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

The Good Guys...

• How can Kansas avoid another Oklahoma type game.
• One last look back at what happened with the defense against OU.
• Crawford vs. Crawford this weekend.
• Notebook 1,  Notebook 2,  Notebook 3
• Dezmon Briscoe quietly having a big season.
• We've talked about it this week and last,Big 12 North Title.
• Arist Wright has filled in well at the linebacker spot this year.
• Feature on Darrell Stuckey from the Tech perspective.
• KU Sports Head to Head Analysis.
• KU defensive coordinator among those trying to stop the spread.
• This weeks features, Team Analysis, Tale of the Tape, Mid week press conference,  Know thy Enemy:Texas Tech .

The Bad Guys...

• Red Raiders begin a tough stretch.
• Make or Break test for Tech??
• Tech not the only Big 12 team struggling with Pass defense.
• Texas Tech's offense leads the Big 12 in yards per rush.

My Thoughts...It's been a fun week of discussion with our friends over at Double T Nation and while they are a tough group to convince I do think we have as good a shot as any at a win today.

The group has convinced me that we won't be getting pressure on Graham Harrel, and also that the Kansas running game will quite possibly return to our early season form.  That said it looks like we are in for a shootout.  I said it at the beginning of the week and I'll stand by it, this game will be decided by mistakes.  Turnovers, penalties and capatilizing on the other teams mistakes in these categories will be where this one is decided. 

With that in mind Kansas is the best team Tech has faced to date, they will be playing us at home and in an early game two things that have spelled problems for the Red Raiders in the past.  This game means a lot for the Jayhawks and this season and I just think Coach Mangino has the team ready to seize the moment against a top notch Big 12 South opponent on homecoming. 

As part of our discussion we've often talked about the lack of respect these two teams have recieved so I just want to end by saying if Kansas wins this is a huge win for the Jayhawks over a worthy top 10 opponent.  If Texas Tech pulls this off they position themselves for a run at the south and a BCS bowl with a win over a tough top 25 opponent on the road.  This is a great game between to excellent teams and kicks of my full Saturday of football, can't wait.

Final Score: Kansas 45   Texas Tech 42

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

Notes and Tidbits...Spoke with both Earnest Norman and Kevin Young, both will be in town for this game and from the sounds of things there will be several others too speak of as well...also please don't forget to give your feedback on any questions you would like answered from Kevin Young during my interview with him next week.  You can email me or add them in the comments section of the post regarding the interview.

Also don't forget the live game thread...I should be there and I invite any of you looking to chat during the game will join me. 

Full List of Supplemental Notes released by the athletic dept...Highlights after the Jump into the post...

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The strongest, singular unit on this football team is undebatable. Clearly, it is the linebacking core, one of the best in the country and, clearly, the best in all of the Big 12. The starting trio is special, with Mortensen and Rivera both having All-Big 12 First Team potential and, just maybe, All-American potential. Oh, and James Holt is one of the fastest LBs in the Big 12, and is one of the better "third" LBS in all of the country. Honestly.

This unit couldn't get much better. The problem, of course, is that they are all seniors, meaning that we will be playing with a brand spankin' new linebacking core next season. So, that should be fun. However, we have plenty of atheltes (six of which are discussed here) to fill the holes created by the graduating trio, namely Steven Johnson, Justin Springer and Dakota Lewis. Oh, and don't forget Arist Wright. Or the physical specimen that is Josh Richardson, although he shouldn't be ready to play for another two years-or-so. And that isn't even mentioning Drew Dudley. Honestly, while it sucks to lose three tremendous LBs all in one year, we have more than enough bodies to fill in.

With that said, here is the three year depth chart:

--- Italics denote projected redshirt year

--- Bold denotes EMPTY space on depth chart

There is plenty to talk about, so let's get down to it. I'm not positive that Dudley is a MLB, but he has the size, so I'll run with it. I'm really excited for Steven Johnson and Josh Richardson, they both have potential through the roof. Plus, I didn't even put Schermer on here, who is almost certainly ahead of Richardson, at least, on the outside. However, I can't spend all day just previewing the linebackers, and he didn't quite make the cut.

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

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