WRITER: Benton Smith

True freshmen pushing older teammates in KU's QB competition

Regardless of how much — or little — they end up playing when the 2021 season arrives, the two least experienced quarterbacks on the Kansas football roster are off to a good start this spring, according to their teammates and interim head coach. Both Conrad Hawley and Ben Easters, three-star QBs in the Jayhawks’ 2021 signing class, graduated from high school early so they could enroll at KU this spring ...

'Bowling ball' Daniel Hishaw Jr. no longer overthinking his carries as a RB

The powerful legs and arms that made Daniel Hishaw Jr. an effective rusher as a true freshman this past fall continue to earn the Kansas running back acclaim within the program this spring. “He’s just like a bowling ball in the backfield,” senior offensive lineman Earl Bostick Jr. said of what Hishaw is doing during the Jayhawks’ practices lately. A sophomore back from Moore, Okla., Hishaw appreciated ...

As candidate to become KU football's permanent head coach, Emmett Jones plans to be himself

As University of Kansas Athletic Director Travis Goff ascertains which coaches across the country are interested in the KU football vacancy, the man currently running the program, interim head coach Emmett Jones, is thrilled to be a contender for the position. “Just being a candidate, I’m just blessed to be in this situation,” Jones said Saturday during his video press conference, while speaking to ...

'Passion,' trash talk on display during KU football's 1st spring scrimmage

It was just a Saturday morning in mid-April, but what interim Kansas football head coach Emmett Jones saw out of his players during the team’s first full scrimmage of the spring looked to him like a game day in the fall. Jones told reporters during a video press conference afterward he left the team’s eighth practice of the offseason feeling good about both the offense and the defense, particularly because ...

'It's a new unit' — KU's O-linemen plan to move past dreadful 2020

Throughout a winless 2020 season, the Kansas football team’s offensive line suffered through so many losing battles at the point of attack that the Jayhawks rarely were able to avoid blowout defeats. While no one is denying those issues existed, the hope among KU’s O-linemen this year is that they can keep all of that ugliness in the past. “It’s a new unit, new coach, new offense — everything’s ...

Taiwan Berryhill, KU linebackers gaining confidence this spring

The Kansas football defense could end up relying a lot on a pair of relatively new inside linebackers this year. Between former safety Nate Betts switching positions during the offseason and Taiwan Berryhill moving inside late during his freshman year, the Jayhawks hope those two can bolster a group that also includes junior Gavin Potter, junior Nick Channel, senior Jay Dineen and redshirt freshman Krishawn ...