LAWRENCE — The Kansas secondary didn’t have its best game last week against TCU. The Horned Frogs threw for 356 yards and had seven plays that went for 20 yards or more.
But KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland believes his defensive backs and the Jayhawks will bounce back Saturday at Arizona State.
“We don’t make every play, but we make our share of plays too,” Borland said, as defensive backs O.J. Burroughs and Melo Dotson each had interceptions against TCU. “So it’s give and take and we always work on consistency. And when we’re locked in to that stuff we’re a pretty solid crew back there.
“There were some plays that weren’t necessarily good plays for us, but there were a ton of plays that were good for us. So we’re that close to putting it all together and hopefully it will come this week. I’m really excited about our guys. There’s nobody jumping off the ship here. And I think we’re a pretty motivated group. And I’m confident we’re going to play our best on Saturday.”
KU (1-4, 0-2) enters on a four-game losing streak, and ASU (3-1) is coming off a bye, though the Sun Devils lost 30-22 two weeks ago at Texas Tech. The Jayhawks again struggled closing out both halves on both sides of the ball and are tied for last place in the Big 12 standings.
Burroughs, however, said the team is only focused on this week’s opponent and nothing more.
“I think it’s a must-win because it’s the next game,” Burroughs said. “It’s the next game on the schedule. Take it one game at a time.”
Offensively the Sun Devils are led by quarterback Sam Leavitt and running back Cameron Skattebo. Leavitt, who has thrown just three touchdowns and two interceptions, has rushed for four touchdowns while Skattebo is a bruising runner averaging 5 yards per carry (433 yards, 5 TDs).
“Their running back is really a good player,” Borland said. “He’s so hard to tackle. He really is a load to deliver. He runs through, around guys, bounces off. He’s a really good player, and they’re smart enough to get him the ball. And he’s a good outlet for the quarterback in some passing game stuff also. We got our work cut out to limit them in the run game and get the ball back for our offense.”
The KU defense has had some injuries all season and could again be playing without linebacker Cornell Wheeler. In his absence against TCU, Taiwan Berryhill started at MIKE linebacker and made seven tackles while handling the defensive calls.
“I’m really proud of him,” Borland said. “He really stepped it up and put a lot on his shoulders, and I thought he responded great. Everyone experiences that stuff (injuries). For us it’s always the next man up.
“I can’t spend time worrying about it. We’ve got to have some contingency plans, and we do use them. And sometimes you use contingency plans more than others. But I feel like our guys are really responding to anything that we’re saying, anything that we’re requiring of them. They’re responding good to the situation, and I feel like we’re OK. Our back’s to the wall a little bit, but that’s cool. We love a challenge, and I think our guys will respond really well.”
