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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
BOXED IN A CORNER
Three freshmen struggle to replace senior
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
An injury to a starter means an opportunity to a reserve.
freshman cornerback Corrigan Powell joins junior safety Justin Thornton for a tackle during Saturday's game against Sam Houston State at Memorial Stadium. Powell wasn't the only freshman at the cornerback spot — he and freshmen siah Barfield and Ryan Murphy all saw playtime against the Bearkats, rotating as replacements for an injured Kendrick Harper.
How much they make of that situation is up to them, and in Kansas' secondary there are some young players dealing differently with the glare of the spotlight.
When senior cornerback Kendrick Harper went down with a neck injury in week two, coach Mark Mangino called freshman Isiah Barfield's number.
Barfield performed ably in that 29-0 victory over Louisiana Tech, but the following week he looked over-matched against the speedy South Florida wide receivers.
One minute into the fourth quarter, Bulls receiver A.J. Love burned past Barfield for a 37-yard touchdown that put them up 31-20.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Against Sam Houston State on Saturday, Mangino gave Barfield his second career start — only this time he kept the leash much shorter and used three different freshmen at the cornerback position opposite of sophomore Chris Harris.
Barfield, Ryan Murphy and Corrigan Powell all saw time at cornerback on Saturday. Barfield and Murphy both took redshirts for Kansas last year while Powell is straight out of Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland, Texas.
Harris is entrenched at his position, but Mangino said the other side is a constant battle for stability between the trio until Harper returns.
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MEN'S BASKETBALL
'Cream of the crop'recruits come to town
'Cream of the Another top prospect will visit next month
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
The lajhawks spent last weekend celebrating last season's national championship one last time as the players and coaches received their championship rings.
Three Rivals.com five-star high school players — guard John Wall, forward Thomas Robinson and center Daniel Orton — made official visits to Kansas and watched last year's team get their rings in a private ceremony.
But judging by the caliber of recruits in town, Kansas coach Bill Self and his staff are already thinking about the next potential championship.
of their class.
Shay Wildeboor, recruiting expert and Jayhawkslant.com senior editor, described the three players as the "cream of the crop"
"It's rare that you see a collection of players like this in one location during one weekend," Wildeboro said. "It's a huge testament to Bill Self and his staff. All of those guys are studs."
Especially Wall. Rivals.com ranks him as the best player in the country. Wildeboro said the point guard from Raleigh, N.C., was exceptionally fast and a skilled passer.
He wasn't short on praise for the other two, either. Wildeboor said Orton, from Oklahoma City, would be a great player once he matured offensively. Robinson, a power forward from New Hampshire, could also be an elite front-line player.
"To be honest with you, he's probably the best rebounder in his class." Wildeboor said. "He's got a motor that never stops."
And to think the Jayhawks were scheduled to have one more blue chip recruit in town for a visit, well, that's almost unfair. Xavier Henry, a guard from Oklahoma City ranked as the third best player in the nation by Rivals.com, canceled his trip to
Lawrence a few days before the weekend.
Henry has narrowed down his list of potential schools to two — Kansas and Memphis. Wildeboor said Henry was still expected to make an official visit to Lawrence next month.
"It's my understanding that he's going to go to Kansas for Late Night, visit Memphis the next weekend and then decide," Wildeboro said.
It's tough to say which players are Self's top priorities because it is against NCAA rules for a coach to discuss recruiting at this stage. But Wildeboor said an educated guess can be made by looking at who he visited first.
Self started the recruiting period by traveling south to Oklahoma for an in-home visit with Henry. He has made five other in-home visits and Wildeboor said Self would be in Las Vegas today to see guard Elijah Johnson.
But Self won't be able to sign all of his
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Kansas' key targets
Player
Some of the recruits who may play for the Jayhawks next season:
John Wall
Xavier Henry
Jordan Hamilton
Michael Snaer
Dominic Cheek
Thomas Robinson
Daniel Orton
Elliah Johnson
Position Hometown
Guard Raleigh, N.C.
Guard Oklahoma City
Forward Los Angeles
Guard Moreno Valley, Calif.
Guard Jersey City, N.J.
Forward Wolfeboro, N.H.
Center Oklahoma City
Guard Las Vegas
Wall
Rivals.com Rank
Hivais.com Rank
1
3
5
11
16
18
22
27
Hamilton
Snaer
Robinson
COMMENTARY
Orton
Johnson
2008 season mild compared to 2007's wild year of upsets
W here is this year's Appalachian State?
Party in college football officially arrived one season ago. Appalachian State announced that to everyone in the nation with a deafening yell heard by all 110,000 fans in attendance at "The Big House." After the Mountaineers bested No. 5 Michigan 34-32, you kind of had the feeling that it was going to be a wild year.
Little did anyone know that there would be such a massive number of upsets, a curse of the No. 2 spot in the polls, surprise BCS bowl appearances by Illinois, Hawaii and Kansas and miserable seasons for historic programs like Nebraska and Notre Dame. It was truly an unpredictable year.
Although it seems early in the season, many teams are already one-third of the way through their 12 game schedule, and the magic from last year appears absent. But don't refet yet. The upsets are coming.
This year's caliber of upsets does look weak in comparison to last season.
However, it's tough to top a season in which fans were spoiled by so many thrills. 2008 has not been completely lacking, though, as there have been a few dose calls — Ohio State barely squeaked out a victory at home against in-state rival Ohio. An upset by the Bobcats over the Buckeyes would have been equally as shocking as Michigan's flop one year ago.
Last year, the Cardinals started 2-0 and were ninth in the nation heading into a week three showdown against Kentucky. They lost a close one to the Wildcats, falling 40-34. After the loss, the Cardinals lost their balance and stumbled at home the following week against a lowly Syracuse team that finished the year 2-10.
While Ohio State snuck through, West Virginia hasn't been nearly as fortunate, getting bit by the upset bug twice. Now West Virginia is in dancer of unrevely
West Virginia followed the same pattern in the last two weeks. After being shocked by East Carolina, they fell in Boulder to Colorado this past week. Louisville finished 6-6 in 2007. West Virginia is going to have to fight its way out of a 1-2 hole if they don't want to have a similarly disappointing season.
Many thought Pat White and West Virginia were poised to contend for a Big East title and a shot at the national championship, but now they look eerily similar to Brian Brohm's Louisville Cardinals team from 2007.
Four weeks into the year, 10 ranked teams have fallen to unranked foes, with
One year ago, 11 teams dropped to unranked competition in the opening four weeks. Five teams ranked in the top 11 and 10 teams ranked in the top 20 fell victim to upset. The highest ranked team to fall was No. 5 Michigan.
The quantity and magnitude of upsets is down from one season ago, but that doesn't mean this year is destined to disappoint. In fact, it wasn't until week five of 2007 that things got really wild.
It was actually one of the more shocking weekends in the history of college football. The nation took witness to heartbreak after heartbreak as many teams with national title hopes were dismantled
the biggest upset coming from No. 8 West Virginia's slip up against East Carolina. Three teams in the top 15 have fallen, as well as six teams in the top 20.
In week five of 2007, seven ranked teams lost to unranked opponents and of those seven teams, five were ranked in the top 13. Two of the upsets took place in our own Big 12 backyard. Colorado shocked the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State went down to Austin and handled the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns.
With that said, I wouldn't start making bold BCS championship predictions just yet. It's foolish to think that although parity prospered one year ago it's going to disappear this season. Yes, traditional
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
SMU linebacker Ryan Moczygemba (39) bring down TCU fullback Justin Watts (32) is brought down from behind by during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008.
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