Highlights from today's press conference w/Coach Mangino and KU Players...

Head Coach Mark Mangino

Opening remarks:

“Looking back on last week, Nebraska made more plays than we did to win the game. We had opportunities and didn’t always capitalize. We didn’t make stops when we needed to make stops. We have got to improve our tackling. We have got to play a lot more sound in our inside run game. There were a few bright spots. Dezmon Briscoe had a big day and looked really good. Todd Reesing had a good day, although his numbers didn’t show that he did. James Holt is really playing good defense for us right now.”

“This week we have Texas, who is a very good, ranked, top-five program. They have a lot of weapons on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Defensively they are very stout. They are only allowing 86 yards per game rushing. They have a very athletic defensive line with very quick, athletic guys who can move around. Their linebackers seem to be the heart of their defense. They are an outstanding group of linebackers. Their secondary is very athletic as always.”

“On the offensive side of the ball they run the ball with a number of different tailbacks. Their big playmaker is obviously Colt McCoy at quarterback, both running and throwing the football. He has a bunch of excellent receivers to throw to, led by Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby. Shipley is also a very dangerous player on special teams.”

“It is a very good Texas team that is coming here and we are planning on having a good week of preparation and getting ready to play them. It is an opportunity for us to play a top-five team here at home and we want to play well.”

More Coach and Player Quotes after the Jump...

Continue reading this post »

A look at news and notes about Jayhawks and upcoming opponents...

• Jake Sharp runs wild behind the Kansas offense.
• Russel Brorson turns in a memorable performance.
• Notes including news on season ending injury to Justin Springer.
• KU Athletics game recap.
• Final Stats.
• Game Notes.

My Thoughts...The morning after and the win feels just as satisfying as the day of.  While it seems like our true football rivalry is Missouri this game was a big win for the Jayhawks and their fans.  My only question is why the hell are there empty seats after halftime when we are handing our instate rival who we clearly have on the ropes an absolute beat down.  Enjoy the journey and don't get so wrapped up in the destination Jayhawk fans. 

Enough of that tangent how about a look at the game.  There has been recent mention of Ed Warriner changing his offensive blocking scheme from a zone block to man.  Clearly that is the right move.  Yesterday, I saw our offensive line dominating man on man throughout the game.  K-State players found their faces buried in the grass and I can count more than a few times where Jeff Spikes and Jeremiah Hatch our two newbie’s were on top.  Jake Sharp used this to his advantage in a big way.  Many of his big runs were off the right side behind Spikes and Sharp made the right reads hit the holes aggressively, got to the next level and then made guys miss.  Not to mention his touchdown where he outran the Kansas State safety.  Fact of the matter is Sharp proved a lot yesterday, and with consistent blocking he can be a very effective back for us.  The shovel pass that he broke for long yardage was probably his best example of reading and cutting off blocks all year.  Overall, kudos to the running game for being the focal point and not an afterthought this week.

Defensively it was hard not to be very happy with the scheme and effort.  Josh Freeman is a very good quarterback with a pocket and with time.  Under pressure he sometimes tries to do too much.  Clint Bowen's zone blitzing along with the decision to utilize James Holt as an end was huge in applying pressure and allowing our secondary to provide solid coverage.  The scheme also allowed Russel Brorson to pick off his 2nd and 3rd Josh Freeman passes adding to his one from last year’s game against Kansas State.  In the backfield Justin Thornton and Daymond Patterson both looked much more comfortable in their positions this week, which might have something to do with not playing Texas Tech, but nonetheless both looked improved.  Another crew that made a difference was our defensive tackles.  Caleb Blakesly was a warrior in the middle, while Jamal Greene and Darius Parish did an excellent job filling in for Richard Johnson and tied up blockers allowing our linebackers to run free.  Finally the leaders of this defense Joe Mortenson, Mike Rivera and Darrell Stuckey used their freedom to roam and stifle the running game holding Kansas State to a minimal 91 yards rushing. 

