Big 12 Spring Game Rankings

Headed in the Right Direction

Though I'm frequently told that KU fans don't care about football, the 8,200 that showed up for this year's spring game represented another increase. That figure was good enough for eighth in conference with seventh clearly in sight. You have to give Mark Mangino some credit as the attendance has increased each year under his regime. The "sparse crowd" days of Terry Allen seem so long ago.

 1. Nebraska: 54,288
 2. Texas: 42,500
 3. Texas A&M: 24,212
 4. Oklahoma: 21,020
 5. Kansas State: 16,732
 6. Oklahoma State: 15,000
 7. Missouri: 10,000
 8. Kansas: 8,200
 9. Iowa State: 7,000
10. Colorado: 5,800
11. Texas Tech: 3,000
12.  Baylor: "A sparse crowd"

Love for Mizzou, Nebraska and KSU

Jayhawks Are Fourth?

Checking with Blair Kerkhoff and his "Spring Fling" round up in the KC Star, he is enamored with both Missouri and Nebraska as north division title favorites -- a position which is by no means unique amongst sportswriters. It goes a little deeper though as I trolled through a recent Gridiron Board thread where most of the KU fans said we really didn't have a chance against Mizzou this year. Of course, a lot of that was bitterness over the move to Arrowhead and the impending catastrophic effects to the program which are now absolute fact on the world wide web.

In addition, the trend is to pick KU to finish behind the Wild Cats of Manhattan for a dazzling fourth place North Division finish. And yes, given the history of KU football, the skepticism is justified based on the exacting standards of the local sports journalists. Even if you could justify that KU could be better on paper in 2007 with a more experienced defense and set of quarterbacks, the find-a-way to lose events of the 2006 season would scare away even the most adventurous of sports experts. Plus you can throw in the loss of Jon Cornish and the interior O-line. So bottom line, I'm not blaming anyone for not jumping out on a limb for the Hawks; however, I would like to throw out some items to consider about what is the consensus "power trio" of the Big 12 North:

1) The Big Red Machine up north does appear to be gaining a little steam and a little swagger. And of course, QB Sam Keller is going to be an instant Heisman contender:

" .... Nebraska shouldn’t lose a beat with Sam Keller, a transfer from Arizona State with one year of eligibility."
--Blair Kerkoff

Still, I'd like a chance to evaluate his actual game performance, before we place these guys in the title game. I can think of a few QB transitions that have gone awry over the years.

2) The new Mizzou offense is clearly unstoppable behind Chase Daniel. Maybe, but a few powerhouses in last year's north division (NU, ISU) found ways to keep things in check at home against the Tigers. Plus, now that we've seen how it is supposed to operate and the league coaches have had an off season to study it, I suspect there will be a few rough outings in 2007. Of course, I'm very interested in how Bill Young will approach the black and gold "O" next season (by the way, his second team defense still struggled against the quick slant).

3) So that leaves us with the schizophrenic KSU program that appears to be primed to either finish in first or last. Perhaps third is a safe choice as the Cats like to balance things out -- road loss to Baylor, rip your heart out win over OSU or try a gigantic win over Texas, fall to in-state rival, then get humiliated in bowl game (insert at least we were in a bowl game comment here*).  So you say they're destined for the middle and you give them the edge over the Hawks due to hosting the game in purple land. I suppose a lot has to do with the performance of Josh Freeman. See this thread for informative debate on that one.

Anyway, I guess I'm a little skeptical on the crew that we've gone 5-4 against over the past three seasons. I like the fact that we have two QBs with Big 12 game experience that certainly seem to be able to rise to the level of say a Jason Swanson. Couple that with the concept that Bill Young won't be plugging in eight new starters on defense and it's not that hard to envision a team that can defend it's home turf like the one from 2005. Now if we could just find our annual weak road game win we'd be set. Any ideas?

*Applies to 2006 only. 2005 bowl attendees need not apply.

Post Spring Depth Chart

A Few Surprises Here and There

KU has officially released a depth chart. Everything pretty much adds up except the fact that wideouts Tertavian Ingram, Raimond Pendleton and Xavier Rambo are all absent from the two-deep. I really thought at least one of these guys would see significant playing time in 2007, and I was really shocked to see Angus Quigley lining up in the slot at the spring game. I still think he's a running back, but I hope it pans out. I will admit Raymond Brown looked pretty good as a receiver on Sunday.

Marcus Henry Takes Charge

Memorial Stadium 45 minutes prior to the start of the 2007 Spring Game

Spring Fling

Blue 48, White 0 -- I'll let you determine which one was the first team.

Official KU Athletics Coverage Link

"Geez look at Meier's hair. Sharp's got a pretty good mop going as well -- are we a football team or Lynyrd Skynyrd?"

