Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Since the start of the 2007 season, the Kansas football team has had its schedule second-guessed by skeptical sportswriters and its toughness questioned by the talking heads on television. Durring their first seven games, the Jayhawks seem to have taken the doubts as a challenge, leaving nothing to chance and no question unanswered. Here are some of the questions and answers from the first seven games of the ’07 campaign:
Q: Will the Kansas pass defense be able to stop anyone?
A: The Kansas pass defense has stopped everyone. Central Michigan brought All-MAC quarterback Dan LeFevour to Lawrence and left with only seven points. In the final three nonconference games, the Jayhawks’ opponents averaged just 105.3 passing yards per game.
Kansas State’s Josh Freeman threw three interceptions against Kansas, and Colorado’s Cody Hawkins threw two. Baylor arrived at Memorial Stadium with a young quarterback on the rise in Blake Szymanski and headed back to Waco with the spot up for grabs after the Jayhawks bullied three of the Bears’ quarterbacks.
After finishing dead last (119th) in the nation in pass defense last year, the Jayhawks are fourth in 2007. Junior cornerback Aqib Talib is playing as expected — at an All-American level, junior safety Patrick Resby and junior cornerback Kendrick Harper have been reliable additions, sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey is phenomenal now that he is finally healthy and freshman cornerback Chris Harris has surprised with his consistency.
“We’re just more comfortable and more confident when we’re out there,” Talib said. “We’re getting more comfortable in the game and getting our timing down.”
Q: When will the Jayhawks play — and beat — a decent opponent?
A: The last three weeks. True, Southeastern Louisiana, Florida International and Toledo were duds and Central Michigan played like a team in disarray under its new coach, but Kansas provided a resounding answer to this question over the past three Saturdays.
Kansas State had just defeated Texas in Austin, held home field advantage and its quarterback Josh Freeman seemed to have found his groove. That was all before Kansas arrived in Manhattan. The Jayhawk defense disrupted Freeman and the Wildcat offense enough to force three turnovers and pull off a 30-24 road victory against then-No. 24 Kansas State.
Winless in Big 12 Conference play, Baylor is obviously not the class of the conference. Despite the Bears’ many weaknesses, the 58-10 victory against a conference opponent was impressive. In fact, the 58 points marked the most in conference play by any Kansas team.
Last weekend, Kansas did what even No. 4 Oklahoma could not — win in Boulder, Colo. The Jayhawks solved a tough Colorado defense and tamed the thin Rocky Mountain air to survive a 19-14 thriller at Folsom Field. Junior linebackers James Holt and Joe Mortensen covered the entire field, combining for 26 tackles. Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing burned the Buffaloes with his legs, rushing for 84 yards.
“We didn’t think we could just roll Colorado over in Boulder,” sophomore running back Jake Sharp said. “They have a great team and they play great at home. It’s not an easy place to play and we feel happy with our turnout.”
Q: Sure, the team is 7-0, but this is Kansas football. Are the Jayhawks for real?
A: A reporter posed a similar question to Kansas coach Mark Mangino after Kansas defeated Colorado last weekend. The coach provided a clear answer: “I’m not going to say whether we’re for real or not,” Mangino said. “You watch a game and see if we’re for real.”
— Edited by Jeff Briscoe
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KU answers questions with play
Texas A&M wins Saturday. Gig Em, Aggies!
KU answers questions with play
As you can see on www.AggieCoach.com, the Texas A&M football team is attempting to build on its recent success with Nebraska (#109 ranked total defense) in preparation for the BCS #9 Jayhawks. The fact that an Aggie has to mutter the words "The Kansas Jayhawks football team is favored at Kyle Field" is about as hard for us to stomach as A&M's basketball victory must have been at Kansas last spring for your fans. Post your thoughts about this Saturday's game and reversing of roles on our student site at www.thebatt.com.>-
- Posted by AggieCoach on October 23, 2007 at 8:19 a.m.
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