CAN THE JAYHAWKS FIND THE SPARK?
In his Big 12 power rankings yesterday, Blair Kerkoff asked whether or not KU had "anything left in the tank." I think that really points to one of the significant issues with not being able to break through with a big win for the 2008 season so far. Both emotionally and physically, I think it's tough for ascending mid-level teams reaching for the elite status to withstand the beating taken over a full season.
I think we watched that scenario play out with the ISU program under Dan McCarney. Even when they were good, they always seemed to struggle late in the season. For teams that don't have a lot of talented depth that becomes a problem -- you can only play on emotion so long and the physical toll is going to start to show in November. ISU always has that tough non-con with Iowa. This year KU took on USF and you hope that game prepares you to play with high level Big 12 competition. The reality is we took a hit on confidence and now the physical toll is evident as even Mangino is describing us as a poor tackling team. When a team is not tackling, I look to physical fatigue and the mental edge.
Playing a weak non-con will draw media skepticism (though not for Texas Tech or UT), but the reality is that's a non-factor as the Big 12 provides all the competition you need. Until we've added another 20,000 seats to Memorial and consistently sell out 70k, we'll need to use the four non-cons to develop our transition players.
SPARK II
There's been some discussion on the boards about the fact that under Mark Mangino the Jayhawks rarely quit. Some fans felt that there was some quit in the Texas Tech game. That's up for debate, but I did see the Jayhawks finally quit in 2006. I really couldn't blame them after what they had been through. It was the first half of the Colorado game and that is the worst performance the team ever put together under Mangino.
Of course, you know that Mangino pulled Todd Reesing's redshirt at halftime and the kid came in and lit a fire under the Jayhawks that literally burned through the 2007 season. Some of the veterans really took advantage of that spark and Reesing's passion for the game ... and winning. Guys like Anthony Collins, Aqib Talib and James McClinton showed a lot of emotion on the field and backed it up. It was almost like they had been waiting for a big time QB to show up. For years the Hawks had to try to slug it out with a constant rotation at the QB position. It was like, "now we have a winner at QB, forget about it, let's do some damage."
And they did.
All of the sudden though, Reesing is a veteran (it happens fast in the college game) and a marked man in the Big 12. It's time for some young players to step up and show some spark. It's time to show us that you're here to win and not just taking up space. There are veterans out there that have been battling for four or five years. Take a look at what James Holt is doing. Get inspired -- get in the game -- get in the battle -- play football and win. It's fun, I guarantee it.