Last week isn’t good enough for this week — BYU not underestimating Kansas

BYU and Utah fans are still debating the holding call and celebrating Will Ferrin’s last-second field goal, but the team has shifted focus to their next challenge in this undefeated season: Kansas.

No. 6 BYU enters the game riding high at 9-0, aiming for a 10-0 start. But after the emotional, hard-fought victory over Utah, how are the players mentally resetting for the Jayhawks?

The Cougars have experience with close victories.

“I feel like it’s the same thing as when we played Oklahoma State, how we came back and won right at the end and celebrated the win,” receiver Darius Lassiter said. “But we had to flush it because next week could be different, and we can’t rely on what we did in the past. We can only hope to focus on what we can accomplish in the future. I feel like everybody knows that what we did last week isn’t good enough to get the job done this week, so everybody is ready to look forward to the next game.”

Though some opponents are tougher or some wins flashier, BYU has made it a point to treat every game, including Kansas, as if it’s the Super Bowl.

“I mean every single week is, in my opinion, a big game,” linebacker Harrison Taggart said. “The Big 12 is an amazing conference, and we’ve seen that. We've seen that last year. We’ve seen that this year. There’s tons of talent in the Big 12. Talking about Kansas, they’re an amazing team. Seeing what they did against Iowa State and then talking about last year, they did give us that Big 12 awakening, which I think gives our team a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.”

Photo by BYU Photo

Last year’s “Big 12 awakening” came as the Cougars traveled to Lawrence and lost 38-27 to Kansas. The Jayhawks put up 221 rushing yards and forced three turnovers.

Kansas is also coming off a win over Iowa State, which for most of the season had been ranked higher than BYU.

“There’s a lot of parity in the conference, so you know anybody can play and can win at any time,” coach Kalani Sitake said. “This is one of those matchups that you have to take seriously. We have to play at our best, because this is another opportunity for us to make another statement and to play another week and to focus on trying to go 1-0. But you get that done by going to work and staying humble and staying hungry for it all. We have tons of respect for Kansas. I have tons of respect for their coaching staff. Lance Leipold’s an amazing man and coach, and I have so much respect for him as a leader. He’ll have his guys ready, and just like they did last week, they can get up on you and beat a ranked team.”

Jalon Daniels leads the Kansas offense at quarterback.

“He’s a heck of a player. Very dynamic quarterback. He’s a fun quarterback to watch, so just playing our assignment football this week will be very important and doing your job,” Taggart said.

And right behind Daniels is a familiar face at offensive coordinator in Jeff Grimes, who was the offensive coordinator for BYU from 2018 to 2020.

Sitake said he thinks the familiarity is “going to help both sides.” Grimes is aware of the BYU scheme and the Cougars are familiar with his background. But Sitake also believes the players on the rosters dictate most of the play-calling.

“I think we kind of pattern it to the talent that we have on the team, and I think Grimes does the same thing, so we’re definitely familiar with each other," Sitake said. "But when it comes down to it, the players are the guys on the field to make the plays."

BYU plays Kansas at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. It will be broadcast on ESPN.