8B
GAME DAY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
KU KICKOFF
@KANSAN.COM
ATA GLANCE
Friday's ESPN2 match up against No. 19 South Florida has the makings to be a game that could make or break the Jayhawks 2008 season. Win, and Kansas can build momentum as they approach conference play. Lose, and Kansas will have one loss with games against Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and Texas Tech still on the schedule. Kansas proved it could win on the road in 2007. What about 2008?
BYTHENUMBERS
1
See additional coverage of the game including the Hot Route podcast and a live blog of tonight's game on Kansan.com
Jayhawks Big 12 rank in passing defense and scoring defense
Road victories by Kansas in 2008
Receptions for Kerry Meier through two games
18
Combined rushing yards by Jake Sharp and Jocques Crawford this season
113
133
Rushing yards for Angus
Quigley
668
COUNTDOWN TO KICK-OFF
668 Passing yards for Todd Rees ing
PLAYERTOWATCH
See additional
Angus Quigley. With Jake Sharp and Jocques Crawford both
Quigley has made the most of a surprising opportunity. Quigley has rushed for 133 yards and has led the Jayhawks in rushing in each of their first two ga
FIRST REAL TEST TONIGHT
rushing in each of their first two games.
Last name
Kansas hits road for nationally televised matchup
KANSAS VS SOUTH FLORIDA 7 p.m. tonight, Raymond James Stadium, ESPN2
QUESTION MARKS
Will the Kansas running game get any better? For two games, it's been quarterback Todd Reesing who has had to carry the load on offense. Kansas would love to establish their running game against USF.
Is Kansas ready for the big stage? A national ESPN2 audience will watch as the Jayhawks play their first road game of the season against another nationally ranked opponent. Kansas was 4-0 on the road last season.
Kansas 2-0,0-0 Big 12
OFFENSE
With the running game off to a surprisingly slow start through two games, quarterback Todd Reesing has picked up the slack. Reesing has passed for 668 yards and six touchdowns and has thrown only one interception. Wide receiver Dexton Fields will miss his second straight game with an injured foot but his replacement, freshman Daymond Patterson, had eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana Tech.
DEFENSE
South Florida 2-0, 0-0 Big East
South Florida has been the definition of balance in its first two wins. Junior Mo Plancher and senior Ben Williams have combined for 184 yards on only 24 carries, making up for dual-threat quarterback Matt Grothe's slow start on the ground. The junior has failed better through the air, completing 60 percent of his passes for 442 yards and five touchdowns.
The KU defense has allowed only three points through the first two games of 2008. A punt return by FIU accumulated for the other seven points and as a team, Kansas is holding opponents to an average of only 5 points per game. The Jayhawks passing defense ranks first in the Big 12 and sixth nationally, allowing only 96 yards per game through the air.
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
Freshman Daymond Patterson, who had a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown against FIU, ranks 14th nationally in punt return average with 20.6 yards per return. Jacob Branstetter, who just became eligible before the Louisiana Tech game, hit all three field goals that he attempted.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Junior defensive end George Selvie earned first team All-America honors last year while senior linebacker Tyrone McKenzie has the second most tackles of anyone in the country since 2006. The question lay in the secondary, where junior Jerome Murphy and senior Tyler Roberts have sat behind NFL cornerbacks for three years. They're not young, but the lack of playing time is a concern.
2007 National Coach of the Year Mark Mangino seems to have his team focusing one game at a time just as he did a year ago. Mangino had his squad practice with crowd music and the USF fight song blasting over the speakers on Wednesday to try and simulate what the players will experience on Friday.
COACHING
SPECIALTEAMS
South Florida is lucky that Grothe rarely comes up short in the red zone, because junior kicker Delbert Alvarado is consistently inconsistent. He's got a career long field goal of 56 yards, but hit only 61 percent coming into 2008 and thus far he's 1-for-4. Senior wide receiver Marcus Edwards set school records for punt return yardage in week one with seven returns for 124 yards, but managed just minus-1 yard on one return last week.
COACHING
Jim Leavitt spent one year at the University of Iowa, then five years at Kansas State before going to Tampa Bay to start a football program. In 12 years, Leavitt has taken the Bulls from non-existent to No.2 in the country faster than any program in the history of D-I football. Leavitt and Mangino spent four years together on Snyder's staff and feature similar play-calling schemes.
MOMENTUM
Kansas players have been waiting for this game since the end of last season. Todd Reeing and Co. are still having to answer questions about last year's weak schedule. So, of course, the KU players are ready to show a national ESPN2 audience that they are for real.
