Perspective is a wonderful thing.

As I discussed in my postgame reactionary, the game was incredibly frustrating to watch. There were some pretty egregious calls made by the officials as well as some particularly insane comments made by Ron Franklin and, to a lesser extent, Ed Cunningham. There were slip-ups and mistakes, which going in were a mandatory no-no if we wanted to win. There were missed tackles all over the place, and there was a hundred kajillion completions because of the Ty Law-esque cushion offered the wide receivers. All of this was combined into one incredibly painful four-hour-long contest, causing me to scream more out of anger than I have since, well, since the KU-MU game last November.

Still, considering the opponent and locale, the 14-point loss wasn't too bad. And, you could make an argument that the game was closer than that, as it certainly was throughout the first three quarters. Even while watching the game, I was still mildly pleased with the way we battled, the way we fought back, the way we forced Boomer Sooner to make adjustments at their own place. It was exciting stuff.

And now, three days after the fact, the game is even more exciting. Even more enjoyable.

Perspective, baby.

So, these thoughts, with all of their finality, will tend to shade on the optimistic, glass-is-half-full side. That's what happens when you have three days to ponder such events. Oh, and this piece (which is amazing, by the way, and a weekly-must-read) sort of helped as well (scroll down to KU-OU).

• First and foremost, I just want to make one thing clear. I'm not necessarily blaming our loss on the missed tackles. Yes, I understand that, given my postgame reactionary (if it's not a word, I'm starting the trend right here, right now; hop on board) that could fairly easily be inferred, but I do realize the mitigating circumstances. Oklahoma's offense was on the field for like 2 hours of real-life time, which is an exhorbiantly long time to stay out there and be expected to tackle world-class athletes, which Boomer Sooner has boatloads of. And, while I made reference to it above, you can't really blame the cushions either. Oklahoma has quite a plethora of athletes, and our DB's, notably Kendrick Harper, aren't quite up to that level. Sure, they can tackle well (for the most part) and are 'good', which is fine-and-dandy against most teams in the country. But against those 10-or-so teams that it won't quite work, you have to give up the short stuff and hope for incompletions to get off the field. It's just nature of the beast. Now, give Mangino a couple more years of consistently having a number next to our name, first-or-second place finishes in the Big 12 North and solid bowls and I think we'll have the kind of defense to keep up with the OU's of the world. For now, nuh-uh.
  
• Jake Sharp. Wow, where did that come from. I mean sure, he had an awesome half against Iowa State and a pretty good game against Colorado, but Oklahoma is an entire different beast altogether. And this is a team that wouldn't let Adrian Peterson run on them. Of course, that was pre-Ryan Reynolds' injury, and their defense is obviously much worse without him. Still, though, Sharp deserves a lot of credit for getting over a 100 in Norman. That one drive, too, was probably the high point of the game for me. It was at that moment(s), when Jake Sharp consistently found holes big enough for Mark Mangino and sliced-and-diced up the field for chunks of 15 and 20 yards that I thought 'hey, we can actually win this game'. But it wasn't just him, either. Jocques Crawford looked mighty fine in his action, and Angus Quigley had that one nice run off the shovel pass (more on that in about 3.8 lines). Whether it was our offensive line simply deciding to whoop some ass or Oklahoma's lack of Ryan Reynolds or something else (probably a combination of all three, as per usual), it was nice to see us run on a legitimately good defense. Hopefully we can do that again against the rest of the big boys on our schedule; if we can't, uh-oh.
• OK, as promised, here is what I have to say about the shovel pass. I hate it. Well, that isn't true. I really love it when used in moderation, like once-a-half. And wouldn't you know it; the first time we do it it's good for a large gain. But everytime after that, the Boomer Sooner D-Linemen were right there, ready to demolish whichever RB caught the ball (Crawford or Quigley, I don't think Sharp had one). I like it once-or-twice or, if you wanna be crazy, three times a game, but we seriously overdosed. And while it certainly wasn't the only reason we lost, by a long shot, it certainly did little to help.
• Speaking of Jocques Crawford, he helped out our kickoff return game quite a bit. I realize that Boomer Sooner can't cover kickoffs at all (about all they can't do, really), but it was still nice to actually get the ball beyond the 20.
  
