Kansas Jayhawks
Preview 2009
By
Pete Fiutak
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2009 CFN Kansas Preview |
2009 Kansas Offense
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2009 CFN Kansas
Defense |
2009 Kansas Depth
Chart
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2008 Kansas Preview |
2007 Kansas Preview |
2006 Kansas
Preview
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Head coach: Mark Mangino
7th year: 45-41
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 18, Def. 21 ST 3
Lettermen Lost: 18 |
Ten Best KU Players
1. QB Todd Reesing, Sr.
2. WR Dezmon Briscoe, Jr.
3. WR Kerry Meier, Sr.
4. SS
Darrell Stuckey, Sr.
5. DE Jake Laptad, Jr.
6. DT Caleb
Blakesley, Sr.
7. CB Daymond Patterson, So.
8. OT Jeff
Spikes, Soph.
9. OT Jeremiah Hatch, So.
10. DB Chris
Harris, Jr. |
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2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 9-3
2009 Record: 0-0
9/5 Northern
Colorado
9/12 at UTEP
9/19 Duke
9/26 Southern Miss
10/3 OPEN DATE
10/10 Iowa State
10/17 at Colorado
10/24 Oklahoma
10/31 at Texas Tech
11/7 at Kansas State
11/14 Nebraska
11/21 at Texas
11/28 Missouri (in KC)
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2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction:
9-3
2008 Record:
8-5
8/30
Florida Int'l W 40-10
9/6
Louisiana Tech W
29-0
9/12
at South Florida
L 37-34
9/20
S Houston St W
38-14
9/27 OPEN DATE
Oct. 4
at Iowa State W
35-33
10/11
Colorado W
30-14
10/18 at Oklahoma L 45-31
10/25 Texas Tech L 63-21
11/1
Kansas State W
52-31
11/8
at Nebraska L
45-35
11/15
Texas L
35-7
11/22 OPEN DATE
11/29 Missouri (KC) W 40-37
Insight Bowl
12/31 Minnesota W 42-21
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Does
Kansas have staying power?
After bursting
onto the national scene in 2007 with an
ultra-efficient offense that answered every
challenge, and a defense that was just good enough
to stop all the mediocre teams on the schedule,
Kansas had to answer questions about being a
possible one-year wonder. Beating Virginia Tech in
the Orange Bowl was nice, but beating the better
teams in the Big 12 would be a different story.
It’s not fair to call the 2007 season a fluke or
a mirage, the team really was good on the way to a
12-1 record, but it didn’t get any of the big boys
from the South, Nebraska was still down, the
toughest non-conference game was against Central
Michigan, and the one strong team on the slate,
Missouri, was a loss. The scheduling gods had their
moment of payback last year.
In the best year
in the history of the Big 12, Kansas had to face the
three killers from the South, Oklahoma, Texas, and
Texas Tech, had to go to Lincoln to face a revamped
Nebraska, and travelled to South Florida. A
tremendous gut-check win over Missouri led to an
Insight Bowl invite and a win over Minnesota, but
the end of the year still didn’t prove that Kansas
had the potential to continue the recent run of
success.
This year, even with another brutal
schedule, should be a better indicator than last
year, and it’ll need to be a big season before the
program undergoes some mega-personnel changes in
2010. Todd Reesing came up with the best passing
season in school history last year, and he should be
even better this season with Kerry Meier and Dezmon
Briscoe returning to likely combine for close to 200
catches. The backfield gets back Jake Sharp and
Jocques Crawford, the line has promise, even if some
replacements are needed inside, and the defense is
going to be aggressive and very, very quick and
athletic.
This will be a good enough team to
be in the hunt for the Big 12 North title all season
long, but it’ll have to show it can produce when the
spotlight is on in the biggest games with Oklahoma,
Texas Tech, and Texas back on the slate to make this
a tough year to get over the hump to play for the
championship. Last year, KU showed that its talent
level was still a few steps below the top teams, and
while the try-hard, good-effort teams of the past
few years have produced decent results, this will be
the year to see just how far the program has to go.
What to look for on offense:
A monster year from Reesing. The senior is already
coming off a record-setting passing season, but this
year could be even more amazing. Dezmon Briscoe and
Kerry Meier return after combining for 189 catches
for 2,452 yards and 22 touchdowns, while Johnathan
Wilson is a nice No. 3 target and Jake Sharp is a
good receiving threat out of the backfield. And then
there’s the need to throw just to stay alive. If the
secondary isn’t appreciably better, Reesing will
have to throw to keep the team in most games.
