Kansas

Oklahoma, Kansas State can imagine what might have been at QB, but did they have a choice?

Published

3 days ago

September 24, 2024

Oklahoma, Kansas State can imagine what might have been at QB, but did they have a choice?

Late in the second quarter Saturday, Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold committed his third turnover of the night, this one a pass toward the sideline that bounced short and then off the intended receiver before being recovered by Tennessee after a mad scramble.

Arnold, a redshirt freshman and former five-star, appeared for only one more play the rest of the night, a handoff, as the Sooners fell 25-15 at home.

A few hours later, Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson threw a pair of interceptions at BYU. The Wildcats’ final three possessions all resulted in turnovers on downs, and K-State lost 38-9, stumbling early in a season that began with Big 12 title hopes.

A frustrating evening for both programs was made more so by imagining what might have been.

Former K-State starting quarterback Will Howard is enjoying success at Ohio State, and former Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel is leading Oregon, with both teams looking like College Football Playoff contenders.

Ohio State, with quarterback Will Howard, is ranked No. 3 in the AP poll. (Jason Mowry / Getty Images)

Months later, it’s easy to point to their success in new places and the growing pains or failures of their replacements and wonder if more should have been done to keep them. Or if both programs should have kept their more experienced passer and let the chips fall where they may with highly rated prospects who didn’t want to wait long to get their turns.

But in the new era of college football, where no position is more valuable or transfers more often than quarterback, keeping two players of a certain caliber is rarely possible. Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers at Texas is an anomaly.

In reality, the scenarios are far more complex than they appear on the surface.

A season ago, there was a clear understanding at Kansas State: Howard, who led the Wildcats to the 2022 Big 12 title, would be the starter. Johnson, a four-star Kansas native and the No. 9 quarterback in the 2023 class, would be the backup. And Howard would be headed to the NFL after the season.

But as any human can attest, sometimes life’s plans go awry.

Howard struggled early, and coach Chris Klieman turned to Johnson at midseason. He played both quarterbacks, leaning on Johnson’s lightning speed and Howard’s experienced and more refined abilities as a passer.

At the end of an 8-4 regular season, Howard entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer but also entered his name for consideration in the NFL Draft. For six weeks, he was in limbo. He’d visited USC, but Miller Moss’ stellar bowl performance made starting for Lincoln Riley there a near-impossibility.

Then Ohio State’s offense cratered behind Devin Brown in a 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri. Less than a week later, Howard was headed to Columbus, where he won the starting job this offseason.

Gabriel’s two seasons at Oklahoma were similar. Once Arnold committed and enrolled, it was understood that Gabriel, who had started his career at UCF, would be headed to the NFL, too.

Gabriel led the Sooners to a 10-2 record and win over rival Texas, but after the 2023 season, the NFL Draft Advisory Committee examined Gabriel’s film and gave him a seventh round/undrafted grade.

“I was just devastated, Gabriel told The Athletic this offseason.

Oklahoma’s coaches were publicly supportive of Gabriel staying, but the writing was on the wall.

From Gabriel and Johnson’s perspectives, it makes no sense to stick around at a program and compete for a job when there are “guaranteed” starting spots to step into and money to be earned elsewhere.

And for as glorified as it may be to be a “team player,” who wouldn’t want to leave for a program that clearly sees you as their answer at the roster’s most important position?

Staying at their current schools means likely undercutting their own NFL value, too. A quarterback can’t cement his status as an NFL Draft pick if he’s stuck on the bench behind an underclassman. And some collectives can only spend so much on one position.

“Maybe we could pay a guy $800,000 or whatever to stay and do nothing,” said a person briefed on Kansas State’s roster decision-making, granted anonymity for their candor. “But if you have that money, are you going to use it on a backup? Or are you going to spend it on an impact receiver? Or a big-time edge rusher or an offensive tackle?”

Kansas State and Oklahoma lost offensive coordinators, too. Oklahoma’s Jeff Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach. K-State’s Collin Klein went to Texas A&M.

