Here are 5 things we learned in Kansas football’s 56-10 win against Tennessee Tech

LAWRENCE — Kansas football opened its 2022 season Friday against Tennessee Tech and came away with a 56-10 win at home.

Here are five things we learned from the 46-point Jayhawks (1-0) victory against the Golden Eagles (0-1):

Kansas’ confidence in its running game shows up early

All fall camp, and for much longer, the Jayhawks coaches and players have been talking about the confidence they have in what their running game could accomplish this season. With sophomore Devin Neal, redshirt junior Torry Locklin and redshirt sophomores Daniel Hishaw Jr., Sevion Morrison and Ky Thomas, there was reason to believe that wasn’t just talk. And then on the first offensive play of the game offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki had three of them on the field together in the formation.

Of course, that play resulted in a gain of zero yards. It didn’t start the drive off well and Kansas would need a long pass on third-and-long to cover its initial first down. But then Neal broke out for a 19-yard touchdown run to open the scoring in the first quarter.

That success continued throughout, as Kansas finished the game with 297 yards on 30 carries for an average of 9.9 yards per carry. Five different players combined for six touchdowns. Neal stood out with four carries, 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Lonnie Phelps looks like the real deal

Redshirt junior defensive end Lonnie Phelps came in to Kansas as a transfer from Miami (Ohio) with stats and a lot of potential. He earned the praise of teammates and coaches throughout fall camp practices.

And against Tennessee Tech, he showed why that all was well-deserved.

Phelps finished with seven tackles. Although Kansas was seemingly rotating guys in everywhere constantly, he made the most of his opportunities and had three sacks and four tackles for loss. The Jayhawks’ coaching staff, which saw its defense hold the Golden Eagles to 190 total yards and 2.8 yards per play, should feel confident about him heading into the second week of the season.

Jalon Daniels showcases why coaching staff went with him

Junior quarterback Jalon Daniels held off redshirt senior quarterback Jason Bean to keep the starting job this fall for Kansas. Daniels remained humble, while also carrying himself like the starting quarterback the Jayhawks need to continue head coach Lance Leipold’s rebuild. And then he played like it.

Daniels finished 15-for-18 passing for 189 yards and a score, spreading the ball around to almost 10 different teammates. He ran for 29 yards on three carries with a touchdown. Last season there wasn’t a whole lot for Kansas’ offense to feel confident in heading into its first Big 12 Conference contest, but the Jayhawks can this year and Daniels is a main reason why.

Overall, Kansas went for 502 total yards and averaged 10.2 yards-per-play, while finishing with 21 first downs. Daniels just needs to be more careful on throws like the one that led to the interception he had, and take more care of the ball when he’s on the move as he nearly fumbled one away as well on an errant toss.

More: KU football takes down Tennessee Tech 56-10 in season-opener. Here are the highlights.

Kansas’ special teams can deliver an explosive play, but has room to improve

The first drive of Tennessee Tech’s day that showed any promised had the Golden Eagles set up for a field goal by its end. Tennessee Tech snapped the ball and went for a 50-yarder on its third drive of the game. Then Kansas saw junior defensive lineman Jereme Robinson block the kick and sophomore cornerback Cobee Bryant pick the ball up and run it back 61 yards for a touchdown.

But during the game the Jayhawks also saw junior wide receiver Luke Grimm fumble a punt. They also saw redshirt junior kicker Jacob Borcila, who did make all his extra points, miss a field goal from 40 yards out. Those could prove more problematic against a better opponent, especially on the road.

Kansas’ fans prove they’re capable of better attendance in 2022

Kansas put a lot into trying to increase in-game attendance this season. Looking back to last season, the Jayhawks averaged just less than 26,413 fans per home game in a stadium that has a listed capacity of 47,233 people. And while this opener was by no means a sellout, its announced attendance of 34,902 would have been the most of any home game last year.

Now it’s a matter of whether that can be sustained, and even built upon, in the games to come. Kansas, which did see the crowd lessen some over the course of the contest, doesn’t have a home game again until Sept. 24 against Duke and has road games against West Virginia and Houston in between. It’ll be telling how much the results of those two contests potentially play into future attendance.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU football dominates Tennessee Tech, 56-10, to open 2022 season