Football Articles
2008 Kansas Football Preview – State of the Union
Posted by HenryJames on August 15th, 2008 under Football
While the rest of the college football world went about their business last year, things were clandestinely happening in Kansas. The clues were there to any sports reporters who were paying attention. Raw materials from Texas being shipped to Lawrence. Intellectual know how taken from the breakaway Republic of Oklahoma. And a whole helluva lot of yellow cake. Mostly from Duncan Hines.
Kansas was building a football team.
They unleashed the equivalent of an atom bomb last season by winning the Orange Bowl and finishing in the Top 10. No secret to their success. They were a solid well-coached football team who mastered the fundamentals and did not beat themselves. They have to replace some weapons in their lineup, but they haven’t used up all their arsenal. Not by a longshot. They’ve still got Fat Man and Little Boy.
The Fat Man is head coach Mark Mangino. Duh. Putting all the fat jokes aside, the man is a good coach. Resuming the fat jokes now., Mangino has made morbid obesity cool. Talk to anyone, and they’ll all tell you the same thing. Three hundred fifty is the new thirty. But he’s so popular in Kansas that he could get a handjob from Dorothy at this point. Kansas awarded his largness with some largesse of their own. He signed a contract extension that will pay him $2.3 million per year through 2012. That’s a bargain compared to paying his insurance premiums.
Kansas also recently completed their Anderson Family Football Complex. If you’re going to compete against Texas and OU, you need to have the facilities. Mangino is also using it to hoard the spice melange and vows to overtake the House Atreides as the dominant power in the North. You can take the Harkonen out of Arakis, but you can’t take Arakis out of the Harkonen.
The Little Boy in Kansas’ arsenal is diminutive quarterback Todd Reesing. Reesing is a 5′10″ quarterback from Lake Travis whose turnoffs include festival seating and tape measures. He had a breakout year at quarterback last year after hitting puberty. I’ve always felt poor quarterback play is what stopped Mangino from having greater success at Kansas. That and the fact that it’s Kansas. Reesing is another empirical data point showing that size just isn’t that important to a quarterback. In certain systems. On the college level. You can’t stop him. You can only hope to call an Amber Alert to contain him.
Either Jake Sharp or junior college transfer Jocques Crawford will try to replace Brandon McAnderson at tailback. Whom to choose?! A vexing question indeed.
or
Sharp actually had about 800 yards rushing last year, but a majority of them came against Toledo, Central Michigan and Baylor. Tree. Forest. No one is listening. Crawford’s Kansas bio says he likes to ‘walk on the beach, ride horses, shop, text…’ So I guess in order to get oral from 15 year old girls, you have to know where to find them. Too soon? Crawford has a ton of potential though. I’m hoping that Sharp gets the starting job because I was a big fan of Jake and The Fatman.
Dexton Fields and Dezmon Briscoe are both excellent receivers. They are nicknamed D&D because when combined with an elf they can be entertaining for a couple of hours. Anything longer than that and you just want to go watch a replay of the Kansas basketball team’s win over Memphis. Depth will come from backup quarterback Kerry Meier. Meier could have talked shit and transferred to Emporia State when he lost the job to Reesing, but that type of behavior and the teaching of evolution are frowned upon in Kansas. I have no idea who the tight end will be, but it’s Kansas. The best tight end on campus will invariably be playing small forward for the Jayhawk basketball team.
The offensive line has to replace both tackles. If anybody can find some replacements, it’s Mangino. Been a fan of his offensive line coaching ever since he created a serviceable line at OU out of three walkons, a converted defensive end and Bob Stoops’ unresolved issues with his father. We’ll see what Mangino pulls out of his ass when they play George Selvie and South Florida in September. They’re set in the interior though with three seniors. Center Ryan Cantrell is one of the best in the conference at his position, something Kansas hasn’t been able to say since Scot Pollard graduated. Mangino speaks highly of freshman tackle Jeff Spikes, and depth will come from Australian juco transfer Nathan D’Cunha. His highlite video is quite impressive:
Former co-defensive coordinator Bill Young relocated to Florida, as people his age are prone to do, but his ‘You kids get off my lawn!’ defensive philosophy served Kansas well for six years. Co-defensive coordinator Clint Bowen now gets the full time gig so don’t look for many changes. Young left him nine starters, a bag of Werther’s Originals and an office that smelled like the inside of my grandma’s purse.
