Champaign, Ill. — In the week leading up to Kansas’ loss to Illinois, new KU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes was asked if he thought it might be an advantage that the Illini hadn’t really seen much of how he planned to operate the Jayhawks’ offense. “I hope so,” he responded. When it came time to play, though, the Illini were the ones with the element of surprise. From when they brought out a ...
The 13th-ranked Kansas volleyball team continued to bolster its resume in nonconference play, taking down No. 24 Marquette on Friday and then Western Michigan on Saturday in Milwaukee to advance to 6-0 on the year. The Marquette match saw the Jayhawks bounce back from dropping the first set to dispatch the tournament host Golden Eagles 3-1, much as they had at Duke a week earlier (the final tally this time was ...
Champaign, Ill. — Whatever Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry learned by watching last year’s game against Kansas more than 100 times, he clearly imparted it to his defensive backs. Xavier Scott intercepted KU quarterback Jalon Daniels twice in the first half, including once for a defensive touchdown with 36 seconds remaining that allowed the Illini to take a sudden surge of momentum into the break. ...
Champaign, Ill. — While Kansas guard Michael Ford Jr. was interested in the University of Illinois growing up, when it came time for his recruitment, he was “a MAC guy.” Ford, a native of Homewood, Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs, didn’t garner significant power-conference interest out of high school and ended up going to Buffalo, indeed, in the Mid-American Conference, from which he followed Lance ...
After last year’s loss at Kansas, Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry found himself wondering what had happened. “You ask yourself why, and what could you have done different to ensure that you had success,” he told reporters on Monday. “Just from that standpoint, I probably watched the Kansas game probably 100-plus times.” In that way, the loss, which came in his first road matchup as a ...
Preseason favorite Utah earned the top spot in the first Big 12 power rankings of the season. The Utes, a newcomer to the league, received seven of a possible 16 first-place votes from a panel of media members who regularly cover the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Kansas and Arizona rounded out the top five spots in the newly expanded league. OSU, which reached the league championship game ...