KU Lands 14th Ranked Center

Hatch Will Be a Jayhawk

Jeremiah Hatch (6-3/301) commited to Kansas yesterday according to the Lawrence Journal World. Hatch is the 14th ranked center in the nation and eases the pain of losing senior center David Ochoa to graduation. As rated by Rivals.com, KU now has nine three-star commitments.

Rivals Page on Hatch
Phog.net Discussion

2007 Commitments

PS  STAR Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
CB  ***  Brian Murphy/Lawrence, KS - 5-8/165 - 06/21/2006
LB  ***  Drew Dudley/College Station, TX - 6-2/221/4.59 - 07/24/2006
LB  ***  Steven Foster/Sedgwick, KS - 6-2/235/4.60 - 10/6/2006
CB  ***  Kendrick Harper/Butler County CC - 5-10/185/4.45 - 12/1/2006
DB  ***  Patrick Resby/Corsicana Navarro CC - 6-2/195-12/10/2006
RB  ***  Carmen Boyd-Anderson/Jacksonville, TX - 6-1/200/4.5-12/11/06
DE  ***  Aaron Mack/Phoenix, AZ - 6-3/240/4.6 - 12/17/06
OL  ***  Chet Hartley/Butler County C.C. - 6-4/310/5.0 - 12/17/06
OL  ***  Jeremiah Hatch/Dallas, TX - 6-3/301 - 1/1/2007
WR  **   Ryan Murphy/Lawrence, KS - 5-9.5/170 - 06/09/2006 
WR  **   Isiah Barfield/Haven, KS - 6-0/175 - 06/29/2006
DT  **   Patrick Dorsey/Houston, TX - 6-0/255/5.30 - 07/27/2006
WR  **   Chris Tuck/Dallas, TX - 6-4/200/4.50 - 05/22/2006
QB  **   A.J. Steward/St. Louis, MO - 6-4/210/4.6 - 11/19/06
DE  **   Richard Johnson/Jefferson City, MO - 6-4/255/5.0 - 12/10/06
DE  **   Jake Laptad/Jenks, OK - 6-4/214/4.9 - 12/17/06

Texas Evens The Score

Big 12 Hits .500

With the 26-24 Texas win over Iowa in yesterday's Alamo Bowl, the Big 12 moved to 3-3 for the 2006 bowl season. Of course, the south division is doing the heavy lifting by going 3-1 thus far. The north is slipping back into its stereotype as a weak division with a nice 0-2 showing.

Sour Grapes

Of course any negative comments toward Mizzou from a KU source are purely sour grapes, but after watching the Sun Bowl this week a few things are really starting to bother me:

• It feels wrong to have the MU offensive coaches read the defense as they set up and give Chase Daniel the play at the last second. Maybe, I'm old-fashioned, but back in my day, it was up to the quarterback on the field to read the "D" and make an audible.¹ No, I don't think there should be a rule against it, and yes I understand that coaches are pretty involved in the overall outcome and strategy of the game anyway. This just feels a little over the top to me.
• Secondarily, when they are making the call from the sideline, they should be on the sideline. If they are standing on the field, it should be a penalty.

Yes, I am bitter about KU not being in one of the 900 bowls that are being played this year.

1) Maybe I'm wrong about MU using this method. I am strictly basing this on observations from televised games and watching the Tigers in person over Thanksgiving. Being at the stadium, I realized that Mizzou employs this quite a bit and the coaches are on the field when the ball is snapped a significant number of plays. Please correct me if you have some insight on this practice.

Nick Quartaro Resigns

What Does It Mean?

By now the news of Nick Quartaro's resignation has spread like wildfire through the Jayhawk football fanbase. Speculation is that it was a forced resignation. Time will tell but there is no question that Quartaro has been abused pretty severely over the years on the message boards. Mainly, fans have taken issue with playcalling in close games. Certainly fans will remember not being able to pick up a third and one versus A&M this year or not being able to generate a single point in the second half versus Texas Tech in 2004 (a preview to last night's Minnesota meltdown). However, probably the largest concern this year was the perceived mis-use of Jon Cornish all year long. It can be argued a number of different ways, but the reality is that KU had trouble holding onto leads late despite having the Big 12's leading rusher. That alone represents a fairly significant problem.

Still, the rejoicing by the anti-Quartaro club is a bit premature. Like the departure of Glen Mason, there are two components to this. Getting rid of the problem, then finding a replacement that is actually better. As we saw starting in 1997, things can actually get worse.

Speculation on the Phog Board has produced names like Dirk Koetter, Rick Neuheisel, John Latina and many more. Others fear an internal promotion. Either way, KU's two biggest areas of inconsistency (secondary and offense) over the past few years have now experienced coaching changes following a disappointing 6-6 season. It looks as though Kansas is pretty serious about correcting problems and moving to the next level.

Story links on Nick Q's departure: LJW | Wichita Eagle | UDK

Bowl Meltdowns

It was bad enough when Mizzou choked away their two-touchdown lead to fall to Oregon State 39-38, but Minnesota created a true masterpiece by giving it all up to Texas Tech. The Golden Gophers led 38-7 before falling in overtime 44-41. No one has ever looked as helpless as Glen Mason did in last night's fourth quarter.

