As Kansas football comes off its bye week, players say there’s a renewed spirit and optimism despite a 1-5 start to the season and 0-3 record in Big 12 games.
With five straight losses, the Jayhawks are on the verge of being eliminated from bowl contention.
Senior wide receiver Luke Grimm has seen firsthand how bad KU football has been in the past. The Jayhawks went 0-9 in his freshman season, 2020.
For a decade-long stretch, the Jayhawks failed to win more than three games in a season. Grimm saw those woes from nearby, playing his high school ball at Ray-Pec in Missouri.
Grimm has been one of the few bright spots of this year’s team, shining on an offense that’s struggled to capture last year’s magic. He’s caught 33 passes for 354 receiving yards with four touchdowns this season. He had 33 catches … all of last season.
Grimm has also found a way to consistently get open for quarterback Jalon Daniels throughout his up-and-down season. As one of KU’s captains, Grimm takes pride in keeping his teammates’ spirits high.
He provided a glimpse into the psyche of the Jayhawks as they search for answers on the scoreboard.
“From a locker room standpoint, everyone is more pissed off than anything, just ready to get this going,” Grimm said. “If we could have played last week, I would have imagined everybody on this team would have wanted to. That’s the biggest thing — we’re just pissed off that we put ourself in this position. And we’ve shown this isn’t who we believe we are, but this is what we’re showing we are.”
Has the losing caused any locker room dissent?
“I’ve been here for five years, and I can say that this team, I’ve never seen any issues in the locker room, any issues with like people or groups being divided or anything like that,” he said. “Just because we lost a couple of games doesn’t mean everybody hates each other and is turning on each other.”
Daniels added: “I see us keeping our head up. These aren’t losses that this program has been used to in the past. I mean, we’re losing these games by very short margins. If we look in the past, those little plays make a difference in the game, (and) we were able to make those plays. We, quite frankly, haven’t been able to make those plays this year and it’s shown up in the win-loss column.”
The Jayhawks, as 5 1/2-point favorites , will look to end their losing streak against Houston on Saturday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Not only is a win crucial for any hopes of bowl contention — the Jayhawks face a rigorous path in the weeks following the Houston contest. Kansas will play three straight games against ranked opponents: Kansas State, Iowa State and BYU, the latter two teams being undefeated in conference play .
Coach Lance Leipold, however, is sticking with a similar message: He wants to take things one game at a time.
“We are 0-0 again,” players said of Leipold’s bye-week message, “and this is a whole new season.”
For the Jayhawks, a win against Houston is a chance to begin a dramatic turnaround. A loss? Well, KU might not be favored in any game the rest of the way. And the locker room could fall into disarray.
That’s not lost on Grimm.
“For the guys who are starting to feel down or have doubt, it’ll help put confidence back in them,” Grimm said of what a win could mean. “It just helps the guys that are trying to lead and trying to keep everybody confident, because when you get 5-10 more guys (feeling good), then 20 more, 30 more join.”
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