Nails. Money. Gutsy. Remarkable. Elway-esque. Underrated. My hero.
Beyond all of that, he might be the best QB in Kansas history. Already.
Why?
Let me set the stage for you. It's 3rd and 9, with the score 13-7. We are on our own 21 yard line, and there is 15:00 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
Reesing drops back, but can't find anyone open. So he decides to tuck the ball and run, scampering for 17 yards and a much-needed first down.
These are the plays that are made against Kansas.
We don't have the players to make these kind of plays. These "impact-type" players are always picked up by the Texases and Oklahomas and Nebraskas of the world, and we are left with the Adam Barmanns of the world.
But then comes Todd Reesing.
He has most of the tools a great QB has. An incredible understanding of what you want to run. The ability to scramble around the pocket and even scamper for a big run now and again. Accuracy on short passes, enough arm for the long ones. Oh, and he grew up in Austin, Texas. Longhorn Country.
So why, exactly, did he go to Kansas?
Oh, because Texas didn't want him. Neither did Texas A&M. He is way too short (he is listed at 5'11" but is really closer to 5'9") to play in the Big 12, they thought. Well, guess you were wrong.
Besides the remarkable-ness of Todd Reesing, there were plenty of other positive occurrences in the CU-KU game.
--> James Holt played a career game. Defensive player of the game, without a doubt, as he posted 15 tackles (12 solo). Every time you looked up to where the ball was, there was #12, around the ball making a tackle. He played absolutely phenomenal. He is looked over because of the two big names starting next to him, Joe Mortensen and Mike Rivera, but Holt played like the best of the bunch today.
--> Our run defense is the awesome. They averaged something like 1.5 yards a carry, and even though they seemed to break a tackle or two and fall forward play after play, they never, ever broke a big running play on us. Credit that to James Holt, mostly, along with Joe Mortensen.
--> Speaking of the linebackers, I was very disappointed in the missed tackles by Mike Rivera. He played pretty bad football most of the game, and he is proving again and again that he is overrated. Holt is a better LBer IMO, and today is the best example of that. Holt makes the tackles he is supposed to and is always where he is supposed to be, Rivera is a little bit too much of a free spirit and roams too much, only to blow a tackle.
--> Jake Sharp is a very good running back. He is still getting stronger and learning how to bounce off tacklers, etc., but right now he is the best guy we have. I love BMac, but Sharp is just more talented. I like splitting the carries, but yeah.
--> Marcus Henry needs to learn how to catch the freaking football. And once he does, try not to fumble. Thank you! Staying on the topic of WRs, where was Dez Briscoe? Like all day? I trust Dez more than anyone else at this point, we need to find a way to get him the ball at some point.
Much more on the game tomorrow and Monday, and we will do a Film Review on Tuesday.
Next week we have to "prove ourselves" for the third time to the national media, this time down in College Station.
ROCK CHALK!