Mizzou Sanity: Kansas football

Showing posts with label Kansas football. Show all posts

Monday, September 17, 2007

Mizzou Links, 9-17-07

Well I guess the big news stemming from yesterday is the fact that Mizzou Football is now ranked #25 in both the AP and USA Today polls. That's cool, I guess. And we should probably move up a few more spots with a win and an off-week...have to figure a few teams ahead of them lose in the next two weeks. Looks like the MU/NU game will pit two teams ranked somewhere around #20.
Ziggy Hood says that Mizzou defenders are over-running the ball. I wholeheartedly agree. We all see the problem with arm-tackling, and over-running is usually the main cause of that. The over-pursuit was also what allowed those trap plays to work. The DE's flew toward the ball before realizing what was going on, and they got sealed off, opening up the outside. Can't happen against a team with an actually good RB. That said, Saturday was definitely an improvement over the previous weeks.
Dave Matter empties the notebook on the WMU game. Good to see that somebody else shares my assessment that those Daniel INT's might end up being a good thing. He seemed to need a reminder of his mortality, and that worked out pretty well. Would have been nice to see him set that record, though.
Graham Watson does a little Monday Morning QB'ing...
I guess there's been a bit of fallout regarding Mark Mangino's ripping into a KU player on the sideline. Uhh...I'm sorry people's ears were offended, but...IT'S FOOTBALL. WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU EXPECT TO HEAR WHEN YOU PLACED A MICROPHONE ON THE SIDELINES??
JUCO forward Keith Ramsey visited Columbia this weekend and apparently enjoyed himself, though he held off on committing. Inside Mizzou and PowerMizzou have more. (And on a side note, I'm seeing that Gabe is doing more of the Huskers Illustrated style of headlines...on the PM front page, the main headline is "Did Ramsey Make a Decision on Visit?" Spoiler alert: no, he didn't...and I hate headlines like that.)
Finally, MU Soccer certainly held its own this weekend in California, but after losing a tight one to #1 Stanford on Friday night (3-2), they fell to #3 Santa Clara yesterday afternoon, 2-1. Michelle Collins scored her fifth goal of the season early on, but MU couldn't quite hold on. I'll be disappointed if they fall too far in the rankings after their strong performance.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Mizzou Links, 8-30-07

I was a day early in my 'why blogs are great' sentiment. Yesterday produced the best reason yet: "Cut to the Chase." I love that Pinkel agreed to this, I love that it's going to be a weekly thing, and...yeah, I love blogs.
Today's player profiles: the Trib talks to Darnell Terrell, the Missourian profiles asst Cornell Ford and a couple of his prized recruits, PowerMizzou also takes on some "St. Louis sons", and the KC Star takes on Juice Williams and...Kirk Farmer?
In basketball recruiting (basketball? what's that?), Inside Mizzou has a Laurence Bowers update. Spoiler Alert: he likes Mizzou. Meanwhile, back to football, Tyler Wilson's still down to just two teams (Spoiler Alert: one of them's Mizzou), but he still isn't deciding...
Clone Chronicles takes a look at the ISU depth chart for tonight's game against Kent State.
Corn Nation does the same for Saturday's NU/Nevada game.
Looks like KU will be playing as many freshmen as Mizzou this year. Followers of Mizzou recruiting will recognize two of the names on the list...former Mizzou targets Carmon Boyd-Anderson and Dezmon Briscoe.
Buffs.tv previews CU/CSU.
Via Bring On the Cats, here's a quick (and relatively optimistic) look at the KSU season. It doesn't make much mention of the turmoil and strangeness presenting itself over the last few weeks, but...I'm not sure that makes a difference with this team. Ron Prince did a lot of things that annoyed the crap out of me last season and made me think KSU was going to stink for quite a while...then I looked up at the end of the season and they were 7-5. So whaddo I know...

Monday, August 20, 2007

I'm running late on the Links now because I had to watch that Indy Bowl highlight video from top to bottom again...I take complete credit for that comeback, by the way. I was recording the game, and I turned it off about two plays before Marcus King's interception. That was obviously the catalyst.