At Ohio State, Howard is 11th nationally in passer rating. Johnson is 78th (he also rushed for 110 yards in a win over Arizona). Gabriel, who has started more than 50 college games, is ninth nationally in passer rating. Arnold is 100th. Oklahoma coach Brent Venables announced Monday he’s turning to a true freshman in Michael Hawkins Jr.

For coaches like Klieman and Venables, sticking with a more experienced quarterback might sound good in the short term, but blue-chip quarterback recruits are hard to sign everywhere. If a program gets one, it’s necessary to at least attempt to build around them, just like an NFL team does after drafting a first-round quarterback.

Sticking with an older player who they mostly know — the good and the bad — runs the risk of a program never finding out the potential of a more promising young player in the era of perpetual free agency.

And coaches would be committing to one year of what’s known rather than rolling the dice on improving the program over the next two to three years and leveraging that success into a better roster through high school recruiting or the transfer portal.

There is often fan angst about getting to see the hyped young prospect as well, along with worry that he will transfer. If Johnson hadn’t been given a clear path to the field at the school he chose out of high school, who’s to say he wouldn’t have looked for one under Klein or elsewhere?

If you can have only one, the clear choice is potential and development within the program, rather than attempting to mine the portal for a new transfer quarterback every season. How’s that working out for Notre Dame?

Roster management in college football is more complicated, with more stakeholders and variables, than ever. K-State and Oklahoma are just the latest examples of teams trying to balance awkward offseason decisions at quarterback. More choices like they made are coming.

It’s easy to pine for what they once had and easy to say they made a mistake.

Reality is simply more complex.

(Top photo of Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold getting tackled by Tennessee defensive lineman Tyre West: David Stacy / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Kansas Football Gears Up for TCU: What You Need to Know

Published

7 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Press Room

Kansas Football Gears Up for TCU: What You Need to Know

As the Kansas Jayhawks prepare to host the TCU Horned Frogs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium this Saturday, both teams are seeking their first Big 12 victory of the season.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the matchup.

Oct 8, 2022; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks wide receiver Luke Grimm (11) catches a pass against TCU Horned Frogs safety Abraham Camara (14) during the second half at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

1.) Recent Performance and Team Dynamics

Kansas enters the game with a record of 1-3 (0-1 in the Big 12) after a heart-wrenching 32-28 loss to West Virginia, where they demonstrated a strong running attack, racking up 247 yards. Senior running back Devin Neal and redshirt junior Daniel Hishaw Jr. played key roles in the offense.

TCU, on the other hand, sits at 2-2 (0-1 in the Big 12) following a significant 66-42 defeat to SMU, despite a huge performance from sophomore quarterback Josh Hoover, who threw for 396 yards and three touchdowns.

This contest marks the first meeting between the two teams since October 2022, when TCU narrowly defeated Kansas.

2.) Defensive Strategies and Challenges

Defensively, both squads have faced challenges recently. Kansas’ defensive coordinator, Brian Borland, has highlighted the talent of TCU’s offense, particularly their effective wide receivers.

Meanwhile, TCU’s defense has struggled against the run, allowing over 260 rushing yards in their last two games.

Kansas offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes has indicated that they will look to exploit this weakness, emphasizing a strategy focused on a strong ground game to gain the upper hand against TCU’s defense.

3.) Rivalry and Historical Context

This game will mark the 40th encounter between the Jayhawks and Horned Frogs, with TCU leading the series 26-9-4.

The Horned Frogs have dominated recent matchups, winning the last four meetings, with Kansas’ last victory against TCU occurring on October 27, 2018.

Additionally, this matchup holds historical significance as it will be the Jayhawks’ first game at Arrowhead Stadium since 2011.

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LAFC celebrates finally snapping its finals skid, winning the U.S. Open Cup

Published

18 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Press Room

LAFC celebrates finally snapping its finals skid, winning the U.S. Open Cup

It was a scene that felt both familiar and long overdue for LAFC.

