Playoff Talk Gains Momentum

CBS Reports Progress On Four-Team Plan

It looks like the coaches are on board. I favor an eight or ten team playoff that includes the six BCS champions, but I think this would move things in that direction. Make it so.

"I hear more and more coaches talk more favorably of the plus one. I don't think there are coaches looking for an eight or 16 (-team playoff)."

--Tommy Tuberville

The CBS link: http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10091824/2

Phog.net discussion on the proposal: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=172&F=2485&T=313701&P=1#S=172&F=2485&T=316209

Preview 2007: Secondary

Aqib Talib and KU secondary could explode in 2007 | photo: www.annependleton.com

Shell-Shocked or Experienced?

How can a secondary with Aqib Talib manning one corner finish dead last in pass defense in the Big 12? It's quite a riddle, but it starts with the loss of leader Charles Gordon. Add to that a graduation here, an injury there and maybe an academic casualty and all of the sudden you've got a true freshman starting at corner and major inexperience spread across the unit. Sure Jerome Kemp was a senior, but he played with some injuries and never really became the leader we expected. So, the result was a brutal year for the secondary and a lot of fourth quarter losses. Now the question is whether or not guys like Justin Thornton and Anthony Webb learned from the trial-by-fire campaign.

My guess is that Webb will turn out to be a first-rate corner by the time he is done at KU. By the end of the 2006 season, his fundamental play was showing a steady improvement. Thornton actually showed pretty good coverage in a lot of situations last year. He needs to improve on making the tackle after catch and playing the ball in the air. Darrell Stuckey is a solid safety and was really missed after going down with the injury in August. If he can have a healthy year, that alone will get the unit going in the right direction.

What can you say about Aqib Talib? With all due respect to the previous #3, Aqib is the best DB of the Mangino era. He's got the size, speed and most importantly instinct. Oh and throw in some major swagger. Aqib will play on Sunday and you could predict about 13 picks for Talib in 2007, but I suspect teams will finally stop throwing in his direction. Oddly though, teams still tested him all through 2006. Please continue that trend.

That pretty much takes care of the known commodities, but another reason to expect some improvement is that KU is throwing a lot of bodies into the unit. Former LB Arist Wright is now listed as a safety and the word is that Gary Green II is a corner (although today's LJW article confuses the issue mentioning him at RB during Friday's practice). Senior safety Sadiq Muhammed got some playing time last year and should provide depth. Phillip Strozier was a highly-touted recruit who could also figure into the mix.

KU went hard after DB's on the recruiting trail and the experts say they landed a couple of good ones. Rivals is projecting that corner Kendrick Harper will take Anthony Webb's job. I think Webb will beat him out, but I expect Harper to get plenty of playing time. Safety Patrick Resby on the other hand does look like a shoe-in to start at one of the safety positions. He was rated as a four-star recruit by Scout.com.

With all of the competition on the unit, it looks like we should get some improved play. The other factor is the promise of a better pass rush for 2007. A little more pressure on opposing QBs early in the season could help the secondary build some needed confidence before they head into the Big 12 wars.

One note -- both JUCO corner recruits from 2006 are no longer with the team: Blake Bueltel and Mike McCoy.

In House

Cornerbacks

3 Aqib Talib Jr. 6-2/195 Richardson, TX (Berkner HS)
Recruited: 2004 ** 4.5
 
20 Anthony Webb So. 6-0/175 Dallas, TX (South Oak Cliff HS)
Recruited: 2006 **** 4.5

4 Gary Green II Jr. 5-9/175 San Antonio, TX (James Madison HS)
Recruited: 2004 *** 4.4

14 Maurice Henry Fr. 5-8/175 Lawton, OK (Eisenhower)

45 Stanley Redwine Jr. RS 5-10/175 Lawrence, KS (Free State HS)

Safeties

25 Darrell Stuckey So. 16-1/202 Kansas City, KS (Washington HS)
Recruited: 2005 *** 4.49

46 Justin Thornton So. 6-0/185 St. Joseph, MO (Central HS)
Recruited: 2005 *** 4.78
 
41 Arist Wright So. 5-10/205 Houston, TX (Alief Taylor HS)
Recruited: 2005 ** 4.4 

26 Phillip Strozier Fr. RS 6-0/200 Kansas City, MO (Rockhurst HS)
Recruited: 2006 *** 4.55 

27 Sadiq Muhammed Sr. 6-0/190 Kansas City, MO (Hickman Mills HS)

28 Chris Clawson Fr. 5-10/180 Montgomery, TX (Montgomery HS)

19 Brian Seymour Sr. 6-1/190 Lawrence, KS (Lawrence HS)

Incoming

*** Anthony Davis DB -- 5-11/184/4.5 -- Tulsa, OK
*** Kendrick Harper DB -- 5-10/187/4.45 -- El Dorado, KS
*** Patrick Resby DB  -- 6-2/195 -- Corsicana, TX
** Isiah  Barfield ATH -- 6-0/175 --Haven, KS
** Chris Harris ATH  6-0 180 4.4 5.2  Bixby, OK
 

