Kansas safety Bryce Torneden pulls in a catch during practice on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 at the practice fields west of Hoglund Ballpark.

The faces of the Kansas football team’s defense, no doubt, are junior defensive linemen Dorance Armstrong Jr. and Daniel Wise. But the starting lineup when the Jayhawks take the field Saturday for their season-opener will have a distinct Lawrence vibe to it.

Three former Free State High stars — KU junior linebackers Joe Dineen and Keith Loneker Jr., and sophomore safety Bryce Torneden — all project as key first-team pieces for the defense, coached by another Lawrence native, coordinator Clint Bowen.

Kansas head coach David Beaty, a Texan through and through, said at his Tuesday press conference that FSHS coach Bob Lisher and Lawrence High’s Dirk Wedd do “such a good job,” the roster could just as easily feature a slew of LHS grads, too. Currently, the only Chesty Lion suiting up for the Jayhawks is freshman kicker Cole Brungardt.

“I mean, I think when you talk about local football in this town, it’s always been strong, and there’s always been really good football players in this city,” Beaty said. “But I think it speaks as much as anything to the coaches that are in this city. They do a terrific job. I’ve watched them. We’ve been to their practices as it’s legal for us to go over there during recruiting, and they run it like we would run it. And in terms of how they run their practices, it’s very collegiate-ish, so to speak.”

Dineen, Loneker and Torneden, who are joined as Firebirds-turned-Jayhawks by freshman linebacker Jay Dineen, are all “tough guys,” according to Beaty.

“From a workout standpoint, they don’t ever miss anything. They’re always there. They’re early. They actually are always leaders,” Beaty said of the starters from Free State.

Matthews’ heart condition

Beaty made public Monday news that junior running back Octavius Matthews’ football career had come to a premature end. The coach on Tuesday provided further details on the heart condition that led to that decision.

Matthews’ mother, Kristy Bradford, died due to heart complications this past May, while awaiting a transplant.

The team’s medical staff, Beaty said, deserved credit for “probably” saving Matthews’ life.

“Luckily, he signed with us, and we have — our cardiac screening is far above what most schools do. We do both an EKG, we do an echocardiogram with all of our athletes and they see cardiologists before they participate, which is not mandatory,” Beaty explained. “You have to be able to have resources to do that.”

Matthews was diagnosed earlier this summer with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which Beaty said they learned can be life-threatening “if not managed.”

“His decision to retire was one that was come to by our sports medicine staff, myself, our cardiologists, determining that he should not be playing this level of a sport because it could be dangerous to him,” Beaty said, adding he thought Matthews possessed enough talent to “play at that next level.”

KU’s coach said the former running back will remain a part of the program, and he plans to reveal further details on that front in the future.

Game-time decision at QB?

Not surprisingly, Beaty declined to name a starting quarterback at his press conference, although most expect it will be junior transfer Peyton Bender.

So when, exactly, does the coach plan on informing the players who’s starting at QB?

“They’ll see it when he runs out,” Beaty claimed.

When will the quarterback learn he has won the No. 1 spot?

“When he runs out,” Beaty responded.

So Beaty will just send a QB out on the field to tell him?

“Yeah,” the coach said. “He’ll be ready.”

The reason for the wait?

“No advantage for us to tell anybody who’s playing that position until we go out there,” Beaty replied. “I mean, can you give me another way to ask that question to see if I can figure out how I can not answer it?”

If Beaty and offensive coordinator Doug Meacham are in fact waiting that long to name the starter, Bender seemed unfazed.

“I’m not really concerned about whether I’m going to be a starter or not,” Bender said. “I’m going to do everything I need to do to prepare that way, like I’m going to be. So I’ll treat my preparation the same and I’ll find out on Saturday.”

Redshirt sophomore Carter Stanley’s name placard appeared at Tuesday’s media availability, but the quarterback did not. A KU official said Stanley’s class schedule kept him from getting to Anderson Family Football Complex in time for the interview period, which ended when team meetings began.