Even the special teams were improved.  Daymond Patterson had room to work on returns, Herford and Crawford looked more decisive on kickoff returns, Branstetter put a few in the end zone, knocked through a FG and made some great tackles.  The only low point was the blocked field goal, but then again Kansas State doesn't lead the nation in that statistic for nothing. 

From a mental standpoint Kansas definitely recovered from the haymaker that Tech threw their way a week ago.  The players showed they aren't done yet and next week against Nebraska, the Jayhawks have a chance to break a streak, lock up a seventh win and probably creep back into the Top 25 before facing a tough Texas Longhorn team in Lawrence.  Big win this week, another huge and difficult game next week but fans can rest easy as Kansas for the third year in a row defeated rival K-State in the sunflower showdown.

Press conference highlights after the Jump...some good stuff this week...

                                                                   Image Source: KUSports.com

Continue reading this post »

A look at news and notes about Jayhawks and upcoming opponents...

The Good Guys...

• Talk softly and carry a big stick...Dezmon Briscoe.
• Linebacker Mike Rivera talks about his renewed focus.
• Jake Sharp exploded back onto the scene last weekend.
• Another Mike Rivera feature...this guy is the next Mother Teresa.
• Kansas defense will look to rattle the CU QB's.
• A look at Todd Reesing from the opponents perspective.
• Football was natural for redshirt freshman Jeremiah Hatch.
• Surprise freshman tackle Ben Leuken.
• Place your vote for Todd Reesing for the Davey O'Brien.
• KU looks to improve the kick return game against CU.
• Another look at the upside of Jeremiah Hatch.
• Don't forget to be a part of the live game thread if your available.

The Bad Guys...

• Dan Hawkins searches for teams identity.
• CU might have a quarterback controversy.
• Check out more from the CU perspective at The Ralphie Report.

A full list of the supplemental notes released by the athletic dept...and here are a few highlights...

A Kansas win would...

Be KU’s 20th win in its last 23 games.

Be its third straight against Colorado, the first such streak since 1962-64.

A Kansas Loss would...

Be less good than a win.

Individual...

Reesing (5,785) needs 104 total offense yards to pass Chip Hilleary (5,888) for second on the KU career total offensive yard chart.

WR Kerry Meier has caught at least seven passes in every game this year and at least two in 13 consecutive games dating back to last year.

Kerry Meier...

61 percent (27 of 44) of his receptions have been for first downs.

41 percent (11 of 27) of his first-down producing receptions have come on third or fourth down.

25 percent (11 of 44) of his receptions have come on third or fourth down (all for first downs).

Did you Know...?

KU has scored at least 30 points in 10 of its last 11 home games with the exception being a 29-0 win against Louisiana Tech earlier this year.

My Thoughts...Another game and another week of hoping the pieces fit together for 60 minutes.  KU has yet to put together a complete game but at their best this team is more talented and more experienced than the Buffaloes. 

We had some great Q&A sessions this week and it seems clear that Kansas needs to avoid letting CU run the ball and make the Quarterback(s) beat them.  KU will be the first road test and the most potent passing attack that CU has faced this season and I expect Todd Reesing to once again be the Buffalo killer that he has been twice already in his career. 

The biggest risk is if Kansas comes out and puts together a lackluster performance in the first half like they did against ISU.  If that is the case and CU can manage an early lead they have the backs and the scheme to run the ball and control the clock which could create problems for the Jayhawks.  Defense needs to come out with the intesity they displayed in the second half in Ames and all will be fine.  The line was 13.5 to open the week I said early on this game would be 10 or less but I'm feeling good this morning as I head to the hill for the game so I'm going to say Kansas 38 Colorado 17.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk and if anyone's in town I'll see you at Louise's West.

