At 1 o’clock on the nose, under sunny skies and with a couple thousand fans filling the west stands at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, the video board flashed a short highlight clip of KU’s upset win over Texas last season.

As the game-winning, 2-point conversion pass from Jalon Daniels to Jared Casey played a few times through, important words from now-second-year KU coach Lance Leipold echoed throughout the stadium.

The plan for the program in the years to come, Leipold said, is to build success that can be sustained.

While it remains to be seen what the next step in that process looks like, Saturday provided a small glimpse of where this program is at after the first series of spring practices under Leipold.

“It was fun,” senior linebacker Rich Miller said after Saturday’s action. “It was way more than I expected. We put on a show for everybody and the best part is just coming out and showing everybody what we’ve been doing and what we’ve got.”

Unlike in the past, Saturday afternoon did not feature a true spring game with scoring plays, statistics and a winner and loser.

Leipold said that has been his preferred method of wrapping up spring practices in the past, but it took on even greater importance at Kansas.

Remember, last year, it was interim head coach Emmett Jones who led the Jayhawks through spring ball, finishing up just days before Leipold was hired.

Every day for Leipold and his players since then has been about catching up, and Saturday was no different.

“We need every practice that we can (get) to keep developing,” Leipold said Saturday. “Yes, you want to put on a good show and get everybody excited about the future, but then you’re holding your breath just keeping guys healthy at the end of 15 practices. Then you’re coaching and playing cautiously. We wanted to take the attitude from the get-go that we were going to maximize today in some fashion and that’s why we practiced the way we did. I’m very pleased with what we were able to get accomplished.”

The Jayhawks opened with some situational stuff, with offense against defense and then shifted to more drill work before capping the day off with some more 11-on-11 action.

No stats were kept. The scoreboard read 0-0 throughout the game. And drives ended as often after big plays as they did after bad ones.

But just because they did not host a traditional spring game did not mean that guys did not flash.

Wide receiver Lawrence Arnold had a big day, hauling in touchdown passes from multiple quarterbacks, including KU basketball walk-on Chris Teahan. Senior linebacker Gavin Potter impressed Leipold, as did junior linebacker Taiwan Berryhill and junior defensive end, Lonnie Phelps, a transfer from Miami (Ohio), who Leipold said showed “he’s going to be able to help this football team.”

Sophomore safety OJ Burroughs, who put on much-needed weight in the offseason, also flashed his big-play ability, picking off a pass from Jordan Preston and returning it for a touchdown toward the end of Saturday’s live action.

Quarterbacks Jalon Daniels and Jason Bean each showcased their specific skill set that they believe can help this team, with Daniels, who missed time this spring because of injury, going first and looking sharp.

“More command and confidence in what we’re doing and decision making,” Leipold said when asked what he thought of the play of his top two QBs.

Daniels got rid of the ball quickly and hit his receivers on target. Bean used his legs to stand out, breaking a long touchdown run around the right side early in the day.

“We already knew from Day 1 that Bean has an electric amount of speed,” Daniels said with a smile. “So he just went out there and showed it today. It doesn’t really matter where he’s at, where we’re at, we’re just going to go out there and try to make a play.”

Although no one kept score, Leipold said Saturday’s setting was great for the Jayhawks because it allowed them — veterans and newcomers alike — to feel that game-day atmosphere.

“We haven’t had long scrimmages all (spring),” Leipold said. “We kind of broke it up a little bit differently. I think it’s always good to kind of test them in front of a crowd because it’s a different stimulus. How do you handle different things? Where’s your focus, your concentration? Do you trust your training? And I think we did well in that today.”

Miller said Saturday’s performance, by all of his teammates, was merely an indication of how hard they’ve worked throughout the spring.

Although Miller was with the program last year, he reported to campus after spring practice was over. But he did go through spring drills under Leipold at Buffalo. This, however, was different than anything he experienced there.

“I would say the practices were probably a little bit more intense because everybody came out with a purpose every single practice,” Miller said, comparing spring football at KU to what he remembered at Buffalo. “We knew we needed to get better and we took that personally every single day. Way more intense, way faster, we’re just competing every day.”

A handful of Jayhawks did not participate on Saturday. Senior safety Kenny Logan sat out to rest a nagging injury. Fellow-safety Edwin White-Schultz missed the game with an illness. And sophomore safety Jaysom Gilliom sat out after suffering an injury during an early scrimmage that Leipold said would keep him out “for a while.”

But that fact, on a day with nothing on the line, gave the KU coaching staff more time to evaluate other, younger players. And, for the most part, Leipold said they liked what they saw.

“We have enough evaluation on Kenny Logan in live situations,” Leipold said. “We have to find others that are going to help at that position.”

The Jayhawks feel they have found that in many spots.

“I think we’re going to have a lot more depth and (be) able to rotate players that are going to help us with special teams but also with depth for 60 minutes of football,” Leipold said.

It all comes back to those words on that pregame video, with Leipold talking about sustaining success. While Saturday was fun for the program and the fans, Leipold said the end of spring practice did not mean the end of the grind.

“I never want to be comfortable, OK? I don’t like it,” he said. “So I’m always trying to (find out) where do we have to be better? And what can we tweak in what we’re doing; how do we get there? But I’ll never be comfortable as long as I’m the head coach here.”