Watched a replay of KU vs. Northern Colorado this weekend...

I watched a replay of KU vs. Northern Colorado this weekend and came away with some observations.  Other than reliving a 49-3 blowout and seeing the old crew back at it, I remembered that a lot of this year's contributors played quite a bit in that game so I wanted to watch with a critical eye for the future.  Here's what I came away with:

1) Man, I wish we would have stuck with the pistol formation.

a) Not only did we have Jake Sharp who could take a great angle to the corner but it really gave our interior linemen the ability to pull and get out into space.

b) I have a bit more confidence in our line running more traditional pro sets now that I've had a chance to see how athletic they are.  Brad Thorson and Jeremiah Hatch especially were quick coming around the corner and sprung some good runs for both Sharp and Todd Reesing.

2) Tertavian Ingram might be a sleeper at WR.  He was all over the field.  He was fast and made a great catch coming back to the ball on the 3 yard line and had enough body control to turn and get into the endzone.  I'll look for him to make more of a contribution his senior year.

3) Toben Opurum was definitely hurt last year.  When he is healthy, he is low and powerful and FAST.  The very last play, the Jayhawks were running the clock out and Opurum hit the hole and BAM, was gone just like that.  The guy's got thighs like tree trunks.  We'll see what the new staff has in store.

4) Bradley McDougald given 4 years in Warriner's offense would have eclipsed Briscoe's numbers.  I suspect he will be the #1 WR by the time conference play starts if not sooner.  Jonathan Wilson was not impressive and had the dropsies after that he never seemed to gain Reesing's trust the rest of the season.  We'll see if that changes.

5) I think Kale Pick is our Man.  He played the whole 4th quarter so I had a chance to really watch him on a couple different series.  What impressed me the most was his poise; even in his first game his head was up and his eyes were down the field.  On his one down-field completion he threaded a nice ball on an out route to Tim Biere.  When he's running he's a bit of a long strider but is still elusive and, again, his head is always up.   At one point he was even pointing out blocks.  Pretty heady for a RS Frosh. These are good signs.  

6) Tanner Hawkinson has noticeably bulked up since last year.  Our line overall looked a little undersized.  This year from what I'm reading, pretty much across the board the line has added bulk which makes sense given that our offense is probably going to run a lot more pro-sets and that we may be running a serious power running game with Toben and Angus Quigley.