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Associated Press
Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph throws under pressure from Iowa State defenders Reggan Northrup and Kane Seeley in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, Oct. 8. The Jayhawks will take on Oklahoma State this weekend in their Homecoming game.
Notebook: Rudolph a new challenge, injury update
▶ BRIAN MINI
@brianminimum
In the past two weeks, Kansas has faced two of the top running quarterbacks in TCU's Kenny Hill and Baylor's Baker Mayfield. This week, the defense won't have to worry as much about quarterbacks scrambling out of the pocket.
Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph sits at -14 rushing yards this year, but his 2,039 passing yards is third in the Big 12. Coach David Beaty referred to the junior as "as good of a manager as I've seen so far."
"He manages the ball really well, takes care of the
ball." Beaty said about Rudolph and Oklahoma State. "You're going to have to beat these guys. They're not going to beat themselves."
In last year's meeting, Rudolph passed for 305 yards and a touchdown.
"He's a big kid," defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said. "He'll scan the field and check it high to low ... he does a really good job of reading the coverage and making the correct throw."
Safety Tevin Shaw is a big part of that. Shaw said
Bowen's defense is currently second in the Big 12 in passing defense with 227.7 passing yards allowed per game.
that while "it's a little easier when it comes to fitting the run" when facing a less mobile quarterback, it's not "a huge change" for the secondary.
Offense isn't where Beaty wants it to be
Despite the defensive improvement this season, Kansas' offense is still lagging behind and is currently sitting at second to last in the Big 12, with 349.8 yards per game.
Beaty talked about the need to "be able to utilize our running backs in the passing game" as well as taking off the pressure from receivers LaQuvionte Gonzalez and Steven Sims Jr.
"We're going to try to get the ball in our guys' hands that we think [will] make the most happen as much as we can," Beaty said.
by finding a third receiver.
Sophomore quarterback Ryan Willis, who started the last two games for Kansas, says that Kansas just has to "bounce back and have a good week of practice" in order to improve this season.
Kansas' 23 points against TCU was the most the team has scored since the season opener, but the seven scored against Baylor last week tied for the lowest this season.
When asked about his
choice to continue going for it on fourth down, Beaty showed confidence in his offense saying "we will continue to be aggressive offensively when it comes to that."
There's a chance Joe Dineen Jr. doesn't return this season
Two weeks ago before Kansas' game against TCU, Beaty said that sophomore linebacker Joe Dineen Jr.s would be a game-time decision.
This week the news wasn't as positive.
"Well, I don't think we'll have him this week, and we're starting to get to a point to see if he's going to
be able to do it," Beaty said about the captain.
The former Free State linebacker had a breakout season last year, finishing the season with 86 tackles. Dineen had a promising start to the season with 10 total tackles, three tackles for a loss and a pass deflection in three games this season.
When asked about the possibility of redshirting Dineen, Beaty said, "If things don't work out, I think it would be a possibility. I hope we can get him back. I don't know if it's going to work out or not. It's giving him a lot of problems."
KU WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATIONS The University of Kansas
We are honored to welcome back these outstanding alumni as guests this week for J-School Generations and KU Homecoming. More info at bit.ly/kujgen
Sara Beane j'93
Norm Bilow j'87
Scott Collin j'94
Kevin Dilmore c'86,j'88
Sarah Frazier j'94
Brian Hanni j'02.
Erica Hawthorne j'02
Andy Marso j'04
Kevin Newell j'79
Johanna Maska j'04, c'04
Autumn MorningSky j'12
Jim Obermaier j'91
Jeff Taylor j'90
Alison Young j'88
Joel Zeff j'90