You’ve got to play the pitch, then they have play-action passes off of it.”

No matter which quarterback takes the majority of the snaps on Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, whether it’s Jalon Daniels or Jason Bean, running the ball has been the foundation of success for the 6-4 Jayhawks this year. The Jayhawks rank No. 18 nationally in rushing offense, tallying 210.5 yards per game.

In contests with 35 or more rushing attempts, KU is 4-2. The only losses were back-to-back one-score defeats at the hands of the No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs and the Oklahoma Sooners. Running back Devin Neal is responsible for most of the carries. He has 142 on the year for 951 yards and seven touchdowns.

Though there are more passing aspects to Kansas’ offense compared to those of the service academies, the keys to defending the option run schemes are similar. Just ask Ovie Oghoufo, who had to prepare for Navy every year while a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

“Eyes, make sure your eyes are in the right spot, make sure you’re in the right fit, and just knowing where your other players are fitting it,” Oghoufo said Monday.

Aside from the week of prep for Kansas last season, most players on the Longhorn roster have not faced the option at the college level. Most have to go back to their high school days to remember the last time they played true assignment football.

While at Pflugerville Connally, Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron played Liberty Hill, the option team in the state of Texas.

“Just basically try to keep your eyes on your side of the ball,” Barron said Monday. “Don’t try to look on the other side of the ball, because you’re going to get confused.”

Others had experience as well. Defensive end Barryn Sorrell said he played against option teams during his prep days in New Orleans. Cornerback Ryan Watts recalled a game against Carrollton Creekview. Nose tackle Keondre Coburn‘s experience versus teams that run, run, and run some more was versus Montgomery his sophomore year at Westfield.

Players at all three levels of the defense echoed what the emphasis is when facing a team that tries to make defenders guess wrong all the time.

“It’s assignment football,” Sorrell said. “It comes down to everybody doing their job.”

The word “job” in every answer from Texas players was singular, not plural. They noted each player had an assignment, not assignments. Trusting teammates would be in the right spot was one of the main emphasis from Longhorn defenders on Monday.

The consequences for not taking care of individual assignments?

“That’s what the option can do to you, make you think you can make a play,” Coburn said. “Next thing you know, whoop! Touchdown.”

Despite the strong ground game, the Jayhawks have a real passing attack. KU doesn’t rank highly in total passing offense, but they are No. 4 in the country in team passing efficiency. Daniels is 78-for-117 for 1072 yards with 11 touchdowns to one interception. Bean is 85-for-131 for 1256 yards with 14 touchdowns over four interceptions.

“It gives them more options to get the ball out,” Barron said of the Jayhawk passing game. “They can either run it or throw it and do like slip screens to the tight ends and line screens.”

Texas has played strong defense all season, especially of late. Pete Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball is No. 17 in defensive S&P and and No. 13 in defensive FEI.

The type of performance offered in Big 12 play versus Iowa State, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and TCU will be the type needed to stifle a unique Jayhawk offense. The players have confidence they’ll be able to offer a repeat showing.

“At the end of the day, PK will come up with a great plan and we’ll execute,” Barron said.