Kansas has the best linebacking unit in the conference. They’re not the most athletic group, but they’re rarely out of place. Ninety percent of defensive success is just showing up. See Young v. Reid, 4th and 18 (2004) for a dissenting opinion. Senior James Holt is the comedian of the group. When asked on the KU football site where his favorite place to eat in Lawrence was, he replied ‘Braum’s (if we had one).’ Well played, sir. The best pro prospect is Mike Rivera. He’s big and can run. Middle linebacker Joe Mortensen was 1st Team All Big 12 last year, and his pre game ritual is slapping Rivera in the face. You have to respect that.
Brorsen, Larson, Blakesley and Haselhorst. Great name for a St. Cloud law firm. Not so great for a Big 12 defensive line. The defensive line’s job at Kansas is to keep blockers off the linebackers or at least it should be. They were solid last year, but nothing special. Returning senior DE starters Russell Brorsen and John Larson are both academic All-Americans. So if you asked to come up with a description for their pass rush, they can find multiple synonyms for the word ‘anemic.’ Brorsen plans to go to dental school so at least he’s a sadistic fuck. You need at least one of those on your defense. Starting tackles are senior Todd Haselhorst and junior Caleb Blakesley, who entered Kansas after wandering the plains for forty years. Neither of them will be as good as the departed James McClinton. If they can cockblock opposing linemen for the linebackers, they’ll have done their jobs. Kansas has some young players on the line who will provide depth and hopefully start, but because it’s Kansas no one has ever heard of them.
Aqib Talib was renditioned to the NFL in April leaving behind some big shoes to fill along with eleven wives. Senior Kendrick Harper will try to replace him. Future star Chris Harris will start on the other side. They return both starting safeties from last year, Darrell Stuckey and Patrick Resby, and also Justin Thornton. Thornton started the final four games in place of the injured Resby. Teams with above average quarterbacks tended to pistol whip them even with Talib though often making him the equivalent of an Egyptian MIG-21 in the Six Day War.
So what’s in store for Kansas? Well, the schedule just got a lot tougher. Gone are Kansas Baylor, Oklahoma State and A&M. Replacing them are OU, Texas and Tech. Throw in a road game at South Florida and Missouri in Kansas City and you have a rough slate. They have to replace some key players on both sides of the ball, but they have a strong returning nucleus. They’ve tasted success, and they want more. And Mangino wants something he hasn’t seen in almost nine months.
Another piece of fruit.
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Ali Farokhmanesh hitting the biggest shot of the season is the definition of March Madness.
Ali Boma Ye!!!
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Offense
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post We Have Our Answer 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
And yes, it appears JoPo wrote pretty much the same thing. It’s hard to believe with all the national talking heads, fans, and everyone in between saying otherwise, but I think it’s the only conclusion to draw for anyone that really watched this team.
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post We Have Our Answer 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
And yes, it appears JoPo wrote pretty much the same thing. It’s hard to believe with all the national talking heads, fans, and everyone in between saying otherwise, but I think it’s the only conclusion to draw for anyone that really watched this team.
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Normally, after a big win or a crushing defeat, I don’t know what to think, say, or feel, because I can’t. And that what makes this one different; it’s just as painful, but I saw it coming. Instead of getting blindsided by the oncoming traffic, I was able to brace myself for the
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I’m with you the off season is already old. I’m ready for the season to start. NDS I am completely fascinated by the Tech vs. Lech business. I can’t believe they ran off the guy that put them on the map and subsequently ended up with an arguable upgrade in Tubs.
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Ded 9-12 wins is pretty optomistic. I like it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Tubs can do with them this year especially on D. I’m surprised you think the QB battle between Sticks and Nick will be close. Interesting, I figured Sticks was a runaway. I hope Corndog
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Got a little time this morning and I’m rearing to talk some football. Here’s what the depth chart looks like headed into spring and a few thoughts:
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Black Scholes commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest: Post Mortem 5 hours, 55 minutes ago
lawdog – on the topic of regression, this crew can’t compare with the senior seasons Thomas and Atchley put up. Something ain’t right in this scenario. Mason topped out his sophomore year and Pittman last year.
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Just a phenomenal game.
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Today reminded me why I love this tournament so much. A good friend of mine mentioned to me that college basketball is the great equalizer of all athletic endeavors. At least of the sports we care about. He’s right.