Another new O-line commitment over the weekend. The Beef made a great point on the phone this weekend...with as many high schools that incorporate the spread offense now (especially in Texas), there's really no need for us to ever recruit another O-lineman who isn't fully versed on the spread's intricacies. I haven't paid attention, but I'm sure folks on the message boards are whining "Ohhhh, he's not a big-time recruit!" or whatever, but...well...tough. Meanwhile, Jeff Ermann catches up with Cahokia's finest...new TE commit London Davis.
Graham Watson summarizes the offense's massacre of the defense on Saturday's scrimmage. I'd like to point out that this was mostly done against the #2 defense, not the #1, and while that shows that our depth isn't very good...well...that's not as much of a problem as not having a decent #1, right? Honestly, with two weeks to go before the season starts, I'm still a bit worried about our pass rush, which was my #1 concern all along. Sounds like the run defense might get a boost from formations where Ziggy Hood occasionally works from the DE slot, and it also sounds like Sean Weatherspoon and a healthy Van Alexander will make the losses of Marcus Bacon and Deke Harrington pretty palatable. If Darnell Terrell can get back to full speed by September 1, then I'd say the #1 defense is in pretty solid shape. All the defense has to be this year is competent. That's what I keep telling myself.
Gabe has a nice Week Two Recap for your reading enjoyment. We bag on Gabe for always being wrong in his recruiting predictions (well, it seems that way anyway), but there's no doubting that he goes all-out on coverage.
LOTS of practice coverage in Sunday's Trib. Joe Walljasper has his own Week Two Recap, and then he catches up with Mr. T Rucker, while Dave Matter talks about Tony Temple's damn-impressive recovery from the bruised knee that scared the bejeezus out of everybody a couple weeks ago. Meanwhile, if Danario Alexander is the best #4 receiving option in the conference, and Jared Perry is maybe the best #5, I guess Jeremy Maclin might be the best #6? Sweet merciful crap, do we have some weapons...
The Missourian takes a look at Derrick Washington and his chances of avoiding a redshirt in 2007. Actually, so does Mike Dearmond. Mike also takes note of Chase Patton's impressive play.
Things aren't too hot in Manhattan at the moment...to say the least. Zero completions? Really?
Iowa State is looking into a new uniform design for 2008, and you can vote on your favorite helmet right now. I've gotta say...I'm not sure why, but I LOVE all three of those choices. Guess I'm a fan of white helmets or something...who knew? I'd say I-State is my #1 choice, ISU my #2.
Via Rock Chalk Talk, it appears that, as expected, Todd Reesing is your KU starting QB. Ouch. Who knows...maybe he's improved significantly in the offseason, but...I think that says more about Kerry Meier than it does about Todd Reesing.
Meanwhile, also as expected, Coach's Son Hawkins is officially the Colorado starter.
Finally, in Lincoln it looks like Zackary Bowman has begun practicing again. I don't expect much from him after 19 knee injuries, but I guess it helps with depth in a pretty thin secondary.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Mizzou Links, 8-13-07

Fun night last night...70 mph winds came out of nowhere...good times...anyhoo...now that we've got a pretty good idea of what's going on in Columbia, let's look around the Big 12 North.

So in 1995, Nebraska had to replace three DL starters, and those replacements ended up being named Wistrom and Peter, and the Huskers won another national title. Apparently 2007 will be just like that. Good to know. In other news, Marlon Lucky (mild concussion) and Cody Glenn (tight hamstring) both missed out on some scrimmaging over the weekend. See, Jeffrey? Every team has injuries. And finally, Sam Keller drops jaws. No comment.
One of KSU's major question marks, wide receiver, has gotten a boost from the emergence of JUCO transfer Deon Beasley. Another boost could come from remembering that Jordy Nelson is pretty good. In all, I think Josh Freeman is pretty overrated (and apparently not in the best of shape), but I also think that there are enough unknowns involved with K-State that they are pretty much the North wildcard.
Another weak WR corps--Colorado's--might get a boost from a freshman or two, though that's rarely an optimal solution. Even less optimal: freshmen on the O-line. Dan Hawkins really doesn't have much of a choice--he barely has enough scholarship OL's to fill out a 2-deep. I do figure that line play (on both sides of the ball, really) will hold CU back more than playing a RSFr QB. They do have one thing going for them, though: here's a feature on one of the conference's most underrated RB's, Hugh Charles.

