When David Beaty said on Hawk Talk, his weekly radio show with the Voice of the Jayhawks Brian Hanni, that Miles Kendrick would play in a few series against Nicholls State and possibly going forward I was intrigued.

I had some skepticism regarding the situations in which Beaty and offensive coordinator Doug Meacham would use Kendrick. Meacham ran a two-quarterback system when he was with the University of Houston, so I immediately thought of the way Meacham ran things in Houston, which was described on the broadcast of Saturday's game as the hot quarterback staying in.

On Saturday, we saw a glimpse of how Beaty and Meacham plan to use Kendrick.

The San Mateo CC transfer came in for Kansas’ fourth offensive drive of the game. For reference, that was the drive immediately following the KU drive where Steven Sims Jr. had a sure touchdown go right through his hands.

According to Kendrick, he was scripted to go in either on the fourth or fifth offensive drive of the game.

In the lead up to the Nicholls State game, Beaty had an interesting quote regarding Kendrick.

“He just needs a little bit more time,” Beaty said, later following up with, “We just have to keep his package small until he can absorb a little bit more of it.”

When asked specifically about the plays and the communication with the sideline, Kendrick said the plays he ran were all scripted and from a certain package that fits his skillset.

Let’s take a look at all the plays Kendrick ran.

1st and 10, ball on KU 18.

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On Kendrick’s first play as a Jayhawk, he actually made a pretty good decision on a read option. The right defensive end, Evan Veron (No. 48) bit on the handoff to Khalil Herbert giving Kendrick room to run.

The read option can be an effective play if the quarterback reads the defense right. It’s something that doesn’t come overnight. There are certain stunts and looks that a defense can use to bait a quarterback into taking the ball and running.

Though the defense wasn’t entirely sold on the fake to Herbert, tight end Jack Luavasa (No. 87) made a good block on the safety to give Kendrick space to run.

2nd and 6, ball on KU 22.

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This was by far the most complex play Kendrick ran all night. A lot had to go right for Kendrick to even get the ball out.

For starters, the offensive line’s timing had to be spot on. If Alex Fontana pulled to early, he would have left Kendrick back with a defensive lineman bearing down on him. If he pulled late, he would have left Kendrick in the flat with an outside linebacker coming at him.

But Fontana’s timing was on point, something that didn’t concern Kendrick.

"In Fall Camp I got a lot of reps with the first line and Alex Fontana so being in with those guys, they are comfortable with me and I'm comfortable with them," Kendrick said. “We were well prepared for the situation last week.”

The throw itself wasn't easy. Rolling to the right for a right-handed thrower isn’t as hard as to the left, but there is still plenty of room for error, especially for a quarterback not known for having the strongest of arms.

Here is another look at that throw.

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Kendrick was able to get the ball to Evan Fairs, but the placement could have been better.

See how Fairs stops and pivots to open his body up in order to catch the ball. Kendrick should have thrown it to the right of Fairs and led him so he could catch the ball in stride and turn up field.

1st and 10, ball on KU 30

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There's nothing much to read into here.

Kendrick handed the ball off to Herbert. If Kendrick had taken the ball, he wouldn’t have gotten far. A Nicholls State safety was in zone coverage and would’ve been able to make a play on Kendrick.

2nd and 6, ball on the KU 34

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This play just looks weird and there is a lot to break down.

For starters, just watch Kendrick the entire time. From watching him, you’d either think the play was a run/pass option or just a straight up play action. Multiple defensive linemen also rushed Kendrick just before he released the ball.

Now watch the wide receivers at the top of the screen. The inside receiver, Jeremiah Booker (No. 88), looks like he is playing defense on the linebacker Ahmani Martin, not running a route. The outside wide receiver, Evan Fairs reaches out and grabs the corner covering him.

This leaves only one person on the field with a chance of catching the ball, Sims.

Now watch him at the bottom of the screen. Off the block, he and cornerback Darren Evans were step for step, yet Kendrick still threw the ball to Sims.

Flat out, this could have been intercepted.

“Just a little cleaning up of his feet will help him there because he was a little late to a guy that can really run,” Beaty said of the throw on Hawk Talk. “And when you've got a guy who can really run, he can out-run your arm, and you've got to be careful with that.”

3rd and 6, ball on KU 34

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Kendrick made a good decision here in resisting the urge to throw the ball to Jeremiah Booker in the slot. Instead, he found Dom Williams on a shovel pass. According to Kendrick, there were multiple options on that play.

“It's kind of the design of the play," Kendrick said. "The shovel pass is the design of the play. There are other options as far as that play but the defense took it away which led me to the shovel pass."

Overtime: 3rd and 6, ball on Nich 21.

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Beaty called on Kendrick for the most important play of the game. Despite not playing a down for 2 hours, Kendrick says he felt ready.

“Regardless of how long it had been, that's the kind of position I want to be in: a guy that they can count on late in games. Whatever they want me to do, whatever they want me to execute, I'm just going to go out there and do my best,” Kendrick said of coming in late in the game. “Playing the quarterback position, you want to be in those positions, you want your number to be called. I felt ready.”

By the time that Kendrick had planted his back foot, you could see the Nicholls State defensive line already winning the battle upfront over the KU offensive line. Nicholls dropped into Cover 1, which means man coverage with a safety in zone behind everyone.

Regardless if Kendrick broke through, chances are he doesn’t even get a first down. The Nicholls corner covering Booker (nearest receiver on the far side) had already started breaking toward Kendrick before he was even tackled.

Take a look from this angle.

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Defensive end Sully Laiche and middle linebacker Hezekiah White ran a twist, to use Beaty's terminology, where the two switched positions after the snap. This caused confusion for Fontana who subsequently was unable to block Laiche.

There wasn't much Kendrick could do for himself on this play.

A final thought:

It will be interesting to see how Beaty and Meacham decide to use Kendrick going forward.

Depending on the matchup and how the ground game is going, I could see Kendrick getting play in more series. But if the Jayhawks are struggling to run, there is little benefit to throwing Kendrick in the game. Peyton Bender is still the better passer. While there are some positives to take away from Kendrick's performance, the concerns surrounding his arm weren't settled one way or another.