KU defense seeking improvement in three main areas

LAWRENCE (KSNT) - The 2023 season was a step in the right direction for KU football, specifically on defense.

The Jayhawks allowed 26 points per game, compared to more than 35 in 2022 and 42 in 2021.

However, KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland doesn't want his group getting satisfied. Despite the big jump, KU's average on points allowed still ranked in the bottom half of the conference.

"We can't just be hungry for more, we got to be starving for more," Borland said on Thursday.

The high goals inside the Kansas locker room come with some areas of focus:

Run defense

"It was drastically improved from what it was," Borland said.

He's correct. KU cut down opponents rushing yards by an average of more than 40 yards per game in 2023, compared to 2022. He says it's an area they want to keep growing in.

"I want to be a defense where teams almost quit trying to run the ball on you because they can't," he said. "We did have a couple games of that last year which is refreshing... We weren't that way all the time. Game in and game out we got to be able to shut people down in the run game better."

Red zone defense

"I don't know that we stopped anybody from scoring when they got inside the 20 [yard line] last year," Borland said on this topic.

It's an area KU has continued to really struggle in, and a major emphasis for Borland to his squad. KU allowed let teams in the red zone 50 times in 2023. 49 of those resulted in points for its opponent. 35 were touchdowns.

"We've already addressed those things and talked about things and we track them when we get red zone periods in practice," Borland said. "We want to get turnovers. We want to get stops. We want to force field goals. And then the last of the four results is touchdown. So really, it's no touchdowns. We've got to do a better better in that area. We couldn't be any worse than we were. I feel like we look at what we're doing in there. Are we making the right calls? Are we playing the right defenses? I feel like we are but we just have breakdowns from time to time that seem to always hurt us."

Third down stops

KU allowed opponents to convert on more than 40% of third down in 2023 but it's specifically third and medium, plus third and long, that Borland is most focused on.

"We want to stop people at a higher percentage and really put ourselves in fourth down, get off the field, situations," he said. "We were not strong enough in those areas."