Entries by DJ (685)
Sunday Morning Insight Bowl Film Review
Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 10:06AM Here's a good way to spend the last day of the winter break. You might as well check out as many video clips of the Insight Bowl that you can find. Here's a few of the best and always remember to watch in high quality when available:
First Play -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tz6AY1yL3I&feature=related
Reesing to Meier to tie at 14 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaLlaaxSso0&feature=related
Reesing to the Breeze (21-14) -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KDRcy8kldw&feature=related
Inside the Tent: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 09:44AM FROM THE HEARTH ROOM
The Jayhawks came at the Gophers in three's last night -- Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe on one side and James Holt, Mike Rivera and Joe Mortensen on the other side. One trio will return to terrorize Big 12 secondaries next year and the other cements their legacy with a dominating performance in an old-school game of tackle football. Boy, it was beautiful to watch Rivera and Mortensen playing the game the way they were meant to play -- running and smashing. Throw in Holt as Adam Weber's nightmare and it all makes Jayhawk football fans super happy. Hopefully, the NFL was watching their own network last because playing hurt all year against freak spread teams really doesn't show their strengths. Last night did and I sure hope all three at least get some attention from the NFL.
From the offensive side, the Jayhawks just have too many weapons and a chameleon-like ability to adapt. The Gophers went with throwing a ton of heat on Todd Reesing and had some success, but it didn't matter because Reesing again showed the five "d's" of minimizing a pass rush -- dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge (I assume Patches O'Houlihan was a relative). And after avoiding that rush, the gunslinger always comes out firing. Of course, Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier are a lot of fun to watch as they track down those bullets and usually turn up field for something we like to call YAC. Yep, the Gophers played hard, physical football, but the Hawks just had too many weapons.
THE GOOD
Overall, the crowd looked small, but geez, I was pretty pleased with what seemed like a lot KU fans in the stadium. Gopher fans seemed to represent pretty well also. Really, it looked there just weren't many neutral Phoenix fans there.
THE BAD
I'll have to go with starting off the Fox/NFL Network HD broadcast with closed caption in the middle of the screen. Also, the back-to-back offensive three-and-outs after the goal line stand in the second half. The first one was somewhat understandable considering starting in your own endzone, but the second sure left our defense out on the field for a long time.
THE SWEET
It's so hard not to think about next year. Of the three north contenders, KU is the only one with a returning QB and we get the Huskers in Memorial and the Tigers at a neutral site. Again, last night was about starting 2009 off on the right foot and consider that mission accomplished. In fact, all of the bowl games (except the "title" game on January 8) have the feel of early exhibitions for the following season. Maybe they should move them to August.
WHAT'S NEXT
Signing day on February 4.
KU Game Day: KU vs Minnesota - Insight Bowl
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 08:29AM
UM wideout Eric Decker in action / credit: BohPhoto (flickr cc)
Ready For Decker?
Series: 3-3
Time: Wednesday, December 31, 5:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Sun Devil Stadium
Location: Tempe, AZ
TV: NFL Network, WDAF 4
Line: KU (-9)
Bowl Records
KU 5-6
UM 5-7
History
1893 UM 12, KU 6
1896 UM 12, KU 0 (in KC)
1966 KU 16, UM 14
1971 UM 38, KU 20
1972 KU 34, UM 28
1973 KU 34, UM 19
The Scene
All kinds of crazy story lines as KU heads into this bowl match-up. First off, KU is playing in back-to-back bowl games for the first time ever. That won't seem quite as cool if they get upset by a Minnesota team that finished the season with a 55-0 home loss to Iowa. Also, you have Justin Thornton and John Larson out for the game and Jake Sharp recovering from the flu. Did he infect anyone else? Hopefully, he's been hanging out with the Gophers. And finally, what do you think of the Big 12 so far? OSU did not represent the "best division in college football" so well last night, so the mighty Spread 12 is now 1-1 this bowl season thanks to an overtime "skin o' th teeth" win by the Tigers. The Jayhawks are under some serious pressure to not let this snowball start running down the wrong side of the hill. Believe me the Big 10 would love to take a bite out of the Big 12 this year.
