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Thursday, September 8, 2011
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STARTING LINEUP
OFFENSE
The offense came in with a game plan to run the ball against McNeese State and they executed that plan about as well as possible. There was nothing the Cowbys defense could do against the Kansas offense that averaged 5.5 yards a carry and 6.9 yards per play. Jordan Webb showed off how he improved this offseason, by completing 70 percent of his passes and throwing the long ball with precision. The Huskies' defense will be the first true test of the Kansas offense.
Webb
Pos. NAME No. Year
QB Jordan Webb 2 So.
HB James Sims 29 So.
FB Nick Sizemore 45 So.
WR Daymond Patterson 15 Sr.
WR D.J. Beshears 20 Jr.
TE Tim Biere 86 Sr.
RT Tanner Hawkinson 72 Jr.
RG Duane Zlatnik 67 Jr.
C Jeremiah Hatch 77 Sr.
LG Trevor Marrongelli 69 Jr.
LT Jeff Spikes 74 Sr.
K Alex Mueller 10 Fr.
DEFENSE
While the defensive line and linebackers had a decent performance against McNeese State, the secondary was absolutely torched. The Jayhawks allowed only 2.8 yards a carry for the Cowboys, who ran the ball 34 times. The secondary gave up over 10 yards a completion, as the Cowboys killed the Jayhawks with the screen pass. Northern Illinois brings in a talented offense that put up more than 500 yards against Army. Kansas' defense will either show that the McNeese State performance was just a fluke, or that it will be a long season for the Jayhawks' secondary.
Pos. NAME No. Year
DE Toben Opurum 35 Jr.
DT John Williams 71 Jr.
DT Kevin Young 90 So.
RE Keba Agostinho 96 So.
OLB Steven Johnson 52 Sr.
MLB Darius Willis 2 So.
OLB Tunde Bakare 17 Jr.
CB Isiah Barfield 19 Sr.
CB Greg Brown 5 Jr.
FS Keeston Terry 9 RFr.
SS Bradley McDougald 24 Jr.
P Ron Doherty 13 So.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of seniors Northern Illinois has on their roster. Eleven of which were starters on last year's 11-3 team.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The number of rushing attempts Kansas had in their season opener against McNeese State last Saturday.
55
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
This week is the first true test for the Jayhawks. They pounded McNeese State with the run, allowing them to also pick the Cowboys apart in the air. Northern Illinois won 11 games last year and finished first in the Mid-Atlantic Conference. It will bode well for Kansas, if they can come away with a win over this well coached, successful program.
Freshman running back Tony Pierson. Pierson entered last week's game against McNeese State as the fourth string tailback. He quickly changed that Saturday.
AT A GLANCE
PLAYER TO WATCH
running the ball five times for 73 yards. Pierson has the kind of speed that will make an entire defense keep their eyes on him, because he will burn them with the big play. Look for Kansas to sporadically use Pierson all game, sometimes as a decoy, and mostly as a dangerously fast running back.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Pierson
01. 420
The Jlayhaws had a quiet week on special teams last Saturday, as they only punted the ball twice and did not kick a field goal. D.J. Beshears saw little action day returning both kicks
Beshears
and punts. Coach Turner Gill was happy with their special teams performance on Saturday, saying they won four out of the six categories they look at in special teams.
COACHING
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Well, things certainly went better for Gill and staff in this year's season opener than it did in last year's. Kan-
Gill
year's. Kan- Gill
sas entered the
game looking to run the
ball and they succeeded.
new defensive coordinator Vic Shealy has his hands full trying
to make sure his defense performs better against the Huskies than they did against the Cowboys.
PREDICT
31-28
MOMENTUM
T The Jayhawks are feeling awful good about themselves after taking it to McNeese State. They physically dominated the
line of scrimage and believe they have found a new mentality. They should be able to take the confidence gained from the first game and use it to come out string against Northern Illinois.