                                      |-----------Tackles--------------| |--Pass Def--|
2006 Secondary Stats  GP Solo  Ast Total   TFL/Yds  Int-Yds BrUp
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 Kemp, Jerome          12   53     29     82     3-12           .       4  
46 Thornton, Justin       12   35     11     46     1-3          1-0      4  
3  Talib, Aqib                 10   35       7     42     2-5          6-82    22  
20 Webb, Anthony        12   35       7     42      .             3-45     6  
25 Stuckey, Darrell          7   19     13    32     1-1              .       3  
41 Wright, Arist             12   15     12     27     1-2         1-28     2  
23 Bueltel, Blake              5   15      2     17      .                 .       4  
27 Muhammed, Sadiq     10   12     4     16      .               1-2      1  
30 Roux, Dominic           12    6      6     12      .                  .       2  
38 Brown, Raymond      12   10     1     11      .                  .       1   

Hoops Adopts the BCS System

Changing the Madness to March Stupidity

This article from the LA Times is a total crack-up and really shows the absurdity of the BCS.

"The Rose Basket, which lost No. 1 Ohio State to the title game, gets to replace its Big Ten anchor with Wisconsin. The Badgers will meet Oregon, which clinched the Rose bid by winning last weekend's Pacific 10 Conference tournament.

'We're thrilled to keep our traditional and geographical matchup,' Rose Basket chief executive Mitch Dorger said."

Kansas Starts Spring Practice

KU Football News: Spring Previews

http://www.kmov.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8NRGSUG0.html
"We've had some quarterbacks back there who had time to read the newspaper and have a cup of coffee before throwing the ball," he said. "I think we need improvement in the secondary. Don't get me wrong. But the best pass defense is a good pass rush."
--Agreed. Set the dogs loose.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/mar/14/retooling_begins_spring_practices/?football
“We have simplified some progressions and reads,” Mangino said. “We’re going to just put him in a situation where he has a couple of quick reads and an outlet. We won’t get into progression three, four or five. It’s futile. It doesn’t fit our personnel. It doesn’t fit my way of thinking, and it doesn’t fit Ed Warinner’s way of thinking.”
--I'll be interested to see how this and the route teaching method works out. Wide receiver play at KU has been solid, but never really All-Big 12 calibur.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/mar/14/kansas_football_notebook/?football
Perhaps to most intriguing is Maxwell Onyegbule, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound freshman moving from linebacker to defensive end.
“He has really looked good at that position, based on a few practices we had prior to bowl selection,” Mangino said.
--Other moves include Olaitan Oguntodu from  safety to linebacker, Sal Capra from linebacker to offensive guard and Raymond Brown from cornerback to wide receiver. Running back D’Marcus Lang and cornerback Mike McCoy are no longer are on KU’s roster.

KU Football: You Gotta Believe

Is It Time to Order Up Some Kegs of Kool-Aid?

The unbridled negativism that sifts into this thread makes me wonder how much the cynical KU football fans' attitude impacts results on the field. And let me first say that I'm a total hypocrite. I'm there with the cynics. I've been at the games and I understand there are good reasons why Kansas football fans are cynical. When OSU pulled off the onside kick, I said to myself, "We're in trouble."

When we missed the two-point conversion against Tech in 2004, I knew that would haunt us. I knew VY would pull it out at the end during the 2004 Texas game. I knew the game had changed when Kerry Meier went out against Baylor this year. I never could envision us getting a road win against Toledo on the road with a green QB and eight new starters on defense. And hey, that's just the recent history. I also know there are a lot of the 40k fan base that think like me.

Maybe road games are different, but at Memorial is it possible that that cynicism from the crowd is passed on to the players. I've always loved the atmosphere of the stadium crowd and the emotion involved. I mean you can pretty much feel it running all through your chest. The ups and downs -- you can always feel the tone of the crowd in the air. In fact, some games I can remember where it just seemed to be the will of the crowd that KU won (2003 Missouri, 2004 KSU, 2005 NU). On those days, I just knew we were going to win and a lot of people felt that way. I couldn't explain why, but a lot of KU fans felt that way and a lot of people outside of Lawrence didn't feel that way.

