KU offense sees mirror image in OU defense

By Henry Greenstein     Oct 25, 2023

article image Nick Krug
Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki coach talks with media members on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at the Anderson Family Football Complex.

The Kansas offense under Andy Kotelnicki may not yet have met its match on the field, but it certainly has on paper.

Oklahoma’s defense — engineered by defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Ted Roof and overseen by head coach Brent Venables — is every bit as diverse, and can throw as many different looks at opponents, as does KU’s motion-heavy, pro-style, spread-influenced offense.

“The best way I would say it is that they’re defensively a version of us offensively,” Kotelnicki said Wednesday. “So you have two really multiple groups going against each other, which will be fun.”

OU, which is unbeaten and ranks No. 6 in the nation, has taken an immense step forward this season after enduring a 6-7 campaign in 2022 — that record, a high-water mark for KU, was the worst for the Sooners this century. Venables’ defense in particular, with all its different alignments, has improved by leaps and bounds, with the Sooners’ 13.9-point improvement from last season in scoring defense per game (from 30 to 16.1) ranking third among Power Five teams. OU has also cut down its yards allowed per game by 100 and is second in the country in turnover margin with a plus-10.

In short, whatever the Sooners are doing, it’s working.

“You can see their commitment to who they want to be schematically and their style of football,” Kotelnicki said. “You can see that that’s been preached over a whole offseason. And again as a coach and a teacher I really respect that, because as diverse and multiple as they are, you can still see what they’re coaching and what they want to do schematically.”

In terms of personnel, it starts with players like weak-side linebacker Danny Stutsman, second in the Big 12 Conference with 10 tackles per game, and his running mate Jaren Kanak, a former top prospect in Kansas who hails from Hays. Four players have multiple interceptions, led by top corner Gentry Williams. Preseason all-conference defensive end Ethan Downs (4.5 sacks) spearheads an improving defensive line.

“I think it’s the simple, little things, the basics, the habits that we’re developing every day both in the meeting rooms and on the practice field,” Venables said Tuesday of that position’s growth. “There’s a cumulative effect to it, and I think we’re seeing a growth and a maturation of that group.”

article imageAP Photo/Alonzo Adams

Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman (28) carries ahead of Tulsa offensive lineman Darrell Simpson (79) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Tulsa, Okla.

article imageAP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter

Oklahoma defensive lineman Ethan Downs gestures to the crowd during an NCAA college football game against Texas at the Cotton Bowl, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Dallas. Oklahoma won 34-30.

The schematic variability isn’t immediately apparent looking at OU’s depth chart, which shows a fairly typical alignment not unlike that of KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland: four defensive linemen, two traditional linebackers, a hybrid/linebacker safety (the cheetah for Roof and Venables, the Hawk for Borland), two corners and two safeties.

But the Jayhawks are ready to see those players move around the field in all sorts of strange ways.

“They’re very, I wouldn’t say random, but they throw a lot of different things at you so it’s kind of hard to pinpoint,” right tackle Bryce Cabeldue said Wednesday. “But (it’s) just being able to know that something crazy is going to happen out there in the front lines and just being able to go out there and prepare for that.”

Cabeldue already saw a hint of variability last year that was a “little bit weird,” albeit longer-term, when the Sooners were low on linebackers and switched from three down linemen to four.

He said the KU offensive linemen just need to expect that “something is going to happen.” And even beyond having played OU in previous years — games in which KU came pretty close — the Jayhawks have an added degree of familiarity with former KU defensive tackle Da’Jon Terry, who is now on the other side as a co-starter at nose tackle.

“These guys are good,” Cabeldue said. “It just helps us being more prepared.”

Wide receiver Quentin Skinner said that facing such a defense requires being confident in one’s own skill set while also being ready to take on versatile roles.

“That’s when you got to really lock in with film and knowing your personnel, too, and knowing down and distance, knowing your abilities within that field and what you’re capable of,” he said.

It’ll help KU to cultivate a healthy mix between run and pass, after stellar performances in only the former against UCF and only the latter at Oklahoma State.

“We have balance,” Kotelnicki said. “We have the ability to exploit teams when they’re giving us opportunity.”

One element KU isn’t quite as concerned about is potential sign-stealing, which has become a hot-button topic in college sports with an ongoing scandal unfolding at Michigan. Venables developed a reputation for picking up opposing teams’ signals (albeit without the byzantine methods, counter to NCAA rules, that Michigan is alleged to have pursued) while a defensive coordinator at Clemson.

“We mask that stuff up pretty good,” Kotelnicki said, adding that it helps that the Jayhawks huddle a lot. “… You always prepare as though that’s what’s happening from your opponent, as though they’re trying to steal signals and get a bead on what you’re doing.”

article imageAP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables talks on the sidelines with Oklahoma defensive back Kendel Dolby (15) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas at the Cotton Bowl, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Dallas.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.