Mizzou Sanity: KSU football

Showing posts with label KSU football. Show all posts

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Coach Nick Nolte with a huge win...

...OU loses, K-State's up 10 on Texas, and IT'S A NORTH REVIVAL, BABY.

Consider this a North Revival Open Thread...

UPDATE: 5:19pm - Sweet jesus, K-State's about to go up 3 possessions heading into the fourth quarter. I have absolutely no idea what to think about any of the 12 conference teams right now.

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

Mizzou Links, 8-20-07

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...

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Mizzou Links, 8-9-07

Nobody got hurt yesterday! Yaaaaay!

Let's go right to the practice reports! The KC Star mentions that both Temple and Hardy Ricks might be ready by Illinois...Dave Matter discusses the battle for #2 RB...Graham Watson mentions that Monte Wyrick gets closer and closer to earning back his starting job...Inside Mizzou talks about a mini-brawl...PowerMizzou discusses the new faces emerging...The mutigers FootBlog mentions that the heat index is supposed to be between 105-110 for today's two-a-days...ouch.
Also, Graham Watson talks about how Temple his 'finally' getting respect...for the record, he's also 'finally' earned it, and the Missourian looks at Van Alexander and his dad.
PowerMizzou's also got photos.
Dave Matter continues his Big 12 previews with a look at Kansas State.
Pat Forde has a strange list of "top QB questions"...which turns into half a look at questions and half a look at the top QB's. I guess it's interesting...not totally sure...
Also at the Worldwide Leader, "the meek are inheriting the turf"...

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Kansas State Spring Football Preview

2006

Well, if Ron Prince’s goal was to make this ‘his’ program as quickly as humanly possible, I’d say running off pretty much everybody who wasn’t his recruit was a pretty effective way to do it. Electing to play true freshmen and JUCO transfers at what seemed like every position on the field—led by QB Josh Freeman and RB Leon Patton—KSU had plenty of ups and downs in ’06. They put up a decent fight against Louisville, then went to Waco and got drubbed by lowly Baylor. They bounced back with a nice comeback win over Oklahoma State, then got assaulted by Nebraska and Missouri. After ho-hum wins over Iowa State and Colorado, they pulled off the upset of the Big XII season, defeating Texas at home, 45-42. Granted, Colt McCoy was injured and UT made about 249 mistakes, but...a win is a win, and that was a big one.

And then KSU proceeded to lose to Kansas by 19 and Rutgers by 27.

Despite seeming disorganized every time I saw them, despite their not seeming to have a lot of standout talent (that wasn’t in the form of a true freshman, anyway), and despite the fact that they only beat one good team (and one decent one), Prince’s Wildcats made it to a bowl game and finished 7-6, a distinguishable improvement from the seasons before. Will it happen again in 2007?

Key Returnees

I guess one of the positives of playing a bunch of freshmen is you’re assured of a lot of returnees the next year. Looking at their bowl game depth chart, you see that 8 offensive starters and 8 defensive end-of-year starters return, and that really can’t be a bad thing. Ron Prince didn’t hit a total homerun with his first recruiting class, but there’s really no doubting that the incoming talent will more suited for his system than the outgoing, Bill-Snyder-recruited talent.

The big names on offense are at the skill positions. QB Josh Freeman has already been labeled a star despite a 6-15 TD-INT ratio. His skills as a true freshman were the opposite of the stereotypical true freshman. He seemed to know what he was doing, he rarely looked overwhelmed, he stood tall and confident...but it just seemed like he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn half the time. Or, if the pass hit its intended target, it was going at the wrong speed. I’m biased by the fact that I saw him play horribly in the rain in Columbia last year, but I saw the tendency in other games as well. Another year or repetition will help him, as will the emergence of Jordy Nelson from Ron Prince’s doghouse. Nelson was one of the better WR’s I saw in the Big XII in 2005, and he disappeared for half the season...presumably (to me, at least) because he was a Bill Snyder recruit. No other returning WR had as many as 20 catches (though TE Rashaad Norwood was solid) in 2006, so Nelson will need to step up bigtime in his senior season.

Freeman will be aided by the continued development of sophomore RB Leon Patton (609 yards, 6 TD’s) and senior James Johnson (428 yards, 2 TD’s). The O-line returns three-fifths of its bowl lineup. There has been a lack of O-line continuity for KSU for a few years now, so this unit’s success will go a long way toward determining the success of KSU’s offense.

The defense returns everybody but possibly their two best players—LB’s Brandon Archer and Zach Diles. The now-experienced D-Line made some big plays but gave up 4.7 yards per carry over the last 8 games of the season. Junior DE Ian Campbell and senior DE Rob Jackson combined for an impressive 26 tackles for loss and 16 sacks in ’06. In the secondary, three bowl game starters return, along with SS Marcus Watts, who has been pretty good for a while. The experience will help a unit that gave up almost 200 passing yards a game and only came up with 10 INT’s.

In the secondary...the punter, Tim Reyer (42.1 yards/punt) returns, and that’s about it.

Spring Developments

It’s impressive how different spring practice coverage is from school to school. You get coverage of pretty much every snap at schools like Nebraska and Oklahoma and Texas (and to a slightly lesser extent, Missouri), however others (ISU, KSU) publish almost nothing. According to this press conference write-up, Ron Prince is really excited about how things are going. Wow, insightful.

You do get a couple of useful quotes from the press conference, though. It looks like James Johnson has possibly built a lead over Leon Patton for the starting RB position. I think Patton, a Darren Sproles type of back, has higher upside as a runner, but Johnson seems to have established himself as a more complete back. WR Daniel Gonzalez (15 catches in ’06...all but disappeared when Big XII play started) seems to have established himself as well. And the O-linemen are “improving their skills.” That, uhh, can’t be a bad thing.

Meanwhile, apparently Ian Campbell has moved from DE to OLB, and interesting move for a guy who’s 6’5, 235. But he's the most talented player on the K-State defense, so it makes sense that they want him in a position that allows him to make more plays.

Fun With Numbers

Here were the five statistical categories that were most directly related to KSU’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 Ratio
2. 3rd Down Conversion Rate
3. 3rd Down Conversions
4. Turnovers
5. Turnover Differential

Third downs and turnovers. Got it. In other words, stats didn’t really matter, just key, individual plays. Which makes sense, considering that a look at the stats does not reveal what one would consider a successful 2006 campaign for K-State. They were outgained by about 500 yards...they gave up 30 more first downs than they got...their turnover margin was -4...they had over 200 more yards of penalties than their opponents...they had a poor overall Time of Possession...and yet they won 7 games. You figure it out.

This list of categories also makes it pretty hard to predict what’s to come for K-State. Did they just get lucky last year? If so, does that mean they’ll be unlucky this year? Or is the fact that they found themselves in pressure situations (when your season was determined by 3rd downs and turnovers, you probably found yourself in some close games) as a young team a good omen for the future? Your guess is as good as mine.

They’ve got an interesting schedule as well. After starting the season at Auburn (power to Ron Prince for taking that game), their home opener comes against an improving San Jose State team. They also end the season, strangely, at Fresno State, meaning four of their last six games come on the road. Assuming they start 4-2 (home wins against SJSU, SMS, Kansas, and Colorado; road losses to Auburn and Texas), they’ll have a pretty good shot at their second straight bowl game, but if they slip up early, they might not recover. I really want to predict that bad luck will overtake them, but I won’t...upon first glance, I’m thinking 6-7 wins is the most likely scenario...I’ll say 6-6.