I've seen it work against us as well. The only logical reason for that KSU win over us in Manhattan in 2005 was the will of their student section. I was there and they wanted it and they never let up on the noise. And they won.

We've witnessed some crazy losses. And by crazy, I mean there are some games that defy all logic. The fans point the finger at Mark Mangino and staff for "bad play calling" and "poor strategy." Of course, wrong plays are called and sometimes you do get out game-planned, but it really feels like thats the easy answer -- blame the coach. There's the thought that Mangino has taken us as far as he can -- he's not a big game coach. That doesn't feel right to me. The improvement has been so vast since 2001 that it would defy logic that it would not continue until the final level is achieved.

It feels like we are percentage points away from where we need to be to achieve that 8-9 game win level each year (check the scores for a less subjective evidence). Obviously, the player's attitude/confidence level is a big key in the equation. As a fan base, how do we factor in on that remaining percentage that pushes us to the next level? How are we affecting the players' attitudes? Order me  a Kool-Aid. It can't hurt to look at the world through crimson and blue glasses, right?

This guy has the right idea.

KU Football Speed News

A Quick Rundown Of Recent Kansas Football News

Steve Tovar will coach the linebackers
A good thread on Phog provided some background on Tovar

Charlton Keith is Now an Oakland Raider
Moran Norris Re-signs with the San Francisco 49ers
Brian Luke signs with an ArenaFootball2 team in Fresno, California
LJW Story Link To Alll Three Items

Former KU Linebacker Don Davis Retires
LJW Story Link

NY Times Points The Finger

Get Some Boys, Get Some

This type of subtle attack thinly disguised as objective journalism pretty much defines the the NY Times approach. The schools are cheaters and the NCAA is a bloated, incompetent bureaucracy, look at me I'm an investigative journalist, yippee!!! Next week, I'll explain how all of the athletes are criminals with no chance of graduating. The sky is falling, buy more papers!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/sports/ncaabasketball/04ncaa.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&em&en=c6f3911c21aa1e04&ex=1173157200

KU Blog Media

A Fourth Blog Is Discovered

While doing a little "research" over the weekend, I stumbled upon another Jayhawk sports blog -- Jayhawk Nation. Looks like they've been in business for over a year and they get quite a bit of discussion going on. Another great resource for KU fans. Here's the full run down of KU blogs I know about:

Hawk Digest - Focused on Kansas football
Jayhawk Nation - Appears to be all KU sports with an emphasis on basketball
Phog Blog - The big one. Definitely geared toward Kansas basketball, but they'll comment on the other sports as well
Rock Chalk Talk - Best all-around KU sports coverage
AOL Fanhouse (Kansas Tag) - Recently figured that this link is a pretty good resource for KU football and Big 12 News (added 7/21/07)

I'd also like to mention that as far as the internet and "Web 2.0"  has come I feel like the search engines are pretty off base in the way they operate. If I search Kansas sports blogs, I should be able to find all four of the blogs listed above. I don't care how much optimization or links they have -- I want to see every blog on KU sports, with the one that has the highest traffic listed first. I find it insane that Hawk Digest doesn't even come up under Kansas Football Blog on Google. Yes, I know there's a whole job set based on boosting your ranking and some fairly simple tricks that do a world of good. Still, Google and Yahoo! as a search tool seem outdated. To me, they're both pretty inefficient, advertised search engines. That being said, I would guess that there are more unknown KU blogs out there. If you are aware of one, please post a comment with link and I'll add it to this entry and to my blog roll.

Back on KU resources, I thought I should note that I am aware that the newsfeeds aren't hitting my own "Jayhawk Network" page. I had a host company go out of business on me. I'll get it corrected, but I'm looking to improve the overall speed of the page as well.