• 8200 attendance -- continued improvement.
• There's quite a range of opinions on the Gridiron Board, but I give a slight edge to Reesing at QB. That's based on the fact that when he throws he really seems to deliver the ball. If he's throwing at an open receiver, he gets it in his hands. His escapability is also a big plus. Needs to hold onto the ball. Again, it's only a slight edge as Meier has his strengths as well. Either one of these guys can lead us to nine plus wins.
• Marcus Henry -- 6 rec  150yd  3 TD -- yes!
• B-Mac 15/80 and 2 tds.
• Talib played quite a bit at wideout. He is an awesome talent, but I like him focused on defense.
• Rivera played with the white team, possibly to balance things out (8 tackles). Mortenson (10 tackles, 1 sack) looked good -- he's got a mean streak as he even had a questionable hit on Meier. (Checking the local media today it looks as though Mortenson has edged Rivera at the moment for the starting spot)
• The quarterbacks were live in the first half. I like it. I think we're developing a real football attitude across the board.
• The O-line looks strong, I really don't think our back-up d-line is quite that bad.
• Looking at Marc Jones, I'm kind of wanting to go to the old Washington Redskins/Riggins two-tight end offense.
• We saw a lot of passing today, but I'd guess that we saw the very basic version of this offense. I'm also thinking Sharp's carries were limited strictly to keep him off of the opponents radar (wrong-tweaked foot injury).
• Interesting that KSU made our poster.
• Justin Thornton played defense.
• Angus Quigley played at wide receiver.
• Jake Sharp did play with a tweaked ankle. Dexton Fields and Tertavian Ingram did not play due to minor injuries.

Spring Is Here

Jayhawk's Have Spring Game Envy

While other Big 12 schools have put up gawdy numbers for spring games, Kansas will expect to see about 5,000 at today's game. The crazy thing is that is about five times the attendance from my first spring game early in this decade. Despite steady growth during the Mangino era, I'm still not sure how roughly 25,000 season ticket holders can pass on free admission, a free-t-shirt and the relaxed, festive spring atmosphere. No matter, the school is working on it -- KUsports.com link. My suggestion is to unveil a new mega-board to rival the Texas and Nebraska standard at the 2008 spring game. Surely such an aquistion is in our near future to keep up in the recruiting battles.

For your best preview of the today's game, I recommend today's KC Star article. For your recap/analysis, I recommend tomorrow's edition of Hawk Digest.

KU Plays Football

Of course there are some risks with actual scrimmage, but I like the idea of more scrimmage during the spring and even in August that the LJW recently reported on. Reps are good prep but actually playing football helps as well. Plus, as a player that's the kind of program that I would want to be in. Think of the freshman that redshirts -- it can be a full two years before you get to play actual football. If you want to advance, you've got to take some chances and I like the atmosphere coming out of the program right now. Perhaps, the program has been a little too much by the book. That worked to get us competitive, but now innovation could be the key to kicking down that door that we've been knocking on the past few years.

Ryan Wood On Staff

Count of posters during today's chat with Ryan Wood that think he is on the coaching staff = 2.

http://www2.kusports.com/chats/2007/apr/13/ryan_wood/

Bowl Bid For Navy

Are we allowed to make our own bowl deal like Navy?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/04/11/bc.fbc.poinsettiabowl.n.ap/index.html?eref=si_ncaaf

Brandon Duncan Out?

It's Starting to Look Official

Now that the LJW world is reporting on it, it's probably safe to say LB Brandon Duncan will leave the team. He came in as a big-time recruit out of Texas that the Longhorns kind of bailed on in the final recruiting stages. We saw some glimpses on the field, but never got to see the full potential. Mainly, it looks like it may affect depth at the position. However, you can debate the overall meaning here:

http://forums.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=172&FIX=1#S=172&F=2485&T=382502

Big 12 Blog Media

Big 12 Resource Page

Hawkdigest.com has added a page for the most critical blogs of the Big 12. The link is on the left or you can also get there from here:

http://hawkdigest.squarespace.com/big-12-blogs/

Jake Sharp Getting Bigger

Add the Weight, But Keep the Speed

The recent reports on the lightning quick Jake Sharp are intriguing. Evidently, he's putting on a little bit of weight to withstand the rigors of the D1 game. Obviously, the staff knows what they're doing, but I do hope they alter that plan if Sharp even loses a millisecond of his speed. His cut and acceleration are his game and I don't want to see that diminished from both a competitive and entertainment standpoint. I think we've learned from experience though as Clark Green was allowed to bulk up too much in the middle of his career. Do not let Sharp make that mistake.

The early feedback is that it's paying off. He's already becoming a good pass blocker and that means he'll be on the field more. Also, his body fat is still at 7.5%. Looking forward to watching #1 in the spring game next Sunday.

Story Link: http://www.topix.net/content/kri/4185963869369407963035468383183988921121

KU Football Open Practice Articles

QB Battle Plus Position Changes

Ryan Wood's Notebook today mentions that Justin Thornton was working strictly as a wide receiver and Bradley Dedeaux was working with the d-line. Both moves do make some sense, but I am a little surprised about Thornton, considering our need for depth in the secondary. He does have a good frame for wideout though, so I'm anxious to see the results of this experiment during the spring game.

In another LJW article, the competition at QB is discussed. I found this quote on Todd Reesing to be interesting:

"Reesing, meanwhile, is just 5-11 and 190 pounds and doesn’t have the running ability Meier has. Reesing’s best moments in 2006, though, came when he was flushed out of the pocket and was forced to improvise. Instead of tucking and running, Reesing kept his head up and found receivers for big gains multiple times."

I guess I would agree that Reesing continues to look for a receiver, but I think he's a pretty good runner. I would describe him as having a few open field moves where as Meier is more straight up speed. I also see Reesing making guys in the backfield miss him, whereas Meier needs a few steps to get going.