Despite the smaller margin of victory, I think that we played much better this week. Of course, I did get to see this in moving pictures, while the last game was simply conveyed to me through words over the internets, but it just feeled a lot better. The first quarter wasn't so hot, and our D benefitted from an INT and missed field goal inside the 10, but our passing game could do whatever the hell they wanted, and our running game gave me an inkling of hope late, when Angus Quigley trotted in. There were certainly some things to like, but there were also, most notably the running game, some things that are still up-in-the-air.

THE POSITIVELY POSITIVE

• Yet again, we have to start off the positive with a short, overlooked true freshman. Daymond Patterson, Daylight, DP, Lightning, whatever you want to call him, he is a tremendous player. Just unreal. Whether it be in the punt return game, where he did something super-human to be able to escape a Louisiana Tech gunner who HIT HIM BEFORE HE RECEIVED THE PUNT and squirt his way between a couple of Bulldog defenders for a measly one-yard gain (the best one-yard gain in the history of punt returns, without a doubt), or whether it be in the passing game, where his slot play is incredibly advanced for a second-game freshman, he is explosive. Say it with me: "Ex-plos-ive". I can't stress it enough just how special this player is. I wanted to make the following comparison before the season, when it would have been completely unfounded, then again after last week, when it would have seemed like jumping the gun. But now, I want to make the comparison before anyone else does, and reap the benefits later: Daymond Patterson reminds me of Jeremy Maclin more than anyone else. Maclin is a national name now, has a sick nickname (Cheat Code, for those who don't visit Rock M Nation) and is the best, IMO, all-around returner/WR in the country. Well, I don't know. Maybe Percy Harvin is better. In any case, he is certainly quite the name to be compared to, even if it is a Jayhawk blogger making the comparison. I'm telling you, he is that kind of all-around stud. Just to make things clear, because I can already see the comment section filling up with angry Mizzou fans, I in no way am comparing the two players currently. Maclin, with his redshirt year and entire season of (mostly) dominance last season, is clearly the better player right now. In another 12 months, though, it could be a different story. Oh, and he is also very fast. In case you need evidence, please see Example 1 underneath this, where he grabs a pass while running a crossing route and simply sprints away from the defense, making them look like they are treading water on their way to tackle him.

• Speaking of positives, QBs don't play much better than completing 32-38 for 412 yards and 3 TDs compared to zero INTs. I mean, seriously. As poor as our running game looks, Todd Reesing's out-of-this-world play has lessened the worry substantially. It is obvious that we could have done anything we desired through the air; it didn't matter if they dropped 8 and brought minimal pressure of they instead decided to blitz the hell out of Reesing (which they rarely, if ever, did) forcing him to make a quick decision. It is simply a case of picking your poison. Either you let him dink-and-dunk you to death down the field, or you try and force him to make plays downfield, which he will subsequently do. Now, don't me wrong, he certainly doesn't have the throw-fifty-yards-from-your-knees ability like some physical freaks, like JaMarcus Russell, have, but he has enough arm strength to keep from you scotting everyone forward. And no one is better in the entire college game at simply taking what the defense gives him and methodically moving the ball down the field. No one. Honestly, I don't think a single team on our schedule will be able to stop our passing game. Now, I think plenty can make us one-dimensional enough to scare the hell out of me, at least with the current performance of the running game, but even then I think that Reesing's methodical approach is such a well-oiled machine that no one, no matter what they do, will have a chance of slowing it down enough to keep us out of the game.
  
• Continuing with the theme of the passing game, you have to mention Dezmon Briscoe. His 48-yard TD catch was absolutely incredible (YouTube below), where he broke six-or-seven tackles, depending on your defintion of "tackle". In any case, he is clearly the #1 receiver on this team and has done more-than-enough to fill Marcus Henry's role on this team. In fact, he could be better than Henry right now, although that is certainly debatable. In any case, he is a beast, and another part of what may be one of the country's best (and certainly the most overlooked) receiving cores in the country. I suppose I might as well bring up Kerry Meier as well, who has clearly emerged as the safety option for Hot Toddy, filling Derek Fine's role on last year's team. He hasn't seemed to be as explosive of a threat sprinting down the hasmarks, but he catches everything thrown his way, and has a tremendous knack for getting open. He is on pace to catch 108 passes in the regular season alone, and has a pretty good shot at reaching 100 catches if we continue to pass this often.