Here's a new candidate for Best Nickname in the Conference: Tang "Hostile" Bacheyle. He could provide a nice physical presence in the Jayhawk defensive backfield...though physicality wasn't the main problem for the KU DB's last year--it was speed. And with no Jon Cornish in the backfield, it's time to "open up the offense." Not a bad thing per say, though when your QB's are Todd Reesing and Kerry Meier, it's not necessarily a good thing either.

So the ISU offense has Bret Meyer and Todd Blythe. Great. It appears that the other 9 starting positions on offense are still up for grabs, including RB (Jason Scales, J.J. Cass, Cameron Bell, Alexander Robinson, Michael Atchison, The Beef) and Other WR (R.J. Sumrall, Wallace Franklin, Euseph "Awesome Name" Messiah, Doug, The Boy, Bill C.). Also, Meyer is getting a bit of competition from RSFr Austen Arnaud. Meanwhile, the 'Clones have one less LB in the mix, as veteran Adam Carper is out for the season.

Finally, back to Mizzou...DE was my main concern heading into this year, and a resurgent Stryker Sulak could be a positively huge boost for the Mizzou defense. Meanwhile, Mike Dearmond looks into the Mizzou punter battle (or lack thereof), and Graham Watson talks about the true freshman emerging in the defensive backfield.

And Mizzou's Roger Wehrli sits down for the Trib's Sunday Q&A...

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Well, that was rather sudden...

Granted I've not been keeping up with a lot of sports headlines recently, so I don't know if this has been in the works, but when the Oklahoma Sooners make the Washington Post website, your ears kind of perk up a little bit.

It will be interesting to see how this one shakes out, because I don't think the NCAA is very cavalier about wiping a season off the record books. I can't see an appeal doing the Sooners much good.

Here's what I do know, KU just improved it's 2005 record by a game!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Kansas Spring Football Preview

2006

Can anybody explain to me what makes Mark Mangino a respected coach? I haven’t quite figured that one out yet. He always gets ranked in the middle of the pack in Big XII coach rankings (always significantly ahead of Gary Pinkel, it seems), and other than coming up with a great gameplan for stopping Brad Smith and leading KU to exactly one winning record, what exactly has he accomplished?

And I don’t mean this in a “Mizzou hates Kansas” kind of way. I really don’t care about Kansas in football—if I had to list out the “must win” football games in any given season, it would be 1) Nebraska, 2) Kansas State, 3) OU/Texas (whichever one we’re playing that year), and 4) Kansas. I mean...seriously, what has he accomplished to earn the extension that he got last August or the general reputation as a decent coach, especially with academic fraud on his recent resume? He’s “paid his dues” and “proven he can win”? Win what exactly? The Fort Worth Bowl?

Anyway, just asking.

2006 was a relatively disappointing season for Kansas when you consider that Mangino did in fact get a contract extension in August despite the academic fraud. You have to figure that meant KU figured it was worth the impending punishment for the impending football success. However, instead of football success, KU found themselves carrying a 3-5 record (with losses to Toledo and Baylor) into the final month of the season. They snuck by Colorado and whooped Kansas State and Iowa State to move into the showdown with Missouri at 6-5. And with the “Mangino owns Pinkel” theory set in stone and Mizzou in a bit of a freefall, lots and lots of people picked Kansas to win. However, it turned out that Mangino only owned Brad Smith, and Pinkel moved to 2-0 against Mangino in Smith-less years (and 3-3 overall). Mizzou whooped KU, 42-17, and KU failed to secure a bowl bid.