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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 9 hours, 48 minutes ago
Patrick,
Unless you’re completely retarded, you know precisely what I meant. The closest any Big 12 team has gotten to winning the infamous Fuller Cup is the 2007 Texas squad. I can’t remember a team being that horribly undisciplined as a whole aside from the insane OU teams of the 80’s. That’s not
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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 9 hours, 48 minutes ago
Patrick,
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Crazy Joe, your thoughts intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 10 hours, 14 minutes ago
This notion of Hamilton as being a disaster area on defense is all a bit much. He rebounds extremely well which, if it wasn’t obvious, is extremely important in this game since it secures possession of the basketball. Winning in basketball is achieved through the scoring of baskets and it’s necessary to possess the basketball
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Scipio Tex wrote a new blog post: Best Opening Round I Can Remember 11 hours, 36 minutes ago
At least it’s shaping up that way if Sunday delivers.
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J commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 12 hours, 4 minutes ago
Thanks for the kind words, Trips.
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J commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 12 hours, 4 minutes ago
You know who’s bitter and angry as fuck? This guy —> ME.
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Raoul Duke commented on the blog post Rumor Alert–TMG 12 hours, 35 minutes ago
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Tough day for Sherron on O and D.
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GoHornsGo90 commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 13 hours, 27 minutes ago
To leave or stay?
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 13 hours, 27 minutes ago
KSU moving on led by a hot shooting Pullen. BTW, White Mormons can shoot FTs. 22 for 25, I think. Imagine if we could shoot like that.
Wake’s coming back on Kentucky. They’re within 25 right now…..
dedfischer said:
August 15th, 2008 at 4:13 am
Good stuff. Do you think Reesing has to take Meier with him to the fair in order to get on the bumper cars?
I thought Larson and Brorsen were the underrated stars on that defense last year. Those dudes may not be the most physically gifted, but they rarely make any mistakes or lose containment, and shed blocks well.
Huckleberry said:
August 15th, 2008 at 4:29 am
Yo.
TaylorTRoom said:
August 15th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Kansas has had quite a few assistant coaches move on to greater things. John Cooper (’67 to ‘72), Terry Donahue (’68 – ‘70), Don James (’56), Wade Phillips (’75), Dick Tomey (’67-’70), and Ron Zook (’83) all spnt time in Lawrence (so did Carl “Bull” Reese from ‘75 – ‘76).
In retrospect, those ‘68 – ‘70 teams must have been pretty well coached. Pepper rodgers was the head coach, and he had Cooper, Donahue and Tomey as assistants. They went to the Orange Bowl in ‘68, but fell to 1 – 9 and 5 – 6 the next couple of years.
Leonidas said:
August 15th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Actually, I’m a touch disappointed. The other previews were much funnier. Probably kinda hard to find stuff on Kansas though because we’re Kansas.
Wanted to point out a couple of things:
D-line: Haselhorst left the team a couple of months ago. He was experiencing medical issues (by his own account) and literally could not play football anymore. At all. He is, however, still enrolled and finishing his degree. In his place look to see Jamal Greene (6′4″, 301lbs) or Richard Johnson (6′2″ 280lbs) or true freshman Darius Parish (6′4″ 341 lbs).
Also, Larson may lose his starting position to Max Onyegbule who has really come on strong as of late.
And, Rivera and Mortensen actually trade slaps before every game and at halftime.
Also, Mangino has visibly lost weight (rumor is that he had lap-band surgery last spring); that being said, he’s still fat.
hiphopopotamus said:
August 15th, 2008 at 5:17 am
@ dedfischer – I’m still not positive what to think about Brorsen/Larson. As you said, they’re incredibly reliable and won’t lose contain, etc. But they generate almost NO pass rush. Last year they combined for 4 sacks and 4 QBHs. In this pass happy league you have to get more pressure from your DEs than that.
hiphopopotamus said:
August 15th, 2008 at 5:33 am
@ Leo – Where did you hear that about Larson/Onyegbule? Not saying it isn’t true, just that I had not heard it…
Leonidas said:
August 15th, 2008 at 5:56 am
@hippo — just rumor-mill so far.
Leonidas said:
August 15th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Open practice today should shed some insight.
