Football Notes: Sept. 14, 2007

By Asher Fusco

Friday, September 14, 2007

National attention

Everything is going well for the Kansas defense this season. On Saturday, the defense shut out Southeastern Louisiana. On Wednesday, junior linebacker Mike Rivera earned inclusion on the Butkus Award watch list. The Butkus Award is given to the top linebacker in the nation at the end of the season. The watch list consists of 66 candidates. Rivera has played well in his first two games as an outside linebacker, making nine tackles and one sack.

Fast defense

Sophomore free safety Darrell Stuckey said Kansas’ defense was notably faster than last year’s version. He compared the 2007 defense to the 2005 squad that allowed only 2.4 yards per carry. Stuckey said the players had worked on reading blocks more quickly and using better body control to reach the opposing ballcarrier earlier. The 2007 Kansas defense is ranked ninth in the nation in yards per game allowed.

Watching tape

Kansas hasn’t been focusing too much on the schemes Toledo used in last year’s matchup. Instead, the Jayhawks have turned their attention to the tapes of Toledo’s first two games of this season, against Purdue and Central Michigan. Stuckey said Toledo had altered its game plan significantly since last September.

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