QUESTION MARKS
Is the secondary really that bad?
it is, by no means, a good sign if your pass defense gets torched by McNeese State. The Jayhawks gave up 325 yards in the air and forced only 10 incompletions against a Cowboys team that was alternating quarterbacks all game. Senior quarterback Chandler Harnish broke a 47 year single season and career total offense record for the Huskies. Play time is over if the Jayhawks were holding back against McNeese State, because Northern Illinois' passing game could potentially make them look very bad.
BABY JAY WILL CHEER IF ...
The Jayhawks get off to a fast start and if the defense has a better performance. If Kansas can score early in the game and get the ground attack go again, things will go well for the Jayhawks. If the Jayhawks score early and the defense can improve on last week's performance. Kansas will come away with a victory.
Humanitarian Bowl. Last week in their opener, they put up 49 points against Army, a touchdown more than Kansas scored against FCS opponent McNeese State. Its top two running backs each averaged 9.9 and 7.3 yards per carry, and their quarterback, senior Chandler Harnish, threw for five touchdowns. So yeah, Northern Illinois is good. Good enough for Vegas oddsmakers to make them nearly a touchdown favorite in Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Kansas football is still a year or two away from doing any kind of damage in whatever conference it will be in, but a 2-0 start that includes an early upset could do wonders for a young team looking to firmly remove that rearview mirror from its perch.
— Edited by Lindsey Deiter
sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb averaged more than 20 yards a completion, including three touchdown passes that were all more than 25 yards.
"I think the other thing that's going to be important for us is making sure that we have a 2-to-1 ratio when it comes to big plays," Gill said. "I'm talking about 20 yards or more that we need to be 2-to-1 ratio as far as our big plays in our favor versus them with the plus 20 yards."
Coach Turner Gill and his staff would like to see a similar effort from their team this Saturday against Northern Illinois.
Kansas ran the same amount of plays as McNeese State on Saturday, had the ball for nearly ten minutes less, and scored 18 more points than its opponent.
Offensive coordinator Chuck Long said the big plays that were present Saturday were missing from the offense last season.
JORDAN WEBB
Sophomore quarterback
"Big plays are huge in college football," Long said. "It's very
opened the second possession with a 30-yard run. The freshmen running backs added playmaking capabilities as well. Darrian Miller averaged 4.8 yards a carry and Tony Pearson averaged 14.6 yards a carry.
"We feel like we have a running game that is built for explosive plays," Webb said. "We can get the 70 and 60 yarders out of the running game just as easy as the passing game."
Even though the run-game is full of playmakers, the receivers are without one of their top players. Senior Daymond
Freshman receiver JaCorey Shepherd, who caught three passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns in his Kansas debut, will replace Patterson with his 4.5 speed.
The newfound, ground-heavy attack is far away from the spread offense Mark Mangino ran, but that doesn't mean that a more balanced style won't provide just as many opposing, defense-killing, scoring opportunities.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Edited by Jennifer DiDonato
"When you look at steady offenses like that in the past, they are traditionally run-play action pass teams and a lot of times they get open," receivers coach David Beaty said. "They don't have a whole lot of passes in the game, but a lot of times they count for big points. That's the direction our offense is headed in."
Sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb hands the ball to freshman running back Darrian Miller. "We did exactly what we wanted to do. We ran the ball and as quartbacks and receivers we made the plays that we needed to and that's the team we need to be." Webb said.
A
Legends of the Falken game That familiar Max Falkenstein draw will return before college basketball season even begins.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Falkenstein to announce Legends of the Phog game
Falkenstein and his iconic voice will join Dave Armstrong in broadcasting the Legends of the Phog alumni game at 4 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Allen Fieldhouse. The
game is now officially sold out, according to Kansas Athletics.
Brian Hanni and Bud Stallworth will announce for the Jayhawk Radio Network, which will broadcast the game to the state — KCSP (610 Sports) in Kansas City, WIBW (580 AM) in Topeka and KLWN (1320 AM) in LAWN.
Max Rothman
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