2007 Preview: Linebackers

Destruction on Parade

You saw a little glimpse of it in 2006 -- the raw destruction that is Mike "God of Thunder" Rivera tracking down a ball carrier. It happened 90 times in 2006, but I'm not sure the Big 12 football world is quite ready for the anger storm that Rivera and his Hell's Angels linebacking crew are about to rain down on opponents in 2007. Here's a quick laundry list of why this will be KU's best unit in 2007:

• Even minimal improvement in play by the secondary and defensive line will free up this talented crew to wreck havoc. If the d-line comes on strong, hide the women and children.
• A full year of playing experience will mean these guys will be thinking less and moving by instinct
• These guys have been talked about for years, they're ready to deliver
• The unit has a legacy to uphold. The power of Gabe Toomey is with them.
• Ten months to think about that brutal loss to Mizzou

The fact that Rivera, Joe Mortenson and James Holt are the likely starters doesn't really mean too much. We'll see a lot of Brandon Duncan (assuming he is injury-free) and Jake Schermer. Some fans felt Schermer was maybe a little bit slower than the rest of the corp, but all five are solid Big 12 type linebackers. The more fascinating possibilities involve the switch of Olaitan Oguntodu to LB and three-star recruit Drew Dudley. Oguntodu played in the secondary last year and has impressive speed. I'd like to see him blitzing from the edge in passing situations. Perhaps he'll be a little better in his drops as well.

Dudley has been mentioned by the coaching staff as a possibility to play as a true freshman. That says quite a bit about his talent as this is a pretty deep corp of LBs.  Of course, he was ranked as the 19th best inside linebacker in the nation by ESPN.com so it's not like his skill level is a big secret.

So, while a lot of people will be zoned in on the QB battle during the spring game, I'll be focused on the linebacker crew because that orchestra of destruction is going be a lot of fun to watch.

Quick note -- all of the sudden this unit could use a coach.

In-House

Inside Linebackers

40 Mike Rivera Jr. 6-3/250 Overland Park, KS (Shawnee Mission NW HS)
Recruited: 2004 *** 4.58

16 Brandon Duncan So. 6-1/215 Garland, TX (Lakeview Centennial HS)
Recruited: 2005 **** 4.53

61 Ian Handshy So. 6-1/260 Lawrence, KS (Lawrence HS)
 
59 Sal Capra Fr/RS 6-3/245 Kansas City, MO (Rockhurst HS)
Recruited: 2006 ** 4.8

Outside Linebackers 

12 James Holt Jr. 6-3/215 Altus, OK (Altus)
Recruited: 2005 ** 4.6
 
8 Joe Mortensen Jr. 6-2/245 Clayton, CA (Clayton Valley HS)
Recruited: 2004 ** 4.55
 
58 Jake Schermer So. 6-2/230 Nixa, MO (Ozark HS)
Recruited: 2005 ** 4.65

44 Olaitan Oguntodu So. 6-1/220 Mesquite, TX (John Horn HS)
Recruited: 2006 *** 4.45
 
51 Dakota Lewis Fr/RS 6-1/215 Sulphur, OK (Sulphur HS)
Recruited: 2006 ** 4.61

36 Tang Bacheyie Jr. 6-1/205 Windsor, Ont. (Sandwich HS)
Recruited: 2005 *** 4.48
 

More Linebackers

53 Matt Zeleznak Jr. 6-0/215 Topeka, (Hayden HS)
43 Ted Hodges Fr/RS 6-1/215 Salina, KS (Central HS)
52 Jamal Murray Fr/RS 5-10/220 Wichita, KS (Collegiate HS)

Incoming

*** Drew Dudley OLB -- 6-2/212/4.6 -- College Station, TX
*** Justin Springer OLB -- 6-4/220 -- Los Fresnos, TX

                                   |--------Tackles----------------| |-Sacks-|
2006 LB Stats            GP Solo  Ast Total   TFL/Yds   No-Yds 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Rivera, Mike          12   63   27    90          8-29       2-15 
8  Mortensen, Joe      12   40   42    82        12-36       4-25 
12 Holt, James             8   17   12    29           2-6    
58 Schermer, Jake     12    7   10    17      
16 Duncan, Brandon    3    7     0     7            1-8      1-8  
61 Handshy, Ian           2    2     0     2   
44 Oguntodu, Olaitan   9    1     0     1   

Muck Fizzou, Mike Mallory and Mangino

KU Football News Links from KUsports.com

ESPN Is Offended By Our Shirt
And I was offended by their decision to choose the NBA over the NHL. Consider us even Big Brother.

Linebacker Coach is Louisville Bound
Details are little sparse at this time, but if this is a lateral move, I'm not sure I understand it. Consider this a KSU trend I'm not interested in following.

Mark Mangino Expands His Empire
Congrats on the new addition, coach!

Dezmon Briscoe Video

Dez Can Jump!

