LAWRENCE — When Kansas senior tight end Jared Casey watches film, he sees his teammates are giving their all. But there’s something that standouts amid the turnovers, penalties and miscues.
“I feel like we’re putting a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Casey said Wednesday. “And we got to get back to being who we are and having fun. We’re not where want to be obviously, and where we think we can be. We just got to keep working harder to figure that out.”
The Jayhawks hope to have found some answers this week in practice as they prepared for their Big 12 opener against TCU on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium. KU (1-3) enters having lost three in a row, while TCU (2-2) has lost two in a row.
The Jayhawks, however, have had a lead in the fourth quarter in their three losses but have been unable to come away with a victory. A combination of turnovers, penalties and late touchdowns given up have taken a little bit of the starch out of a season that began with such high hopes.
While a bowl game and even a Big 12 title are still attainable, those can only come if the Jayhawks take it one game at a time and one play at a time. And despite the slow start, Casey said team morale is still pretty good all things considered.
“We just know that we can play a lot better,” Casey said. “We’re 1-3 and that’s not who we are and we’re looking forward to getting a win this Saturday.”
Offensively, the Jayhawks have excelled running the football. They are averaging 238 yards per game on the ground thanks to Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw.
Neal has carried 72 times for 443 yards (6.2 avg.) and three touchdowns this season while Hishaw has added 25 carries for 177 yards (7.1 avg.) and two scores.
And while Casey, who has four catches for 39 yards this season, would surely like to see more throws to the tight ends, he understands that their opportunities will come. They just have to ready when they do.
“We’ve been run heavy these past few weeks, and we’ve been running the ball really well,” Casey said. “So we know that our opportunity will be there and we just got to keep working to get open.”
Casey, who grew up north of Hays in in Plainville, is excited to play in Arrowhead Stadium. The Jayhawks practiced at the facility during fall camp but now he’ll get to play at the home of the Chiefs.
“I’m a Chiefs fan so I’ve been looking forward to playing at Arrowhead,” Casey said. “I know guys are excited just like I am to play in an NFL stadium.”