• I can't believe I took this long, and he probably should have been the first name out here but I wanted to do all offense first. In any case, there is really only one candidate for Player of the Game on Saturday, and that would have to go to Mr. Darrell Stuckey.Honestly, his two-play swing of chasing down one of the fastest players in college football, Phillip Livas, when he started out on the opposite side of the field and then breaking through the offensive line to stuff RB Patrick Jackson for a fourd-yard loss is the best two back-to-back plays I've ever seen a defensive player make. Like, ever. It borders on superhuman. Most normal football players would want a break or a rest or an oxygen tank or something after that play (of course, most normal football players don't come close to catching up with Livas, but that is besides the point). But no, Stuckey had to go all Superman on us and make two consecutive fantastic plays in a row. Dayum. Oh, and I would just like to admit I was wrong. In my season preview of the safetie, I said that I wasn't sure how Stuckey would fit in at SS. As a matter of fact, he is a better SS than FS, making the switch of him and Justin Thornton all the more beneficial. At SS, he is able to do more freelancing and play a bigger role in the running game, where he has shined thus far. And I didn't even get to mention his tremendous hit on the La Tech WR in the endzone during their first redzone trip, forcing the ball out of the WRs hands up into the air, where Chris Harris was able to snag the ball out of the air. So, while it could have easily been at least 29-6, you could certainly make the argument that Darrell Stuckey single-handedly made sure that the game stayed a shutout.
  
• As bad as it sucks that Kendrick Harper was carted off the field in a stretcher (which we'll get to soon), there was certainly a silver lining to the injury; Isiah Barfield's play. Barfield is still pretty raw, but he has an incredible amount of physical ability and talent, and on first look he seemed to play really well. Not just passable enough to keep the defense from collapsing, but great. Like, I wouldn't be all that pissed if he were forced to start. And while the sooner Kendrick Harper gets back the better, both for him and the team, it is nice to know that we seem to have already found our replacement for him next year in Barfield, who figures to only develop further.
• Before we move on to the less-positive points, I want to give a shout-out to every other player on the defense. Whenever you shut out a team, even when there are some breaks along the way, a defense played pretty damn well. That is definitely the case here, and while it could have easily been at least 29-6, a shutout is a shutout is a shutout. And this isn't against some team like Chatanooga or some other meddling 1-AA program; Louisiana Tech is a legitimate team from the WAC, the conference that has brought us BCS Bowl-Busters in Boise State and Hawaii. Certainly a legitimate team. 

THE NEGATIVELY NEGATIVE

• Concerns #1, #2 and #3 involve the running game in some way. The actual, physical running game should be concern #1, as we will have to, at some point, actually be able to force the D to respect the RBs darting through the offensive line. Like, as soon as this Friday. Jake Sharp is hitting the holes too hard, it seems, running too aggressively and not allowing the blocks to take shape. Jocques Crawford has yet to show that burst that made him the JUCO Offensive Player of the Year last season, and appears sluggish and, honestly, average. Angus Quigley has brought an entirely different look to the running game; showing patience when that is needed, but he also isn't afraid to burst through a hole and take on the LB head-on. Honestly, I think he is the best RB on the team, at least right now. No one has ever really doubted his talent before, it's just his consistency and ability to hold on to the ball that has kept him off the field. But now, when we are struggling more with the running game than we ever have before and with him playing better than ever, seems to be the opportune time to work him into the regular rotation and see how he does. Last week, he received double the carries anyone else did (15 by him compared to 7 from both Sharp and Crawford), showing that Mangino may just be turning the corner as far as Quigley is concerned. I want to put up a full-length post concerning only Quigley and the running game, so everything else regarding the issue will go there.
• Issue #2, of course, would be the interior offensive line. Now, on tape they didn't appear to be all that bad, and maybe I am just being way too critical. However, it just can't be the RBs fault that they have been this much worse than they were last season (Sharp at least), and it certainly isn't the offensive tackles, who have barely appeared in running games. We are attempting to run almost exclusively up the middle, particularly behind Chet Hartley at RG, and that just isn't working unless Quigley is in there, and often he has to break a tackle before he can continue on his merry way. The offensive line probably deserves more time to gel, and Mayes and Hartley both played well enough last season to get longer than a two-game stint at starter this year, but if we struggle again in the running game against South Florida, it should definitely be something to be considered.
• Issue #3 is, well, I don't really know. If we were to have another weakness, it would probably be making the chip-shots known as extra points. Honestly, I don't really care if we have a different guy for XPs than we do for FGs, as long as they all find their way through the yellow uprights. If we miss one Friday night, it might be the reason we lose. But on a happier note, Jacob Branstetter had an otherwise fantastic debut and figures to be a pretty solid kicker for the next couple of years.
  