The Tech comeback was pretty crucial for the Big 12. The conference gets a split for the day and now has a 2-3 record for the bowl season.

Tough Start

One for Three

The Big 12 got off to a rough start in bowl play with a couple of embarrassing losses last night. The day started all right as Oklahoma State survived a late scare by Alabama and held on for a 34-31 Independence Bowl victory. Dantrell Savage led the Cowboys with 112 yards and a TD on 23 carries. Things got ugly in the evening as Cal spanked Texas A&M 45-10 in the Holiday Bowl and Rutgers schooled KSU 37-10 on a slippery field at the Texas Bowl. Marshawn Lynch led the Bears with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

The Rutgers domination of KSU makes it a little tough to evaluate the progress of the WIldcats. On the one hand, you have the big win versus Texas in Manhattan. However, the last two losses put that into question and actually make you wonder about Texas. KSU is obviously a young team that struggles to stop the run. That should improve with experience. On the offensive side of the ball, the regression of young Josh Freeman is a little concerning. It's probably just the inconsistency of a freshman QB (KU fans know), but the flood of turnovers in the last two games will have to be corrected or 2007 could be a tough one for the Purple People. Still, a 7-6 record in year one is pretty impressive for Ron Prince. Plus, I think everyone will be a little wary of playing the Cats in Manhattan.

Today's Big 12 Action:

 Missouri vs Oregon State, Sun Bowl, 1:00 p.m.
 Texas Tech vs Minnesota, Insight Bowl, 6:30 p.m.

The Missing LOI

Word on Aaron Mack

The information on the lack of an LOI for Phoenix College defensive end Aaron Mack has been pretty scarce. However, Grayhawker over on the Rivals board indicated that Mack needs to finish up a few more courses. Here's the link to the thread.

Cornish Headed to Shrine Game

Credit: Bill Carter

One More Game

KU fans will get one last chance to see senior running back Jon Cornish perform at the college level. Cornish was selected to play in the Annual East-West Shrine Game at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on January 20. Cornish will play for the West team which will be coached by Dan Reeves and includes several Big 12 players including Nebraska QB Zac Taylor and ISU running back Stevie Hicks. The East team will be coached by Don Shula.

Shrine Game Website

West Roster Link

Collins Leaves KU

Assistant Headed to UCF

Yesterday's news that Earnest Collins would leave Kansas to become the secondary coach at Central Florida was a little surprising. Technically, it's a move up in that he is just the cornerbacks coach for KU (also special teams coordinator), but it's a step down to a 4-8 Conference USA team. However, coaches are a little nomadic, so we probably shouldn't read too much into it.

The critical issue is how it will affect the program. A lot of fans will be quick to point out that the pass defense wasn't exactly stellar this season. True, but Collins did cultivate talented corners Charles Gordon, Aqib Talib and Theo Baines. Also, though Anthony Webb had his struggles, he definitely showed improvement throughout the season as a true freshman thrown into the fire.

Mainly, I think KU may have some trouble replacing some of the emotional fire that Collins brought to the sidelines. From a recruiting standpoint, Rivals only lists Collins as being in on one recruit (DE Aaron Mack), so the loss isn't too big there. Hopefully, KU has a good, energetic replacement in mind and good luck to Earnest with UCF.

Earnest Collins Profile

In the News Today

In-Depth article from the Journal-World on JUCO LOIs

Farewell to Bravenet

A New Look

By now the URL re-direct should be in full effect and you're viewing a brand new Hawk Digest. While the old host (Bravenet) has been good to me, there were a few limiting features that meant it was time to move on. The main issue was that the Bravenet blogging service wasn't working very well with the search engines. Secondarily, the templates were pretty limiting. There are two key features that I will miss though -- the tagboard and the archiving system. Hopefully, I'll be able to reduplicate those items in the future.

There are some hangovers from old site. All of the old articles have not been moved over yet. Bravenet doesn't provide an export, so that will probably take some time. Also, once they are moved over they probably won't look as pretty as they did in their original format, but the info will be there. For now, I have a link to the old archive that will be active until all files are transferred.

It'll take some time to fully realize a lot of the new tools here with Squarespace, but I did incorporate a quick news section to the left that I'll use much like the tag board on the old site. Other than a new look, the other current improvement is more essential football links. If nothing else, I've found myself using Hawk Digest as a jumping off place to get to specific site pages -- link the Rivals Commit page. So, enjoy and now we can get back to talking about football.

Why All the Excitement?

Filling the Holes

Opposing fans and critics of Mark Mangino are questioning the enthusiasm over the trifecta of recruits that orally committed to the Kansas football program this past Sunday. After all the 2007 class is still ranked fifth in the division and tenth in the conference. For the KU optimist though, it's pretty simple -- the Jayhawks have addressed the major personnel issues despite what should be a tough recruiting year (high expectations not met, several close losses on TV).