MOMENTUM
South Florida should have rolled into tonight's game. Instead, it will stumble into Raymond James Stadium lucky to have its 2-0 record intact after Central Florida pushed last week's game to overtime before losing, 31-24. Grothe threw two interceptions and USF's secondary allowed two fourth quarter touchdown passes. The Bulls dropped one spot in each poll as a result of their narrow victory.
B. J. Rains
Todd Reesing
USF KICKOFF
AT A GLANCE
Taylor Bern
This is a great way to kick off the football weekend as each team has a lot riding on tonight's outcome. South Florida is the only Big East team with a chance to make national waves this year, and a win would go a long way in furthering the conference. On the flip side, a loss would send national respect for the Big East circling down the drain. Fair or not, Leavitt's crew is playing for the respect of eight teams rather than just one.
BYTHE NUMBERS
-2.5
1
South Florida's turnover ratio, the second worst in the country
Bulls' national rank in total defense. They've allowed 161.5 yards per name
6.8
15.3
Yards per carry for junior Mo Plancher, USF's leading rusher
Yards per catch for the Bulls receiving corps
20
Career sacks for Junior George Selvie, the second most by an active player
262
Total tackles for linebacker Tyrone McKenzie, the second most for any player since 2006
PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior cornerback Jerome Murphy.
George Selvie and Tyrone McKenzie should handle Kansas up front, so it's up to
Murphy
Murphy to make sure Todd Reesing doesn't pick his defense apart This is the fourth career start for Murphy.
QUESTION MARKS
Will South Florida create turnovers? So far the Bulls have turned the ball over six times and recorded only one. Two turnovers against Kansas will likely lose the game, unless the Bulls create a couple of their own at opportune times.
Will George Selvie record a sack? The sack-master has come up empty so far this year, but tonight he faces freshman tackle Jeff Spikes. Selvie has 20 career sacks and he specializes in bull rushing past inexperienced tackles. This match-up may decide the game.
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Game
Time (CT) Channel
Friday
Saturday
No.13 Kansas at No.19 South Florida 7 p.m. ESPN2 Baylor vs.Washington State 8:30 p.m. NoTV
No. 3 Oklahoma at Washington 6:45 p.m. ESPN
No. 6 Missouri vs. Nevada 11:37 a.m. No TV
No. 8 Texas vs. Arkansas Postponed
No. 12 Texas Tech vs. SMU 6 p.m. No TV
Iowa State at Iowa 11:05 a.m. No TV
Nebraska vs. New Mexico State 6 p.m. No TV
Oklahoma State vs. Missouri State 12:05 p.m. No TV
Juniors Jake Sharp and Jocques Crawford average more than four yards per carry. Kansas won its first two games through the air, but every week the chance that that will continue to work gets smaller and smaller. The Jayhawks will need their top two backs to step up.
THE JAYHAWKS WILL THROW A BEACH PARTY IF...
GALE SAYERS WILL WEEP IF...
Matt Grothe gets loose on the ground. Kansas needs to keep the junior quarterback inside the pocket as much as possible, forcing him to become one-dimensional and air it out. if he breaks a couple of big runs then it opens up the entire Bulls arsenal and the Jayhawks will be on the ropes.
SATURDAY'S TOP 25 TELEVISED GAMES
PREDICTION:
Kansas 26, South Florida 20
Game
Time
No. 1 USC vs. No. 5 Ohio State 7 p.m. ABC
No. 2 Georgia at South Carolina 2:30 p.m. CBS
No. 7 LSU vs. North Texas 7 p.m. ESPN360.com
No. 9 Auburn at Mississippi State 6 p.m. ESPN2
No. 10 Wisconsin at No. 21 Fresno State 9:30 p.m. ESPN2
No. 11 Alabama vs. Western Kentucky 6 p.m. ESPN360.com
No. 14 East Carolina at Tulane 2 p.m. No TV
No. 15 Arizona State vs. UNLV 9:07 p.m. No TV
No. 16 Oregon at Purdue 2:30 p.m. ABC
No. 17 Penn State at Syracuse 2:30 p.m. ABC
No. 18 Brigham Young vs. UCLA 2:30 p.m. No TV
No. 22 Utah at Utah State 7 p.m. ESPN360.com
No. 23 California at Maryland 11 a.m. ESPN
No. 24 Illinois vs. Louisiana-Lafayette 11 a.m. Big Ten Network
Channel