Kansas coach Lance Leipold is very open about his tendency to focus on the negatives.
For example, in the aftermath of his team’s upset victory over No. 6 Oklahoma, when he learned cornerback Kwinton Lassiter hadn’t been credited with an interception on his out-of-bounds snag of Dillon Gabriel’s Hail Mary, Leipold said, “Thank goodness.”
As he watched the play, he explained, “I’m thinking, why aren’t we knocking it down like I was yelling (at) them to knock it down, OK? That’s No. 1. We’ll talk about that Monday.”
But even he had to acknowledge the sheer gravity of Saturday’s win. He said it was as good as any he’s had at Kansas.
“I usually don’t do that, but I’m not in the mood right now to downplay this win,” he said, “for a lot of reasons.”
There are plenty of retrospective ways in which this win constitutes a milestone. The first win over a top-10 team since the 2008 Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech. The first such win at home since 1984 — also against Oklahoma. In fact, KU hadn’t even beaten OU since 1997 in 18 tries, and now the Sooners are switching conferences next season: “There’s probably going to be a long, long time before OU plays KU again. To get that last one, especially for me, losing to them four times and getting that last one, it does feel pretty sweet,” tight end Mason Fairchild said.
The win will also have some powerful consequences in the present. The Jayhawks are bowl-eligible in consecutive years for the second time ever; both last season and this season, they beat a ranked team to reach six wins. And this year they didn’t have to endure a three-game losing streak with five wins already in the bag to get there.
“We’ve sat here for a long time just trying to keep it even, do those things, not talk about it, but you know what, it’s probably time for me to start talking about how proud I am about how far this program’s come,” Leipold said. “It really has, in a short time.”
The greatest repercussions of all, though, are the ones that could affect the Jayhawks’ far future. The same day they were on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show for what its host Rob Stone called “a five-hour national commercial, essentially free of charge,” getting national exposure, they also hosted 70 high school recruits, Leipold acknowledged postgame.
“There’s recruits there that are equally as excited as we are,” he said. “And it was awesome to see. Because they see Kansas football’s changing. And then you couple (that) with what’s coming on the horizon, there’s so many great things. Rain or no rain, it’s a beautiful atmosphere, and there’s so much to it that we can build upon.”
The upset win demonstrates to recruits that “they could be a part of a great legacy for sure,” said running back Devin Neal, a Lawrence native and the (somewhat reluctant) scorer of the game-winning touchdown.
“It just shows them that we’re the real deal,” Neal said. “We’re a team that’s going to fight to the end, and we can beat top-tier teams, and that’s what we’ve shown.”
Leipold added that, as part of what he called a “monumental shift in how this program’s being perceived,” after getting six requests for tickets from high school coaches for a game his first season he got 75 for Saturday’s matchup.
For quarterback Jason Bean, who could have chosen to abandon the KU program entirely after last season, the program’s progress was eminently apparent even off the field.
“Me and (strength coach Matt Gildersleeve) talked about it before the game, just how two short years ago we were in here in an empty stadium,” Bean said. “We were begging people to come to our games. And now we’re selling out multiple times in a season. Just shows how far this program has come and how much the fans believe in us.”
Bean emphasized, though, that the victory is just one step along a winding path.
“We’re still fighting our way to the top and there’s still a long way for us to go,” he said. “But we’re on the right track, and as long as we continue to follow what Coach Leipold says I think we’ll be just fine.”
Members of the Fox Big Noon Kickoff show go live before the game against Oklahoma Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lawrence.
Fans jump into Potter Lake with the goal post after defeating Oklahoma Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lawrence.
Fans throw parts of a goal post into Potter Lake after defeating Oklahoma Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lawrence.
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World