LAWRENCE — At his introductory press conference last December, David Beaty spelled out the future vision for his team.
Kansas was going to play an up-tempo offense. It was going to have an attacking defense.
And, no less important, his team was going to work to be dominant in the “hidden third” on special teams.
“We're going to create an advantage in this area that our opponents simply may not have,” Beaty said, “by overemphasizing and outworking people in this third.”
A 45-14 loss to Kansas State on Saturday night showed how far KU has to go to even win in an area Beaty considers to be “controllable” regardless of talent.