Every KU fan wants some help in pass coverage, so people were thinking secondary -- enter three-star JUCO defensive backs Patrick Resby and Kendrick Harper. Of course, it became clear as the season progressed that we were really missing some pressure from the defensive end position. Throw in JUCO DE Aaron Mack for some immediate help.

The other areas of concern -- losing the core of the offensive line and stud running back Jon Cornish. No problem -- here comes three-star JUCO OL Chet Hartley and highly-touted Texas running back Carmen Boyd-Anderson at 6-1/200 lb. and 4.5 speed.

Please note -- recruiting accolades and stars do not guarantee future success. However, recruiting season is for the optimists and from that perspective it's been a good week. It'll be tough for the Hawk's to match the 2005 and 2006 classes, but it sure looks like the program is building depth across the board.

Today's News Links:
Journal World: Fuzzy Math Helps Jayhawks

A Big Sunday

More Links on Yesterday's Commits
LJW story
Aaron Mack College Page
Jake Laptad High School Page

Recruiting Heats Up

Hawks Land Three

According to the Rivals site, KU landed the following verbal commitments today:

Chet Hartley/OL
Three stars --  6-4/310/5.0 -- El Dorado, KS (Butler County C.C.)
Other interest: Arizona State, Florida State, Illinois
Rivals Link

Jake Laptad/DE
Two stars -- 6-4/214/4.9 -- Jenks, OK
Other interest: Tulsa
Rivals Link

Aaron Mack/DE
Three stars -- 6-3/240/4.6 -- Phoenix, AZ (Phoenix College)
Other interest: Utah
Rivals Link

2007 KU Verbal Commitments
PS  STAR Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
CB  ***  Brian Murphy/Lawrence, KS - 5-8/165 - 06/21/2006
LB  ***  Drew Dudley/College Station, TX - 6-2/221/4.59 - 07/24/2006
LB  ***  Steven Foster/Sedgwick, KS - 6-2/235/4.60 - 10/6/2006
CB  ***  Kendrick Harper/Butler County CC - 5-10/185/4.45 - 12/1/2006
DB  ***  Patrick Resby/Corsicana Navarro CC - 6-2/195-12/10/2006
RB  ***  Carmen Boyd-Anderson/Jacksonville, TX - 6-1/200/4.5-12/11/06
DE  ***  Aaron Mack/Phoenix, AZ - 6-3/240/4.6 - 12/17/06
OL  ***  Chet Hartley/Butler County C.C. - 6-4/310/5.0 - 12/17/06 
WR  **   Ryan Murphy/Lawrence, KS - 5-9.5/170 - 06/09/2006 
WR  **   Isiah Barfield/Haven, KS - 6-0/175 - 06/29/2006
DT  **   Patrick Dorsey/Houston, TX - 6-0/255/5.30 - 07/27/2006
WR  **   Chris Tuck/Dallas, TX - 6-4/200/4.50 - 05/22/2006
QB  **   A.J. Steward/St. Louis, MO - 6-4/210/4.6 - 11/19/06
DE  **   Richard Johnson/Jefferson City, MO - 6-4/255/5.0 - 12/10/06
DE  **   Jake Laptad/Jenks, OK - 6-4/214/4.9 - 12/17/06

Kansas Football Blog

www.annependleton.com

The Mission

Watching the launch of a cool new KU blog called Rock Chalk Talk this week got me to thinking that I really needed to set forth the mission of Hawk Digest. The decision to start this thing didn't come easily. I toyed with the idea of blogging the KU football team for about two years. Finally, I jumped in full force a few weeks into this season. The debate was whether or not it was really needed. The Lawrence Journal-World has a critically-acclaimed site in KUsports.com  that does an awesome job of covering all KU sports. I've been around a lot of Big 12 sites this year and the LJW site is hands-down, the best. In addition to the LJW, there are three KU football message boards out there that actually provide pretty good info and discussion -- Phog.net, KUsports and Jayhawkslant.com. Of course, the Slant and Phog also provide recruiting info.*

So with all of that available what would a blog offer? I really didn't know, but as I was searching around I found out that K-State and most of the other Big 12 schools had a football-focused blog. Phog Blog is an excellent KU blog, but it's pretty focused on basketball. With that info in hand, I decided KU football really deserved a blog just to keep up with the Big 12. Sort of like gigantic video boards, it could be critical for recruiting.

From there I started to think about what a blog could provide. I settled on the idea that a good football blog should offer a few things:

• A condensed look at all of the major news
• A filter for the quality information and rumors that flow through the message boards
• Recruit signings and class updates with a little analysis
• Opinion on the games, program and conference

So I came up with the idea that it should really be a digest of all things KU football. The URL hawkdigest.com followed, but I can't really remember why I passed on Jayhawk Digest.** The site has really held pretty much to those objectives, but I'm still looking to improve. In the meantime, the posts will keep coming and let's hope the Hawks are thinking about 2007.

*It's generally accepted that the Phog.net gridiron board is the most popular KU football message board, but JayhawkSlant is better at covering football recruiting.
**There may have been a magazine called Jayhawk Digest for a while. That may have been why I avoided that name.