Man, this kid plays the ball better in the air than a lot of the veterans I've seen at KU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFMPYiIniE

Preview 2007: KU Defensive Line

Bounce Back

Did we miss Charlton Keith and Jermail Ashley last year? The theory was that we'd be able to plug in the reserves from 2005 and their loss would be minimal. It turns out that we may have actually underestimated Keith and Ashley. Along with the obvious factors, the end position was implicated a number times last year for the failure to mount a better pass defense. Perhaps it was just part of the overall change as the defense replaced eight starters. Still, fans and coaches now have a pretty high standard for the defensive line and the unit better get used to being compared to the Keith/Ashley peak.

Though 2005 wasn't up to that standard, two things did occur that bode well for the future:

1) The defensive tackles became a force and though Wayne Wilder is gone, James McClinton will be back and looking to make some noise. He did some talking in 2006 and he backed it up. You gotta love that. Our other experienced tackles are Caleb Blakesley and Todd Haselhorst. Blakesley had a great year for a freshman and Haselhorst can get the job done. He proved that when he played the position as a true freshman.

2) A lot of the younger players got some great experience at defensive end. Russell Brorsen actually started several games last year and held his own. This could be a breakout year for the junior. Both John Larson and Jeff Wheeler had their names called on big plays last year. Jason Thompson also got into the action as a true freshman.

So can the d-line bounce back in 2007? If redshirt freshman DE Maxwell Onyegbule can live up to the recent hype we're hearing (thread from Rock Chalk Wednesday), then things certainly look good. He's already listed as the starter opposite Brorsen at end. With their experience from 2006, Larson, Wheeler and Thompson should provide a great, aggressive rotation.

At tackle, McClinton is already a known commodity around the Big 12 and I suspect that Todd Haselhorst is ready to become the big-time player that we remember from his freshman year. Blakesley is a capable, young player that is continuing to improve.

As for the recruiting class, KU did a good job of building some depth. Getting Aaron Mack in would have been nice to create some competition for starter at DE, but again, if Onyegbule works out then its not that big of a loss. The best news is that it looks like we have a legitimate shot to redshirt all three.

In House

DEFENSIVE END
81 Russell Brorsen Jr. 6-4/240 Stillwater, OK (Stillwater HS)
Recruited: 2005 ** 4.8/40

47 Maxwell Onyegbule Fr/RS 6-4/250 Arlington, TX (Arlington HS)
Recruited: 2006 *** 5.02/40 

95 Jason Thompson So. 6-6/260 Dallas, TX (Madison HS)
Recruited: 2006 *** 4.7/40

87 John Larson Jr. 6-3/250 Overland Park, KS (Pembroke Hill HS)
 
84 Jeff Wheeler So. 6-7/250 Houston, TX (Clear Lake HS)
Recruited: 2005 ** 4.9/40

90 Richard Alspaugh Jr. 6-3/225 Overland Park, KS (Blue Valley Northwest HS)

71 Luke Templin So. 6-2/270 Andover, KS (Central HS)
 

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
93 James McClinton Sr. 6-1/285 Garland, TX (Lakeview Centennial HS)
Recruited: 2004 *** 5.2/40
 
72 Todd Haselhorst Jr. 6-4/300 Olathe, KS (Olathe East HS)

94 Caleb Blakesley So. 6-5/285 Ottawa, KS (Ottawa)
Recruited: 2005 *** 5.0/40

99 Jamal Greene Fr/RS 6-4/295 Kansas City, KS (Washington HS)
Recruited: 2006 *** 4.8/40

Incoming

*** Richard Johnson Jr. DE -- 6-4/255/5.0 -- Jefferson City, MO
*** Patrick Dorsey DT -- 5-11/263/5.22 -- Houston, TX
**  Jake Laptad DE -- 6-4/215 -- Jenks, OK

                              
2006 D-LINE STATS       GP Solo  Ast Total TFL/Yds Sck-Yds 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
93 McClinton, James      12   38   13    51    16-60     6-41
98 Como, Paul                12   26   17    43     9-31     5-21
81 Brorsen, Russell       12   18   15    33     6-13     4-11 
91 Wilder, Wayne          12   20   11    31     5-29     3-24
92 Allen, Rodney           12   10     4    14     3-21     3-21
87 Larson, John            10     8     5    13      3-9      2-8 
84 Wheeler, Jeff            12     5     2     7      2-22     2-22
94 Blakesley, Caleb        11    2     3      5      1-4      1-4
95 Thompson, Jason        3    2     .      2         .        .       
47 Onyegbule, Maxwell    2    1     .      1         .        .       
72 Haselhorst, Todd         6    1     .      1        1-1       .       .

Recruiting Rating Source: Rivals.com