RadioSIlence said:
August 15th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Onyegbule was ahead of Larson at the last open practice. We’ll see how it is this week. But with Mangino, you can never pin down the starters until game 1. I think he likes messing with the fans in that regard.
dedfischer said:
August 15th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Hippo, I would give HenryJames’ left nut for Tech to have two DEs, who played the run as well as Larson and Brorsen. Especially, in this league. The QB play is at such a high level in the Big 12, that guy’s get rid of the ball so quick it eliminates the effectiveness of pass rushing DEs. It’s almost more critical for them to be able to bat balls down. I would be curious as to how many of those they had.
Doperbo said:
August 15th, 2008 at 6:24 am
This has been my favorite so far. Subtle and nuanced (festival seating and tape measures) with a dash of Harkonnen sci-fi geek smack.
BTW- do you guys still wear those “Our coach is PHAT!” shirts to away games? I will admit they made me chuckle at the game here a few years back.
Leonidas said:
August 15th, 2008 at 6:51 am
I’m sure we’ll see plenty of “Our coach is PHAT!” along with “Our coach can eat your coach!” shirts as well. I like the “Fighting Manginos” shirts the best.
Rivethead said:
August 15th, 2008 at 7:34 am
A review of Kansas Football 2008 isn’t complete without talk of special teams.
We’ve got to replace our Kicker and Punter.
For kicker, we’ve got a three-way race too close to call with a bunch of kids from kicking factories
For punter, the race is between some kid who was at Bowling Green named Rojas and……Kerry Meier, or WR/backup QB.
Also, expect Mangino to learn a few things from his brief encoutner with Frank Beamer.
KU could line up with Reesing at QB, Meier at WR (our #2 QB), AJ Steward at TE (who was our #3 QB during spring drills), and WR Marcus Hereford (who was a QB at the beginning of his career at KU). All can throw a decent ball.
Expect the trickery to commence!
dedfischer said:
August 15th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Going A-11 on us?
Rivethead said:
August 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am
We’re still Kansas….so not THAT much trickery.
ChrisApplewhite said:
August 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am
It really doesn’t matter who Kansas has to replace, because it’s not like they are losing anything. Every player on that team was built up from nothing, so there is no reason not to think the next guy won’t be built in similar fashion. Mangino is just a more prolific Dr. Frankenstein.
BTW, it’s Frahn-ken-steen.
Mark Mangina said:
August 15th, 2008 at 7:54 am
As a KU alum, it’s sure fun to see a competitive football team. There were glimpses under Glen Mason in the 1990s but when he left, it reverted back to the Dark Ages.
The whole “easy schedule” think is overplayed. Kansas did score >40 per game. Even against Big 12 foes. The Orange Bowl was a nice plus.
HenryJames said:
August 15th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Whether or not last year’s schedule was easy, this year’s schedule is going to be very difficult. But Kansas fans have no reason to apologize. You won all your games save one, and you won the Orange Bowl.
Vasherized said:
August 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am
My Step dad is a Larson from St. Cloud. No shit.
HJ, probably your best work since ‘The Ambassadors’.
Now that expectations in Lawrence have been raised in a sport other than basketball, it will be interesting to see how the fanbase deals with anything else than a perfect season.
Mack Brown said:
August 15th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Fans with raised expectations are the worst. They should be happy with whatever I,,,uhh I mean Mangino,,,gives them.
Bob in Houston said:
August 15th, 2008 at 9:11 am
“Now that expectations in Lawrence have been raised in a sport other than basketball, it will be interesting to see how the fanbase deals with anything else than a perfect season.”
I don’t think it’ll be any different than how Texas football fans deal with bad basketball… it’s not that important.
hiphopopotamus said:
August 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am
@ ded – I agree to the point. As for your question, Larson batted 2 and Brorsen had 4.
As for the pressure, I agree a George Selvie is not all that necessary. But there’s no better way to disrupt a QB than to get pressure on him and that game at Arrowhead is still too fresh in my mind to be content. Daniel had all day back there and it led to him going 40-49.
Steve Nebraska said:
August 15th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Might have to get Mangino one of those floating suits like Baron Harkonnen had.
dedfischer said:
August 15th, 2008 at 9:46 am
hippo, you’re right. I don’t think there’s a better way to stop a zone read spread offense than with 2 badass DEs, but you’ve got two pretty damn solid ones. What’s more critical against teams like Mizzou and Tech is getting an interior pass rush from smaller, quick DTs. This disrupts the timing of everything we (Tech) and they (Mizzou) try to do.
