Is Jake Sharp the cure to Kansas’ struggling running game?
Sharp posts the most receiving yards ever by a Jayhawk running back in Kansas’ remarkable comeback victory against Iowa State last Saturday.
By B.J. Rains (Contact)
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Coach Mark Mangino isn’t exactly sure when it happened, but he’s glad it did.
After struggling through watching Jocques Crawford and Angus Quigley fail to grab control of the running back position, he realized during practice last week that even though Mangino didn’t want to do it, Jake Sharp had to be the guy.
“I kind of felt that way for the past week or so, that he is the guy that is best suited right now to be our main running back,” Mangino said. “I never told him, and we didn’t start him because we didn’t want to put any extra pressure on him. That is something that’s been in the back of my mind. I went with my instincts and I am glad that I did.”
Photo by Ryan McGeeney
Junior running back Jake Sharp sprints toward the end zone during Saturday's game against Iowa State University in Ames. The Jayhawks recovered from a 20-0 deficit at halftime to beat the Cyclones 35-33.
Photo by Ryan McGeeney
Sharp started the first three games of the season but played sparingly and rushed for only 62 yards on 21 carries in those three games. His only appearance in the Jayhawks’ fourth game against Sam Houston State came on the last possession of the game when the backups were in to run out the clock.
“We never, ever intended him to be a guy to carry the load here,” Mangino said. “He is a guy that is supossed to get 10 carries a game, throw him a couple passes, be a changeup guy. But he has been forced to be the guy.”
Sharp had only nine yards rushing in the first half, but almost single-handedly jumpstarted the Kansas comeback in the second half. Sharp rushed for a season-high 79 yards and had 107 receiving yards, the most ever by a Kansas running back.
“It was great just getting out there and getting tired,” Sharp said. “I actually got tired for once. It seems like when I get tired, the game slows down and I just feel comfortable. Things just seem smoother.”
Looking for any kind of spark they could find, offensive coordinator Ed Warinner noticed a hole in the Iowa State defense and took a chance. On the Jayhawks’ first offensive play of the second half, Sharp took off down the left sideline and remained uncovered. Todd Reesing found him and Sharp took the pass 67 yards into the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Jayhawks some much needed momentum.
“We’ve run that play at least 100 times in practice,” Sharp said. “We noticed that they werent really paying a lot of attention to our running backs out there in the flat and coach Warinner made a great call and Todd made a great throw and it came together. I was just saying, ‘Don’t drop it, don’t drop it.’”
Sharp then took a shovel pass from Reesing for 43 yards to set a one yard Quigley run that made it 20-14. Kansas steamrolled from there, completing the third greatest comeback in school history.
“It boosts my confidence,” Sharp said. “I definitely think I’m a guy who can make big plays for our team, and I was called on to do it today. I think when I’m called on to do it, I’ll do it.”
After hoping that Sharp wouldn’t be forced into this role, Mangino now believes he’s the perfect man to turn around the struggling Kansas running game.
“He’s a tenacious guy,” Mangino said. “He’s not a big guy but he has a lot of fight in him. He played his tail off. He is a prideful guy. He wants to prove that he can do the job and everything he did today leads me to believe that he can and he will.”
— Edited by Rachel Burchfield
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