The Key
I'm going to have to throw out a few things for this game. Usually, I like to go with pass rush, but I'm thinking the Gophers are going to try to run on us despite the fact that they are a spread team. Can the Jayhawks still play physical football? If they do shut down the UM run game, that brings up key #2. Are we going to get good coverage out of Kendrick Harper and Chris Harris? Obviously, there will be a point when UM will go to leading offensive threat -- wideout Eric Decker. We'll need a good performance by the secondary to keep him in check and that makes for a good opportunity for redemption for both Harper and Harris. On the offensive side of the ball, David Lawrence mentioned this morning that the Gophers play the 3-4. Based on the KSU game, we should like that. If Jake Sharp, doesn't look full speed tonight, it wouldn't be a bad time for Jocques Crawford to have a big game. I fully expect Todd Reesing and his crew to be "on" this evening.
The Motivation
All kinds of motivation. Really, this kicks off the 2009 season and the Jayhawks want to get that rolling now. A division title is realistic, but it won't seem so if the Hawks can't handle a Big 10 middleweight. Another item to consider for KU is the Mangino Era record against non-conference BCS teams (2-4). With Duke on the slate next September, the opportunity to even that record starts tonight.
"I’m kind of disappointed that they’re a spread offense. like to spread out the ball. It’s stuff that we’ve seen all year, nothing too surprising"
--James Holt
Link to Photo | BohPhoto Flickr CC
KU Football Recycle: Time To Get Serious
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 08:46AM Okay, we'll take a few days off from the "Mangino's Greatest Hits" series as it's time to focus in on the Gophers. First, we need to catch up on a little news:
TOBEN OPURUM
Denverjhawk at RCT has done it again with another great interview. This time with four-star running back Toben Opurum. Go there now.
FOUR-STAR DE
Hot pot of coffee, folks. Mark Mangino and his staff have put together a great class. While I was celebrating Festivus in central Kansas, Rivals reported that the Jayhawks landed four-star JUCO defensive end Quintin Woods from Bakersfield, CA. Woods is 6-6/245 and runs a 4.65 forty according to the recruiting site. Looks like he choose KU over KSU, Washington St. UTEP and Boise State.
NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS
Seriously, Justin Thornton and John Larson are out for the Insight Bowl? C'mon. Throw in the flu for Jake Sharp and I'm wondering what is going on here. All indications are that Sharp will play, but it's still a concern. It's too bad to see a senior like Larson miss his final game. I've always liked this kid and rooted for him. Hopefully, he'll be feeling better soon.
JUSTIN THORNTON EXPANDED THOUGHTS
This one hurts. The Minnesota game is really the start of 2009 and I really think having a big corner like JT is one of the key factors in facing the Spread 12 conference. I'm not sure if the NFL is in his future, but I'd certainly be thinking about it if I was him and I'd be preparing for next year. You get one shot at this, so I'd leave nothing to chance. Of course, that's easy to say sitting in my chair, but sometimes you wish you could give these young guys a visit from the ghost of football future.
MIZZOU REPRESENTS?
That wasn't exactly the emphatic statement we were expecting from a Big 12 vs Big 10 matchup. There are a number of things to comment on, but I'll start with KU better start taking Minnesota a little more seriously. Maybe Mizzou is just an emotional shell after ... well, I don't know what you would call the 2008 campaign for them. Maybe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Quality Wins. Anyway, hopefully OSU can be a little more effective against Oregon. If not, get ready for Big 12 exposure.
THE CHASE DANIEL COMEDY HOUR
It was more like three hours. Seriously, not to pile on Chase Daniel, but something has to have happened. He really looked bad. I didn't see the wind whipping around inside the Alamo Dome, so that probably wasn't the factor on misfiring on virtually every open MU receiver deep. How about running up to the line of scrimmage on third and five and heaving it out of bounds instead of diving for the first? How about the bomb into the stands that got the Mizzou fans booing as Tommy Saunders jogged down the sidelines? If a guy ever played a football game stoned, that's what I think it would look like. Strange, but maybe it was just a case of a senior pressing too hard in his final games.
GARY PINKEL'S GAME MANAGEMENT MASTER CLASS
So, you're approaching the 20-yard line with a little over 30 seconds left and two time outs in a tie game at the end of regulation. You run off 15 seconds just for fun and do two running plays that lose five yards to get to the center of the field for a 44-yard field goal attempt? Hmm. Maybe he was afraid of Chase producing some sort of turnover, but I'm thinking I would have even thrown the ball one more time to get near the fifteen or more. Still, even if I'm running, I would have come up with something a little more serious than an empty backfield Chase Daniel run. By the way, that field goal would have been good from 39. It all ended up okay, but still overtime seemed un-necessary.
NOT MUCH ON THE GOPHERS HERE
Hey, I work cheap. We'll get some real content up for the big game.
Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / MU 2005
Monday, December 29, 2008 at 08:34AM Link to the KUsports.com Highlights
This one gets a little lost among some of the other, but the 13-3 win over Missouri in 2005 was key for the season. The week before Jason Swanson got some time in a blowout loss at Colorado. You started to see that KU might finally have a leader at QB and sure enough the Jayhawks were a whole different team against the Tigers. The game ended a four-game losing streak and also introduced us to Aqib Talib as he intercepted a Brad Smith pitch for a huge turnover. His take:
"He kind of pitched it and dude didn't catch it," said Talib
4 of 12
Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / MU 2004
Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 07:00AM Following Charles Gordon Gate the Jayhawks put on their red sox and headed to Columbia as Clark Green ripped through the heart of Mizzou's defense. This game was never close and a lot of people were surprised Pinkel survived this one. This game was available via webcast and this quote came from the Missouri broadcast team shortly after halftime:
"A lot of Missouri fans are now enjoying this one from the parking lot."
3 of 12
Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / KSU 2004
Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 06:00AM K-State fans were blind-sided by this one for some reason. It ended the "Decade of Dominance" and signified and immediate shift in power. K-State squeezed out another win in Manhattan in 2005, but otherwise, it's been all KU. John Randle and Mark Simmons starred in this one as the game ended with Jayhawk fans jumping the fence from the hill to get on the field and snag a goalpost.
2 of 12
Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / MU 2003
Friday, December 26, 2008 at 08:23AM A daily look at Mark Mangino's greatest wins in chronological order. We start with the 35-14 win over #23 MU in Lawrence. This was a game that Mizzou fans thought was in the bag. Bill Whittemore, Gabe Toomey and company had other ideas. This one signaled the official start of the Fighting Mangino era.
1 of 12
Holiday Wishes from Santa Mangino
Thursday, December 25, 2008 at 11:25AM 
Oh, Santa Mangino, thy recruiting bounty is plentiful. Please enjoy the updated commit list with Toben Opurum added for your holiday pleasure:
OFFENSE
PS Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
QB -- Christian Matthews/Arlington, TX -- 6-3/180/4.6 -- 6/20/2008
QB -- Jordan Webb/Union, MO-- 6-0/204 -- 4/12/2008
RB -- Toben Opurum/Plano, TX -- 6-2/229 -- 12/23/2008
RB -- Deshaun Sands/Coconut Creek, FL -- 5-9/175/4.5 -- 4/10/2008
OL -- Tom Mabry/Althoff, IL -- 6-5/270 --10/13/2008
OL -- Gavin Howard/Owasso, OK -- 6-5/260 -- 6/23/08
OL -- Riley Spencer/Hesston, KS -- 6-6/265/5.1 -- 6/22/08
DEFENSE
PS Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
DT -- Travis Stephens/Brenham, TX (JUCO) -- 6-3/265/4.6 -- 12/21/2008
DE -- Jacoby Thomas/Texarkana, TX -- 6-3/223/4.71-- 12/9/2008
DE -- Randall Dent/Grand Prairie, TX-- 6-4/256/4.9 -- 12/7/2008
DE -- Tyrone Sellers/McCook, NE -- 6-4/215/4.57 -- 7/2/2008
LB -- Julian Jones/Lawton, OK -- 6-2/253 -- 10/27/2008
LB -- Huldon Tharp/Mulvane, KS -- 6-0/208/4.65 -- 8/25/2008
DB -- Calvin Rubles/Tyler, TX (JUCO) -- 6-2/180/4.4-- 12/10/2008
DB -- Dexter Linton/Arlington,TX -- 6-0/180 -- 6/20/2008
DB -- Darian Kelly/Girard, KS -- 6-2/195/4.5 -- 6/5/2008
DB -- Prinz Kande/Euless, TS -- 5-11/182/4.5 -- 6/2/2008
DB -- Tyler Patmon/Cedar Park,TX -- 5-11/180 -- 4/17/2008
Note: There's a lot of talk that Travis Stephens will play DE in college and Randall Dent will end up as a DT.
For star rankings, check the Rivals Commit page.
Toben Opurum: Just a Quick Link and Quote
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 08:32AM It's Christmas Eve and I already opened my present. It was a Toben Opurum verbal commit. Thank you, Santa Mangino. Here's a Toben quote from the KUsports.com story (via Rivals) plus should check out the MaxPreps page with his junior year stats. There's a video and I think you'll see in his receiving stats that the kid can catch the ball.
“The visit went great. The thing that stood out was how well I meshed with all of the players and coaches. I knew after the visit there was no need to take others. I saw what I needed and knew I could make decision off that.”
