Running the football, protecting the quarterback and defending the run were the top priorities coming out of the spring season. In week one, the Coyotes outrushed their FBS foe 165-82 and surrendered one sack. Defensively, USD was brilliant, holding Kansas to 245 yards, the second-lowest total by a Coyote opponent since the start of the 2018 season.
 
Here are some other notes from week one:

• Kudos to Jacob Matthew (8 tackles), Brendan Webb (4), DeValon Whitcomb (4) and Nick Gaes (4) for controlling the line of scrimmage throughout the contest. Kansas RBs Velton Gardner, Torry Locklin and Devin Neal combined for 30 yards on 25 carries.
• Their play freed up all-Valley LBs Jack Cochrane (game-high 13 tackles) and Brock Mogensen (7) who combined for four of USD's nine tackles-for-loss.
• On the other side, Travis Theis ran 18 times for a game- and career-high 96 yards. He reached the end zone for the third time in his USD career.
• Shomari Lawrence carried 11 times for a career-best 59 yards and scored his first collegiate touchdown.
• Kody Case caught two passes for 37 yards and surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards.
• Mogensen recorded his 100^th career tackle.
• Kansas went 3-and-out on each of its first four possessions and didn't record a first down until the second quarter. USD forced five 3-and-outs on 12 Kansas possessions.
• Brady Schutt's 67-yard punt in the first quarter is a career long. The nation's top punt unit from a year ago netted nearly 45 yards on six punts Friday, a higher average than what led FCS last spring.
• Neither team committed a turnover, though the two teams were a combined 1-for-6 on fourth down.

 QUOTABLE
 
Third-year RB and Kansas native Travis Theis
On his return to Kansas…
"It was a fun game. The team played really hard. We're going to build off of this because we're going to be a good team this year. The o-line played well and we're going to need them to play well to have a good year. They played hard, communicated well and gave great effort."
 
On his go-ahead 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter…
"I got a great block from (Austin) Wallace, who pulled, picked up another great block and the rest is history. My parents, uncles, aunts, friends, a lot of people came here to see me play, and it's something I'll remember forever."
 
Fourth-year DL and Kansas native Brendan Webb
On the preparation for Kansas…
"All of our coaches busted their butts to get the film down, and we watched a lot of Buffalo tape. We knew their coach had just gotten their this summer, we had a base of what we know he's going to do, and right when we got on the field, they did exactly what we thought they were going to do. So we busted into gear and took over that first quarter."
 
On holding RB Velton Gardner to 21 yards on 19 carries…
"That's amazing. With out new coach, Coach Brown, he has something in him that made our unit amazing and I'm so happy to have him on our staff. Happy that he's made all of us 10 times better. From the 2-deep to the 3-deep, all of us could easily start, and he's made us all fundamentally better and that's what showed out there tonight."
 
On his return to Kansas…
"I was ecstatic just being on the field again. When I was a junior, senior year in high school, I was on this field more than not because of camps. And I had a little grudge against Kansas because they offered me and then pulled it off of me right away, and I was like all right, I'm going to show you what you missed out on."
 
Seventh-year DL DeValon Whitcomb
On the defense's performance…
"Everybody was locked in and did their jobs. They didn't show us a lot of stuff that we hadn't already seen either in Buffalo's film or Kansas' film. Once we got adjusted to their personalities, it was just playing football."
 
On the run defense and the atmosphere…
"We had great pressure defense, laid a foundation today and got to build on this. We kept the juice because we're always trying to energize each other when we are out on the field. When we got on the board offensively, that brought a whole new wake up factor. We were fired up and the crowd got into a bit too because they weren't really loud until Kansas scored late in the fourth quarter."
 
Second-year RB Shomari Lawrence
On success on the ground…
"We thought we had a speed advantage on them coming into the game. Our game plan was to play as fast as we can, physically attack, we knew it was going to be a big game and a tough fight, we just had to get through some of the arm tackles and do what we can to gain extra yards."
 
On the touchdown run…
"The o-line did their assignments throughout the game, but on that play, their linebackers were sitting over the guards and the guards opened up the lane, I was patient through the mesh, and trusted my speed to get to the edge and reach the end zone. We us being down 10-zip, we really needed that drive."
 
Sixth-year safety Elijah Reed
On the defense…
"We spent all week trying to figure out how to shut down their run. They had great players, but we locked in our keys, did our jobs, was coached well and made it happen. It started with the front and they had a great week and a great night."