• Todd Reesing's pick in the endzone coule have been a game-ender right there. But, as mentioned before, we didn't let it faze us too much, focred a three-and-out (or something like that, maybe they got a first down) and got the ball back and drove right back and scored. All was good, again. Still could have used the TD, but I was awfully proud that we bounced back to basically negate the INT.
• Finally, and this is obvious, but it still needs to be said. We desperately need a pass rush. We kinda-sorta had one at the beginning of the game, but as our defense stayed out on the field longer and longer, that quickly dissipated. I am eagerly anticipating D.J. Marshall next season after a year of redshirting and incoming recruits Tyrone Sellers and Kevin Young, as all of them profile as more complete-ends as our current crop. I still think Laptad can be a three-down DE, but Mangino ain't convinced as of yet, and we need him right now.
  

That's it. No more OU-KU talk. Starting tomorrow, it's all Red Raiders, all the time. Get ready for some offense. Wait, one more thing. Sam Bradford is dayum good, and I sincerely hope that he will be the Kansas City Chiefs QB, whenever he decides to play pro football.

Oh, and the game is now officially on ESPN. Still at the crack of dawn for me way out here in California, but the game was either going to be on ESPN or ESPN2, in sort of a competition with some Big 10/11 game (and honestly, if it ain't Penn State or tOSU, does it really matter? I mean, it is entirely possible that Northwestern is the third best team in that conference...), but, naturally, we won.

One final note: Guess who won't get to see the OSU-UT game? Oh, yeah, that'd be me, who instead will get to watch the sure-to-be-unforgettable UCLA-Cal game. I mean, maps have yet to be realized, but I'm no idiot.

Oh well. I can always watch the replay...

Each week, some of the better Jayhawk writers out there (including the head guys from Hawk Digest and KJ-IBT) will all get together and answer some questions. This week, I asked the questions, but the torch will pass between all five current members. If you are interested in joining the Roundtable, post a sample here (on this post, answering these questions) and send me an email at rockchalktalk -at- gmail -dot- com. With all of that said, let's get to the questions and answers.

1) Todd Reesing excluded, who is this offense's MVP? It seems like it should be a fairly easy question to answer, yet I have thought about it all day and have yet to come up with a definitive answer.

2) Who is your favorite player on this team? Kind of a random question, sure, but an interesting one I think.

3) Who is better, Iowa State or Kansas State? Why?

4) Moving away from Kansas (again) for a second, what are your thoughts on that monstrous machine down in Tuscaloosa? I am finding that story fascinating; not that I don't they are good, it's just hard for me to believe that they are THIS good THIS soon. I mean, just how good of a coach is Nick Saban?

5) Lastly, and I know we kind of talked about it last week, but what is your ranking of conferences right now? Is the Big 12 better than the SEC? Which is worse, Pac 10 or Big East?

6) And finally, Big 12 picks in the first week of conference action:

Oklahoma @ Baylor
Texas Tech @ Kansas State
Texas @ Colorado
Missouri @ Nebraska
Texas A&M @ Oklahoma State

Answers after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

We aren't perfect.

Any football team at any level will have their own fair share of issues. Even last year's New England Patriots happened to have some issues; ones that were taken advantage of in the Super Bowl, which led to their demise.

Even last season's Jayhawk team, which seemed to be such a magical group of kids (and it was), had a sizable laundry list of issues. You had the kicking problems, the punting problems, the punt return problems and the lack of defensive pressure. Not the largest of problems, sure, but still some issues to overcome. And that is what is key. The overcoming of the issues.

Really, so much of football can be broken down into two things in determining a winner and loser: who has more issues and who schemes around their issues more successfully? Last season, we were able to hide our deficiencies incredibly well, at least in 12 of the games, which is an incredibly large reason why we were Orange Bowl Champions.

And not to compare last season's team to this year, as this year's product has yet to prove it belongs in the same sentence, but this year's team is much worse in those two aformentioned questions. However, the season is still young and, despite the early-season loss at the hands of South Florida, there is still a chance that this season can end just as well as last year's. Not likely. Like, at all. But if we are to have much success at all, we are going to have to improve. So, here is a rundown of the answers to those questions that, so often, can define a football team and a season. The particular issue will be listed first, then with a potential solution on how to scheme around and/or fix the issue.

These issues have got to be fixed, because no way we even sniff the Big 12 North Title playing the way we have thus far.