And I should mention that, during the MU-KU game, Mangino...considered by leaps and bounds a better coach than Pinkel, completely forgot that he had the Big XII’s leading rusher on his team, giving Jon Cornish only a handful of carries even though he was averaging 8.4 per carry.

I seriously don’t get the Mangino infatuation. Doug? You want to explain to me what I’m missing here?

Key Returnees

As a whole, KU was pretty young last year. However, their best player and workhorse, Cornish, was a senior. In 2007, sophomore QB Kerry Meier loses his training wheels. He battled injury and inconsistency as a redshirt freshman; he single-handedly won and lost the Toledo game several times before eventually losing it for good in OT.

(Honestly, the player Meier most reminds me of is Kirk Farmer: flashes of brilliance, long stretches of horrible inconsistency, occasional athleticism, flowing blonde locks...)

Anyway, Meier (or Todd Reesing, who is apparently putting up a pretty good fight for the starting QB job) will have some decent receivers at his disposal. Junior Dexton Fields caught 45 passes and scored 5 TD’s a year ago, and senior TE Derek Fine had a solid 25 catches and 5 TD’s. Plus, according to ESPN, defensive backs Aqib Talib (who scored a receiving TD against Mizzou last year) and Justin Thornton are both getting in a little time at WR, a la Charles Gordon. Mangino has done a decent job in previous years of putting together a solid-but-not-spectacular receiving corps, and 2007 will be no different. However, the running game is, as Gary Pinkel would say, critically important, and losing Cornish hurts. Whoever replaces Cornish (it appears Jake Sharp is the leader at the moment) will be running behind a retooled O-line as well. Not an encouraging sign.

As for the defense...well, first of all, until I read the ESPN article linked above, I didn’t realize that KU had the worst pass defense (yardage-wise, anyway) in the country. That’s a pretty tough feat to pull when you have an all-conference cornerback in Talib, but credit Mangino’s Jayhawks for pulling it off. In all, you had to figure that KU’s defense would take a step backwards in ’06 after graduating almost every major contributor off of the stellar ’05 corps, and they most certainly took that step.

Spring Developments

Well, KUathletics.com has almost nothing in regard to Spring Practice coverage, so I’m flying mostly blind here. It appears that the main storylines of the spring have been 1) Meier versus Reesing at QB, and 2) creating a pass rush out of thin air. It’s a recurring theme as I do these previews...it seems like every team either lost their good defensive ends or needs far better production out of last year’s set.

Fun With Numbers

Here were the five statistical categories that were most directly related to KU’s success/failure last year (I have redone the list with a different, more accurate correlation formula than the one used for this post):

1. 3rd Down Conversion %
2. Opponents’ Total Plays
3. Total 3rd Down Conversions
4. Opponents’ Rushing Yards
5. Opponents’ Total First Downs

These categories were a lot like those on Colorado’s list—all about ball control. If they were able to convert on 3rd down and keep the ball out of opponents’ hands, they were successful. That would explain how they had a bit more success as the season wore on (until the Mizzou game, anyway)—Cornish emerged as a threat more with each progressing game, it seemed, and that threat opened up KU’s offense to more success. Well...if they were dependent on Cornish for ball control, they might be in trouble this year. Jake Sharp is supposedly the same type of runner as Cornish, only he’s 5’11, 190—15 pounds lighter than the bruising Cornish. The defense should improve at least marginally from experience, but ball control works both ways—somebody’s going to have to step up on offense, and that’s still up in the air.

The non-conference schedule is...well, I’m not sure how tough it is or isn’t. They host both Central Michigan and Toledo, which should be wins but certainly aren’t guaranteed. Their other two games are against SE Lousiana and Florida International, so you figure they should be 3-1 at worst. The Big XII slate starts with three out of four games on the road (at Kansas State, Baylor, at Colorado, at ATM) before hosting Nebraska on 11/3. If they emerge from the NU game at 2-3 in conference, they should be able to pick off at least one of the three final games to reach 6 wins. Best case scenario for this team is 7-8 wins, but I’m thinking 5-6 is more likely.