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2008 KANSAS JAYHAWKS FOOTBALL
Rockier road lies ahead this season
Skeptics called Kansas' 2007 schedule too easy but this year's slate promises a tougher test
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
A year after going 12-1 and defeating Virginia Tech to win the FedEx Orange Bowl, Kansas coach Mark Mangino is still stuck defending his team's 2007 schedule.
Seven months removed from the greatest season in the history of the program, writers, broadcasters and even opposing coaches still question the schedule that produced a schoolrecord 12 victories for the boys in crimson and blue.
Somehow, the Jayhawks' schedule was even a topic at the Mountain West Conference Media Day last month, when New Mexico coach Rocky Long — whose team lost four games last year, including a 10-6 loss to UTEP and a 37-0 thrashing by lowly TCU — openly took a stab at the quality of their opponents.
"I mean, who did Kansas play last year?" Long said.
How easily Long and those bashing the Jayhawks schedule forget that Kansas won a BCS bowl over a national football power and lost by just eight points to the No. 3-ranked team in the country in their lone defeat.
"It doesn't bother me at all," Mangino said of the schedule talk. "Tell me when there was a time
when Kansas' football program could beat the likes of Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado and Virginia Tech and you have to sit and defend your schedule. Times have changed, haven't they?"
As Mangino avidly points out, a closer look will show that the Jayhawks' schedule wasn't nearly as bad as advertised. The victories over Colorado and A&M both came on the road on two consecutive Saturdays, and the 76 points that Kansas scored against Nebraska were the most ever scored against the storied Husker program. In all, the Jayhawks played five teams that went on to play in a bowl game.
"They're going to be gunning for us. And we're ready for the challenge."
"I'm not going to get into scheduling because I can't control that," said quarterback Todd Reesing. "I play whoever is on the schedule and that's really all it comes down to. The only thing I'll say is we play in the Big 12 and there are a lot of good teams, so it doesn't matter which three you're playing."
This year, the three actually may matter
for Reesing and the Jayhawks, who because of the rotating Big 12 South schedule have dropped the three worst South teams in Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M and have added the heavyweights — Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.
The Jayhawks, who are a combined 0-6 under Mangino against the Sooners, Longhorns and Red Raiders, now have their opportunity to prove that last year's success was not a result of a weak schedule.
"We've always said that we want our program to be able to compete with the best teams in the league," Mangino said. "The fact that we are picking up Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech is something that we look forward to. We want to be able to play against the best teams in our league and be able to beat them. That's the test for our program. We will never truly get over the hump, in my eyes, until we are able to defeat those teams as well."
MIKE RIVERA
Senior linebacker
Kansas will host Texas and Texas Tech in
Lawrence, a place where the Jayhawks are 18-3 since 2005, but the October 18 matchup against Oklahoma is in Norman and certainly seems to be the Jayhawks' toughest test in 2008. Add in a weekthree road game at South Florida, and nobody will be able to doubt the level of difficulty that Kansas will face this fall.
"It forces us to not be complacent, seeing that our schedule changed so much," safety Darrell Stuckey said. "Anytime you have a team where they go 12-1 and they turn around and play the exact same teams the next year, you could see them becoming complacent. 'Oh, we beat them last year' or 'Oh, we did this to them last year.' But seeing that our schedule in the south has changed, it gives us new goals, a new challenge. It opens our eyes and makes us see that we still have a lot further to go."
And regardless of how easy the Jayhawks' schedule actually was last season, a 12-win season definitely will have opposing teams circling the matchup with Kansas on their schedule for 2008.
"They're going to be gunning for us," said senior linebacker Mike Rivera. "And we're ready for the challenge."
A challenge and a schedule that looks to be much harder than a year ago.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Top: Kansas last faced Oklahoma in 2005 at Arrowhead Stadium, where future NFL star Adrian Peterson gained 122 yards in the Sooners' 19-3 victory.
Below: Quarterback Vince Young and Texas beat Kansas 66-14 in the teams' last meeting, in Austin, Texas, in 2005.
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www.kansan.com Thursday, August 28, 2008