Issue #1 :: The Running Game

Yes, we are talking about this again. The topic that has dominated much of the talk thus far in this newly born season, the running game, is back in the forefront. First, we were discussing the excitement that was coming our way in the form of Jocques Crawford, a physical specimen who is both large and can run really fast. Then, we were startled by the poor performances by both the newcomer Crawford and the incumbent slash-RB Jake Sharp, who was to be counted upon to replace much of Brandon McAnderson's departing production. The situation didn't get much better the next game, but there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in Angus Quigley. And while Quigley has played better than the other two have, particularly Sharp was has seemingly been taken out of the rotation entirely, it still hasn't begun to approach the tremendous display of a rushing attack we had last year.

Of course, much of that, if not all of it, has to do with the offensive line and, more notably, the two best and most important players on our offensive line a year ago; Anthony Collins and Cesar Rodriguez. Their replacements, Jeff Spikes and Jeremiah Hatch, haven't played horribly, but they have also repeatedly showcased that they are, in fact, freshman and aren't really ready to be depended upon in the same way we depended upon Collins and Rodriguez. This, combined with the relative averageness of the interior line, has given us little push on the O-Line.

However, whether it is the RBs or the O-Line to blame isn't of terrible importance. Because if it is the RBs, oh well, as we have tried just about every player who could possibly succeed this season. If it is on the O-Line well, then, OK, that sucks, but there likely isn't a better player on the bench. If personnel is the issue, we likely won't be able to fix it until this offseason and its subsequent opportunity for both further player development and the infusion of new talent.

How To Fix the Issue :: Again, we have to move beyond personnel. Taking that into consideration, there aren't a whole lot of solutions. However, there is one, a potential solution I'll call the Andy Reid Solution. Andy Reid, at least in the past years prior to Brian Westbrook's emergence as one of the best RBs in the NFL, ran the ball very little. Instead, Reid used high percentage passes such as shovel passes, screens and hot routes to effectively be his "running game", instead of actually running the ball.

Considering how incredible our QB is and how deep our wide reciever corps is, we definitely have the personnel to put such a strategy into action. We are already kind of creeping towards such a situation, given the differential in pass attempts and rush attempts, but look for the gap to widen even further the more and more the running game struggles.

Issue #2 :: Pass Rush

Oh boy. Honestly, I didn't think a pass rush could get much worse than we had last year. And yet, with the loss of James McClinton, it is substantially worse. Sure, we got in there a handful of times against Sam Houston State. Wow. Against all of the other teams, however, we were lucky to sneak in there once or twice a quarter. Honestly, none of our DTs have showed even a hint at replacing McClinton's pass rush up the middle, although Richard Johnson Jr. did have that one nice play against SHSU. Still, he figures to be awhile away from providing any semblance of a consistent pass rush.

On the outside, we actually might be better off than we were last year. Russell Brorsen is Russell Brorsen, the same halfway-decent pass-rusher off the outside that is a stronger player against the run. He isn't a bad starter by any measure; he just isn't a really solid pass-rusher. However, replacing the lane-stuffing DE John Larson is a trio of pass-rushers in Max Onyegbule, Jeff Wheeler and Jake Laptad. All three of them have shown flashes of pass-rushing ability, particularly Laptad, who has emerged as a really solid starting option at DE.

However, while flashes are nice to project for some future production, it isn't enough to win ball games. And, while Laptad figures to be a good player, we still need more pass-rushing.

The cornerback situation is substantially hurting our pass rush as well. Without Kendrick Harper, we are essentially left with one really solid CB in Chris Harris and another CB slot being filled by a revolving door of freshman (two redshirt, one true) who aren't ready yet to start or play any significant minutes. They are thinking far too much, going through their progressions far too slow to read-and-react to the speed of the college game. They are forced to give extremely large cushions so they don't get beat deep, which then allows the offense to simply take what they can get and find the gaping holei n the middle of the defense.

How To Fix the Issue :: Simply put, we need to blitz more. That is the easiest and simplest way to get to the quarterback more often. Of course, we can't afford to do that because of the CB issue, as mentioned above. Blitzing would leave Isiah Barfield (or Ryan Murphy or Corrigan Powell or whoever) on an island, which is simply a disaster waiting to happen.

With that said, here is my idea. Move Mike Rivera to a DeMarcus Ware/Shawne Merriman-type pure-rusher at DE/LB. I know we don't run a 3-4, which is important for such a position, but we could certainly get creative in lining him up in an effort to get him to the QB without being too short-changed in the secondary. We could also move Rivera to DE straight out, although that would be a radical move. In any case, we are going to have to do something extraordinary to solve the pass rush issue, as simply blitzing or dropping back a bazillion bodies in coverage ain't working.

