Phoenix — The departures of Dominick Puni and Austin Booker, who did not travel to Phoenix after opting out of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, forced some less experienced linemen to fill in for Kansas on Tuesday night.
True freshman and Lawrence native Calvin Clements earned his first career start as the left tackle. Meanwhile, usual right tackle Bryce Cabeldue, who missed the Cincinnati game to close the regular season, had his right leg in a boot and was riding around on a mobility scooter pregame, so KU slid guard Ar’maj Reed-Adams outside and filled in his interior spot with Kobe Baynes, who has seen plenty of playing time all year.
Somewhat less impactfully, given that his position group already rotates extensively, Booker’s absence on the defensive line meant starts for both Hayden Hatcher and Jereme Robinson, as well as playing time as early as the second drive for Dylan Brooks and Patrick Joyner Jr.
Puni, who began his career at Central Missouri, will play in the Senior Bowl next month, while Booker’s exact course of action isn’t clear yet, though he may choose to declare early for April’s NFL Draft.
Both players were all-conference honorees after strong seasons in the trenches.
Zebrowski leads the way
Quarterbacks coach and newly minted co-offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski called plays for the Jayhawks Tuesday night, bridging the gap between departed OC Andy Kotelnicki and recent replacement Jeff Grimes. Zebrowski had previously served as an offensive coordinator under Lance Leipold at Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2007 to 2009.
Leipold said Sunday that Zebrowski had “found his groove again” in preparing for the game.
“You can see him re-energized in ways,” he added. “I think the whole offensive staff has been re-energized in ways that you have a chance to have a little more input. You have a chance for a little more say in looking at some things and what we’re doing.”
Zebrowski threw in a few novel wrinkles early, such as a Quentin Skinner reverse that got a first down in UNLV territory.
Building a pipeline
Tuesday’s game gave the Jayhawks a chance for some face time with their Arizona signees. Co-defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson, the primary recruiter for Arizona, noted on last Wednesday’s “Hawk Talk” that NCAA rules allowed KU to have its future players visit practice.
In addition, Peterson said, the coaching staff from Desert Edge High School, which is home to three of the four signees — Dre Gibson, Jon Jon Kamara and DJ Warner — acquired tickets to the bowl game.
Playing in front of their newfound recruiting base in a postseason game gave the Jayhawks chance to reassert their new brand as a winning team — and to lay the groundwork for the future.
“Those four kids are already recruiting the next couple classes for us,” Peterson said.
Leipold suggested it could be the beginning of a lengthy relationship with the state for KU.
“I think (with) the two state schools here in the state of Arizona joining the Big 12 Conference,” he said Friday, “I think that also the University of Kansas football program will be more familiar to coaches and high school student-athletes as we continue to move forward.”
Unusual field
Tuesday was Leipold’s first time coaching in a baseball stadium, he said on the Jayhawker Podcast, though he “had some practices along the way.” (In fact, KU practiced at a baseball field at Indian School Park on Sunday.)
He noted that playing in a baseball stadium could theoretically affect coaches’ lines of sight from the press box, but hadn’t heard of it being an issue at Chase Field in particular. Leipold also added that it gave his players a rare opportunity to play in a stadium with the roof closed.
Playing on a baseball field was much more familiar for the likes of Trevor Kardell and Devin Neal, who spent time on the diamond at KU. In fact, Neal chose KU in part because he would get the chance to play both sports; he ultimately gave up baseball after one season.
“I turned down a lot of schools that weren’t offering both,” he said Sunday.
Even for the rest of the players, though, the only substantive thing different, as Kenny Logan Jr. put it, was playing on grass rather than artificial turf.
The future under center
Sixth-year senior Jason Bean played his final collegiate game as the Jayhawks’ quarterback as Jalon Daniels missed his 10th game of the season, but Daniels, who should still have two years of eligibility left, is already having discussions with the new OC Grimes about plans for next season.
“The more I talk about football, the more excited he gets,” Grimes said on “Hawk Talk.” “So he’s going to be a fun guy to coach.”
Grimes added that he had spoken to Daniels about his rehab process, as he works his way back from recurring back tightness that derailed his season.
“Although that’s a challenge, it’s something that I think he’s honestly attacking, and we talked about doing that, the same way that you would attack a game plan,” Grimes said.
This and that
The looser December schedule for the KU players provided opportunities for them to get work done off the field. Linebacker Rich Miller, Neal and quarterback Bean collected winter clothes and toys for a holiday donation drive in Lawrence in partnership with the Ballard Center and ended up amassing 1,000 coats and 300 toys to distribute to the community.
The Jayhawks also did outreach in Phoenix on Christmas morning, serving meals to families at the convention center downtown via a partnership with the Salvation Army.
“You know, I feel blessed to do it, because these are things that we’ve always talked about doing,” Robinson said Monday, “in trying to give back more than just to our Kansas community, but anybody who’s out there, anybody who needs a hand, just giving back what we can, and we could today.”
KU cornerback Kwinton Lassiter got to play his final collegiate game in the state where he grew up, and in the metropolitan area where his father Kwamie Lassiter had a memorable NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals.
The Kansas football team poses for a group photo at its outreach event with the Salvation Army and the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Monday, Dec. 25, 2023.
Jonathan Mouer/Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Jonathan Mouer/Guaranteed Rate Bowl