What to expect look for defense: More
quickness and athleticism in a 4-2-5 alignment. The
KU linebacking corps was fantastic last season, but
now it’s undergoing a wholesale change. The
replacements aren’t nearly as big, but they’re very
quick, almost like beefed up safeties, and they can
all run. The secondary has good speed, and the
defensive front should be excellent off the ball and
into the backfield. There might be problems against
more physical teams, but the D should handle itself
well against most spread attacks.
This
team will be much better if … the offensive line
dominates. This was a problem last year as tackles
Jeremiah Hatch and Jeff Spikes were thrown to the
wolves as freshmen. The have big-time upside, while
the interior has options to work with to come up
with a few replacements. Now the line has to work
after struggling in the running game and not doing
much to keep Todd Reesing from getting popped.
The Schedule: It’s tough enough that
there’s no room to give away a Big 12 upset. The
non-conference schedule is light and fluffy with
home games against Duke and Southern Miss the only
two to break a sweat over, but the payment comes in
conference play getting tagged with Oklahoma, at
Texas Tech, and at Texas. On the plus side, Nebraska
has to come to Lawrence and the Missouri game will
be played in Kansas City. If KU has any dreams of
playing for the Big 12 title, it’ll need to win
games at Colorado and at Kansas State as part of a
tough stretch of three road games in four weeks. The
one home game in the mix there is against OU. The
back part of that four game run, at Texas Tech and
at Kansas State, starts another run of three road
games in four weeks with the home game against
Nebraska.
Best Offensive Player:
Senior QB Todd Reesing. The pro scouts are going to be far more
interested in Briscoe and Meier, but Reesing is the tough,
heart-and-soul of the offense. He was too hurt to play at the end of the
year, but he played anyway throwing for 375 yards and four touchdowns
showing the type of gamer he is. On the year he threw for 3,888 yards
and 32 scores, and while he wasn’t quite as efficient as he was in 2007,
he kept the offense moving. Now he has to cut down on his interceptions,
lead the way to wins over more strong teams, and above all, stay
healthy.
Best Defensive Player:
Senior SS Darrell Stuckey. He can do it all. At 6-1 and 205 pounds, he
has the size to be able to be the intimidating force in the secondary
and the speed to be thrown at corner if desperately needed. He’s a sure
tackler and is solid in pass coverage, though he could be more
consistent. He came up with two key interceptions in last year’s win
over Missouri and made 14 solo stops in the lloss to Nebraska.
Key player to a successful season: The entire linebacking corps. You don’t get better by losing James Holt,
Joe Mortensen and Mike Rivera, but there are some quick options who’ll
be ready to step in and provide some more athleticism. The line should
be fine and the secondary will be better, but if the linebacking corps
doesn’t pull its weight against all the high octane Big 12 offenses,
it’ll be tough for the Jayhawks to come up with a better record.
The season will be a success if
... a Big 12 North title. It’s a tall order with Texas, Oklahoma and
Texas Tech on the schedule, but with a key home game against Nebraska,
with Missouri rebuilding, and Colorado still trying to find its way, the
Jayhawks have to take advantage of the every chance this year or the
window of opportunity on winning a division championship could quickly
close. Nebraska is on the verge of being excellent and the rest of the
league appears a year away from being better.
Key game:
Nov. 14 vs. Nebraska. It’ll be tough for a three-loss team to get to the
Big 12 title game, but KU could still be in the mix even with assumed
losses to Oklahoma and Texas in the equation. However, it’ll be next to
impossible to play for the championship if KU can’t get by the Huskers
at home. Considering a trip to Texas is up next followed up by the
neutral site game against Mizzou, KU can’t afford to lose its final home
game.
2008 Fun Stats:
- Passing touchdowns: Kansas 33 – Opponents 27
- Third down
conversions: Kansas 51% - Opponents 40%
- Kickoff return average:
Opponents 21.4 – Kansas 17.5
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2009 CFN Kansas Preview |
2009 Kansas Offense
-
2009 CFN Kansas
Defense |
2009 Kansas Depth
Chart
-
2008 Kansas Preview |
2007 Kansas Preview |
2006 Kansas
Preview
|