Just some ideas on how to fix the season. More thoughts coming up throughout the week, as this week should be all about analyzing ourselves and trying to improve for the rest of the season. This bye week should be treated as a turning point in the season; either we continue to play mediocrely and plod along to a 7-5 record or we make some big-time improvements, fix these issues (at least to some extent) and compete for the Big 12 North Title.

Coming into last season, the running game was supposed to struggle. Big time. Jon Cornish, the leading rusher in both 2005 and 2006, had graduated, leaving a wide, gaping hole in the Jayhawks' backfield. Of course, that doubt in the running game was proven to be unfounded, as Jake Sharp and Brandon McAnderson combined to post some of the best offensive rushing numbers in Kansas history.

With McAnderson's graduation entering this season, people across the country again began to doubt the rush offense. However, the Kansas fanbase (me included) was far less woried coming into the 2008 season than the 2007 season. While Sharp and McAnderson were both largely unknown quantities heading into 2007, coming into this season we had Sharp, who was coming off an 800 yard season, and the 2007 JUCO Offensive Player of the Year in Jocques Crawford.

So, yea, complete confidence certainly wasn't the case entering the season, but it wasn't like we were panicking in trying to find a RB. And even during fall practice sessions, there were no poor reports concerning the running back depth chart. Well, I guess the two transfers could be counted, but not a single bad word was said of either Jake Sharp or Jocques Crawford. Everyone got all excited. We all expected our running game to shock the doubters and prophetize the believers. We all expected Jake Sharp to continue to be an excellent change-of-pace back, busting off big runs here-and-there. We all expected for Jocques Crawford to be all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips, earning the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Award and breaking some records along the way. Hell, maybe even to rush for 2,000 yards.

All of those expectations has provided a false sense of security thus far this season, as two consecutive terrible games by both Sharp and Crawford have made our running game incredibly nebulous. We have faced two fairly poor rushing defenses in FIU and Louisiana Tech, and yet we have struggled to get any push on the O-Line and to get any long rushing plays. Nearly every single play has seemed to go for 2 yards thus far this season. That is, nearly every single rush that wasn't run by #22.

#22, of course, would be Angus Quigley. He was the best running back on the field the first game of the year against FIU, but he only toted the ball 6 times, while both Crawford and Sharp saw double-digit carries. It was good enough to create some healthy discussion about Quigley potentially seeing some future carries along with the starting duo of Crawford and Sharp, but not enough to make it a serious issue. After all, you had to figure that the running game would improve substantially when Jeremiah Hatch was inserted into the starting lineup, when the line would have time to gel and when the running backs would get back in the swing of things. Then, the starting duo was even worse the second go-around against Louisiana Tech, even with Hatch in the starting lineup, forcing Mangino to allow Quigley a chance to earn some future carries.

And earn some carries Quigley did. He carried the ball 15 times; Crawford and Sharp carried it a combined 14. Quigley picked up 84 yards on those 15 carries; Crawford and Sharp picked up only 39 yards. Now, of course, you have the reasons why Quigley could have performed so much better. The defense was likely wore down, making it easier for Quigley to earn yards. The defense wasn't as motivated, with the end result already decided. He was able to get into more of a rhythm than either Crawford or Sharp, as we wanted to run the ball more to run out the clock.

Even giving credence to all of those ideas, it still makes sense to give Quigley some quality carries while the game is still close. Friday night would be a perfect time to begin to work him in to the rotation; see how I didn't say to slot him in as the starter and forget about the rest. As disappointing as Sharp and Crawford have been thus far to start out the year, they are still both incredibly talented and still deserve some chances to try and perform better. However, I think it is a must that Quigley sees at least a handful of carries in the 1st quarter Friday night, if only to see how he does early in the game where the potential excuses are fewer-and-farther-between. I'm not saying Quigley is the answer (but he might be), I'm just saying he deserves the opportunity to prove that he can at least be a portion of the pie; a piece of the puzzle.

He's earned it, Coach. Get him some big-time PT, because we need to be able to run the ball somehow, someway, and the only player on our team that has yet to prove that they can do that, no matter the opposition, is Angus Quigley.

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...