No, Kansas’ defense wasn’t perfect last Friday. No defense that allows 38 points is, but there is a consensus that if you had to blame one side of the ball in the Jayhawks’ 38-21 Border Showdown loss, it would be the offense. After all, KU notched two offensive touchdowns while going 3/15 on third downs and reeling in just 254 yards of total offense.
That being said, there is no time like the present to get things in order, even if that comes inside Wembley Stadium against Big 12 opposition.
While the opening paragraph gave a general recap of how paltry Kansas’ offense was, just know there is no misleading stat. The Jayhawks’ offensive line struggled to open up running avenues for Dylan Edwards and Yasin Willis. The pair finished with 56 yards across 14 carries.
When asked to pass, redshirt sophomore quarterback Isaiah Marshall found himself over/underthrowing routes you would expect most power-conference quarterbacks to make, finishing with 168 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Andy Kotelnicki was excited to see how the team would act following the desolate loss
After landing in London, the Kansas offensive coordinator took some time with the media to discuss bouncing back from last Friday’s loss.
“Obviously, bad football is always going to get you beat, so turning the ball over, doing those kinds of things, we can't do that. I was very excited; I think I said to the players, as a matter of fact, the minute the game was over, I said, ‘I'm excited to see how we will respond.’ Because I think we all know it's easy to respond when things are going well, but what will happen when there's adversity in your life, right?”
Kansas’ loss to the Tigers marked the second straight season where the two squared off, with both ending in a KU loss. In the 2025 edition, the Jayhawks got their serve broken midway through the fourth quarter, turning a 21-6 lead into a 42-31 loss. Last week marked Kotelnicki’s first-ever Border Showdown, as the two hadn’t played since 2011, and Kotelnicki was at Penn State for last year’s thriller.
“...And they responded really, really well. So I'm super, super pleased about that. We got to take care of the football from last game. We got to be explosive. We can't miss opportunities to be explosive. Gotta run the ball better, gotta get more physical up front. I mean, I think our guys have responded right way all week.”
What does a well-oiled KU offense look like?
No one is asking for Marshall to be slinging the rock for 300 yards per game. The Jayhawks did a good job of recruiting talent around him to make the plays. The acquisitions of Willis, Edwards and Nik McMillan come to mind as potential X-factors. A stellar Kotelnicki offense revolves around getting the team’s best players into open space thanks to misdirections, odd offensive sets, and multiple motions pre-snap to get the defense confused, something fans will hope to see against the Sun Devils.
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