Vasherized said:
August 15th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Bob,
I see your point and it’s a fair connection. But judging by the way KU fans have been aggressively defending last season (The fat man has delivered our seat at the table and we’re not going anywhere!) and how they have similar semi-delusional expectations for this season despite losing key players and facing a tougher schedule, I’m noticing some of that rabid rock chalk fever creeping over to the gridiron.
Mangino has delivered the nectar and they want more now.
Can’t blame them for the excitement, it certainly adds some spice to the otherwise bland cocktail that is the Big 12 North. Getting frothier by the season, no doubt.
Bob in Houston said:
August 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Vash… I don’t blame them either. I suppose I’ve defended UT hoops on phog.net in much the same way (although, when you get down to it, Texas hoops has had 20 years of pretty good success… KU football hasn’t).
I also don’t disagree that it will be interesting to see how they react to whatever happens. I just don’t think that, at the end of the day, football success will make them feel better if basketball were to drop to the middle of the B12 (not that I expect that, either).
Leonidas said:
August 15th, 2008 at 10:38 am
You all have to bear in mind that we’ve had to spend 11 years listening to the nouveau riche KSU fans talk about how great their team is after almost 100 years of them being the worst program in college football. We’ve had to listen to them say things like “KSU is to football what KU is to basketball” when their football team would beat the dogshit out of ours. Now that the tables have turned, the KU fan base is somewhat reflexively increasing our fervor in response to our in-state brethren. We know where we’re coming from, but we also know that we can be better. Contrast with KSU fans who view their program as equal of Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, USC, etc.
Vasherized said:
August 15th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Nouveau riche KSU fan = anyone wearing a Mark Simoneau jersey and crocs.
hiphopopotamus said:
August 15th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
@ dedfischer – i will definitely concede that. And don’t take this to think I’m not content with Larson/Brorsen, just that I’m hoping to get a little more out of them (as one would expect from any returning starters) or to mix in Laptad/Onyegbule/Wheeler to give them some rest and generate some of that rush.
@ vasher – Well played, sir. Could not have said it better myself.
TommyTutone said:
August 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
As usual, well done.
You could have done without the Crawford slam as he was pretty much absolved of all wrong doing. I’ve misplaced the link, but SI.com had a long (and I mean LOONNNGG) article from his high school coach and others involved in the situation detailing the railroad job (read: white girl likes black guy, black guy wants nothing to do with crazy bitch, white girl sends text (paraphrasing): “If you don’t do me, I’ll cry rape”, white girl’s parents get black guy thrown in jail).
Other than that, very funny.
Hindenburg said:
August 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
ku had a freakishly low number if injuries, freakishly low number of turnovers, an all time high TO margin, an unworldly low number of penalties and a schedule softer than Mangina’s ass
I see 6-6
if you should happen to lost 3 total starts to injury like last year, 7-5
BRAGGonUT said:
August 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
You’ve lost your mind if you think they come back that far.
RoadWarrior said:
August 15th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
‘Hawks will go 8-4 this year. Everyone is saying our schedule got harder…didn’t Texas, Tech and OU’s schedule get harder also? Texas and Tech both have to come to Lawrence and the ‘Hawks are 18-2 in the last 3 years. Believe me when I say we have Texas circled. I was at the 2004 game and the “phantom” pass interference call. The F***ing play was right in front of me! Anyway, I’m just glad the season is just around the corner.
Aggie Lurking said:
August 16th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
One of those 2 was to us. Just saying y’all aint that great. Do it again this year and everybody will be slobbering all over you again.
TaylorTRoom said:
August 16th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I thought KU did a great job of coming back from that PI call to force Texas into a 4th and 18.
Statalyzer said:
August 18th, 2008 at 6:23 am
“Intellectual know-how taken from. . .Oklahoma.”
Does not compute.
Gus said:
August 18th, 2008 at 10:37 am
KU had a remarkably low number of injuries last year, but only because they have one of the best conditioning coaches in the business, college or pro. They may do as well, injury wise, as last year. They won’t be playing a schedule “as soft as Mangino’s ass” (creepy shiver).
The Tortilla Retort » Blog Archive » Scouting the Kansas Defense said:
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
[...] law firm of Brorsen, Larson & Laptad will be responsible for generating pressure on Graham Harrell. While considered one of the most [...]
Zenia Demulling said:
January 15th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
It’s nice that you took the time to write this post; it’s inspiring to hear another’s opinion. I respect your work on this site, and I’ll come back for more information.