photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach David Beaty, right, screams from the sidelines during the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 at Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio.

Kansas head coach David Beaty, in his third season of trying to build something out of the rubble left him, went out of his way to praise the school’s football fan base at his weekly press conference.

“I would just say that we’ve got unbelievable fans,” Beaty said. “They’ve been patient. We certainly appreciate it. There’s no doubt about that. But the plan is a great plan. We believe in it. We know it will work. There’s no doubt in our mind.”

During the offseason, Beaty underrated the importance of experience and physical maturity and talked in a way that made many believe he tought a bowl game was possible this season. Reality has set in.

“We’ve got some young guys,” Beaty said. “We’re not going to use that as an excuse. You know what, we’ve got some young dudes. Probably 53 percent or more of our roster that we traveled with the other day were sophomores or juniors. Only three of them, three of those guys were redshirt juniors in Joe (Dineen), and Keith (Loneker), guys like that. You’re talking about there’s a lot of youth there.”

Young doesn’t necessarily mean eventually good. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t.
You can guess which side Beaty stands on with that one.

“I would say that the future looks bright,” Beaty said. “The good thing is we’re 1-2. That’s where we’re at. There’s a bunch of teams out there that are 1-2. I would just say, Hey, listen, don’t make it more than it is.”

Beaty didn’t mean that 1-2 is a good record when the only victory came against Southeast Missouri State, an FCS program, followed by a pair of losses to MAC schools Central Michigan and Ohio. He meant that 75 percent of the season remains and it’s too early to tune out.

“We’ve got a great opportunity this Saturday against West Virginia,” Beaty said. “Show up. Be there. Bring five friends. Let’s get after ’em.”

At this point, KU probably needs to show something on the field for that fan-recruiting talk to resonate. As is the only appropriate focus for a football coach, Beaty’s attention remains trained on the next game, against a team blessed with a quarterback, Florida transfer Will Grier, well-armed to shred the Jayhawks’ secondary.

I like the “bring five friends,” pitch though. And if every KU student who goes to KU football games talks five friends into coming to one game, the more time she or he has to make that pitch, the better. So it’s not difficult to know which game on the brutal Big 12 schedule is the best one for KU fans to circle if they can make it to just one game this season: Baylor.

The beleaguered Bears visit Memorial Stadium on Nov. 4, which we’ll call, “Bring Five Friends Day.” Baylor has lost to Turner Gill-coached Liberty, 48-45, UT-San Antonio, 17-10, and at Duke, 34-20.

Circle it, bring five friends, and in the event that Kansas should win, know that you had a part in what very well could be a victory that keeps the Jayhawks out of last place, a sign of progress.