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Vosburgh: Mangino made a big mistake

By Max Vosburgh

Friday, November 6, 2009

Remember this scenario? Kansas is down two touchdowns on the road against Texas Tech midway through the fourth quarter and the game is on the line. What happens next?

“They just said, ‘Kale’s in,’ and that was it,” quarterback Todd Reesing said Tuesday at the football press conference.

So here we are, almost a week later, and I’m not afraid to say it: When Mark Mangino benched Reesing against Texas Tech, he made one of the most foolish mistakes of his coaching career.

Under no rationale was it the correct move to bench the second, if not the, best quarterback in Kansas football history. Maybe it’s just me, but in that scenario, I’m not going to put in a redshirt freshman who was 3-3 with 16 yards in his Kansas career. I would have shown some loyalty to the quarterback who saved my job. I’d have some faith in a guy with 25 career victories, 9,963 yards, 84 touchdowns and an Orange Bowl ring.

Granted, Reesing has struggled in his last three games. Let’s not pretend like he hasn’t. But at the same time, Reesing has 2,385 passing yards this year (7th in the nation, 1st in Big 12), 16 passing touchdowns (tied for 13th in the nation) and a 64.1 pass completion percentage (35th in the nation, 3rd in Big 12, 1st in Big 12 North).

Let’s also stop pretending like Reesing is some kind of interception machine. This year he has seven interceptions, which puts him at a tie for 38th in the nation. Considering what conference he plays in and the fact that four Big 12 quarterbacks have as many or more interceptions than him — including Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who has eight — I’m willing to give him a pass for now. But apparently Mangino wasn’t.

During Tuesday’s press conference, Mangino said of Reesing’s benching, “I think you guys make it a big deal. It is not a big deal.”

What was Reesing’s rebuttal? “Well, yeah, It was a big deal to me,” he said.

So now you’ve created a possible rift between your best player and your head coach. Yeah, those seven minutes of Kale Pick were really worth that.

Furthermore, Mangino went on to make a pretty obvious statement to anyone who watched the game: “I told the players I did a lousy job of coaching,” he said.

Between the benching last week and some of the play calling, I have been left dumbfounded more times in the last three games than I have been in years.

The bottom line is Reesing is the team’s best player and most dangerous weapon. When times get tough, you stick with your best player and your leader.

I was impressed with Reesing when he shut the door on Mangino and called a players-only meeting this week. This is what a leader does. When Mangino takes his leader off the field, he’s stripping his own players of the one person they’re supposed to look to for guidance in tight games.

Kansas is facing a must-win game tomorrow at Kansas State. Bill Snyder has that team playing better than anyone expected. If Reesing struggles early, it’s imperative that he stays in and figures things out because, as anyone who was at the Border Showdown last year knows, if there’s any quarterback who can pull off a miracle, it’s Todd Reesing.

— Edited by Lauren Cunningham

Comments

gref03 (anonymous) says...

How can you say this was a foolish mistake? Did this cost KU a win? Absolutely not. Bottom line is, Reesing was playing bad, and was also getting his butt kicked. The offensive line was not protecting him, along with making poor decisions, Todd Reesing was just not playing a good football game. To say that this was a questionable move may be correct, but it is not as big of a deal as people are making it out to be. Who knows, maybe it even lit a fire under Reesing and that can even increase the odds of beating KSU this week. Lord knows we need it.

November 6, 2009 at 9:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

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