Since entering Major League Soccer seven years ago, the team has raised an MLS Cup and two Supporters’ Shields before its fans at BMO Stadium. Only the Columbus Crew has won more trophies during that span.

Yet when a massive crimson victory platform was wheeled onto the stadium floor Wednesday night, minutes after LAFC beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1 in extra time to win its first U.S. Open Cup championship, the mood was more relief than joy.

Even the fireworks felt compulsory rather than celebratory.

Wednesday’s game was the team’s fifth final in the past two seasons; according to MLS, only three other teams in league history have played for hardware that often in so short a span.

LAFC is the only one of those team to have lost four in a row. It couldn’t afford another loss.

“It means a lot to win tonight,” said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was embraced by a group at teammates at the final whistle.

“This trophy,” he added “is really important.”

“Tonight was a bit special” agreed Olivier Giroud, who won a World Cup alongside Lloris for France and now has won a U.S. Open with him at LAFC.

Special because it proved, in case anyone had forgotten, that LAFC can win a final. In fact, the team is just the fourth club in MLS history to win a Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup in a three-year span — and the first to do so since the Seattle Sounders in 2014-16.

So even with four finals loses in a row coming into Wednesday, coach Steve Cherundolo said the team had no demons to exorcise, a view he repeated after joining his players in parading their latest trophy around the field.

“I don’t know why you don’t believe me,” he said. “You have a winner and a loser in every final. And before every final, it’s kind of like a coin toss.

“We’re happy, obviously, to win. And I think we were due.”

The win didn’t come easily, however.

After a cautious, physical and scoreless first half, Giroud’s first goal since joining LAFC this summer gave the team a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute. But Erik Thommy, whose turnover at midfield led to Giroud’s score, matched that with a goal of his own seven minutes later.

That sent the game to extra time, where the most star-studded team in MLS was rescued by goals from substitutes Omar Campos and Kei Kamara.

Campos’ score 12 minutes into the first extra period was also his first with the team and came after the Mexican defender ran onto a Cristian Olivera pass as he entered the penalty area. He then dribbled across the top of the box to create space before drilling a right-footed shot inside the far post.

Kamara, who came off the bench at the start of extra time, then put the game away with a header four minutes into the second extra-time period.

“I am ecstatic,” Cherundolo said “for the players.”

“I thought it would be more relief,” he added when asked about his emotions. “But it really is just joy.”

Probably a little bit of fatigue as well since the game was LAFC’s 94th game in all competition since the start of last season. No MLS team has ever come close to that.

And that schedule and LAFC’s recent results in finals are likely related. Because if playing in so many competitions (MLS, CONCACAF Champions League, Campeones Cup, Leagues Cup, U.S. Open Cup) during the past two years has increased the team’s chances of playing for titles, it’s also forced it to play a game every five days during the last two seasons.

Now, with all those other tournaments out the way, LAFC (14-8-7 in MLS play) has nothing left to focus on but its final five regular-season games and the start of the MLS playoffs.

“We know we can improve,” Giroud said of a grind that resumes Saturday in Cincinnati. “This Cup will bring us confidence for the rest of the season because we don’t want to stop there. We have a strong end of the season, qualify for the playoffs and go as far as we can in the playoffs.

“We are hungry. We know our potential. Our qualities.”

For Sporting Kansas City, meanwhile, the fact it was playing for hardware at the end of what will likely be its worst season since 1999 — when it played in a different state under a different name — is part of the magic of the U.S. Open Cup.

SKC (8-16-7) is one of just two teams that have already been eliminated from playoff contention with three weeks to play. Yet Wednesday it was playing for a fifth U.S. Open Cup title, which would have made it the most successful MLS team in tournament history. But after playing LAFC even for more than 100 minutes, its players would up parading across the makeshift crimson stage to collect consolation medals while LAFC carried off the Cup.

“Details count in soccer,” Thommy said. “It’s the result we have.”

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