• The final negative has to go to the injuries. We were fortunate last season in avoiding the big, crippling injury (although Harper did miss a load of time and by the time the Missouri game rolled around McAnderson and Collins were severely nicked up, along with other players), but we were bit twice by the injury bug in a matter of minutes Saturday afternoon/night/twilight. We could live without both for awhile, probably up until Oklahoma before we actually must have them. Blakesley was playing really well, probably the best football of his career at Kansas, but we still have a deadly trio in Darius Parish, Jamaal Greene and Richard Johnson Jr. And while I was much more worried about Harper in the game thread, Barfield played well enough to appease my worries for awhile, at least. Still, we need both back at some point, and certainly the sooner the better.

All-in-all, like I said in the opening paragraph, the game was a success. We played MUCH better than we did against FIU (again, I didn't get to see the FIU game, but that is based off of the sound of the game and the opinions of others), and that is always a positive. Of course, our running game could use a helluva lot of work, but our D appears to be in mid-season form already and Todd Reesing simply can't be stopped. Oh, and we have two damn fine returners in kickoff returner Macrus Herford and Daylight at punt returner. As long as we aren't required to run the ball, like ever, we could compete for a Big 12 Title. And hell, maybe Crawford or Sharp will wake up, or Quigley will emerge as an awesome RB, and we can still compete. But we absolutely must work that out before we can start to think of even a Big 12 North Title. It is a must.

More to come later...

As we dive straight ahead with our position previews, who somehow will be finished on time for the season opener, we move to the outskirts of the offensive formations; the outside receivers. We will have to replace Marcus Henry on the outside, but are returning Dezmon Briscoe as the other starter.

Honestly, I see a lot more depth in the slot than here on the outside. While the outside receivers are, usually, on the field more often (there has to be an outside WR on that side for there to even be a slot receiver, by the definition of the word), this unit seems thinner and less talented as a whole than the slot. Briscoe is a stud, obviously, but Jon Wilson is fairly unproven and Harris is the only other member of the five-pack of WRs that excites me. Raymond Brown is a wild card who has come out of nowhere; according to SB Nation's roster, he is listed as a safety. Still, the fifth-year senior appears to be in line for a potential role in the WR rotation, slotted as Dez' backup as of right now.

With all of that said, here is a glance at the depth chart at the OWR position for the next three years:

--- Italics denote projected redshirt year

--- Bold denotes open position on the depth chart

Obviously, the top tier talent of this unit are all young and figure to be Jayhawks for awhile. And, you get the feeling that they have separated themselves from the rest of the pack and figure to get the vast majority of snaps at the OWR position. After those three it gets pretty sketchy, with a ex-safety that's never really threatened for PT at any position in Raymond Brown and another fifth-year senior, Marcus Herford, who never could really make the successful transition from high school QB to outside WR.

Player-by-player previews after the jump...

Continue reading this post »