4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY OF DARRY KANSAN MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008
football notes
Spikes, Hatch win battle at offensive tackle
One of the biggest position battles coming into camp seems to have been decided. Coach Mark Mangino announced after Friday's practice that Jeremiah Hatch would start at right tackle and Jeff Spikes would start at left tackle.
Hatch, a 6-3, 311-pound redshirt freshman from Dallas, Texas, came to Kansas as the 13th-ranked center nationally by ESPN.com in 2007 but beat out Matt Darton for the spot at right tackle. He replaces Cesar Rodriguez, who started more than 40 games during his career at Kansas before graduating.
"He's one of the hardest working and hardest playing guys we have on the team," Mangino said of Hatch. "What he lacks in experience, he'll make up with grit and toughness and hard work."
Spikes has sat atop the depth chart at left tackle since the spring game and has stayed ahead of Ian Wolfe during fall camp. The 6-6, 314-pound red-shirt freshman from Painesville, Ohio, was ranked as the seventh best lineman in the state of Ohio by Rivals.com coming out of high school in 2007 and will face the task of replacing first-team All American Anthony Collins, who left school early for the NFL after last season.
"He's one of the most athletic linemen we've had here," Mangino said of Spikes. "Of course he's young and has a lot to learn but he's coming along fine. He has a chance at the end of the day, when he's done here to be one of the better offensive line man we've had at Kansas."
Punt returner battle
One of the other intriguing battles going into camp was at the punt returner position, where the Jayhawks struggled in 2007. Three players — freshman Daymond Patterson, redshirt freshman Isiah Barfield, and senior Dexton Fields — are in a heated competition for the right to return punts.
"They are all doing pretty well," Mangino said. "We went from a situation where we struggled last year to a situation this year where we may have more than one capable returner. I feel pretty good about it. They all need repetitions and are getting better."
Mangino was not ready to name a starter after Friday's practice but it appears that Patterson, who has impressed Mangino at wide receiver as well, has a slight lead on the other two.
Mangino also announced that after a short battle with Kerry Meier, sophomore transfer Alonso Rosjo will replace Kyle Tucker at punter. Rojas, who took a year off from football last year after playing a year at Bowling Green, booted several 50-yard punts during the open practice.
"He's a little rusty but every day he kicks it better and better," Mangino said. "I think by the time we're ready to go, he will be pretty smooth. I like what he does, he has a strong leg, he can turn the ball over. We think we're going to be ok there with him."
2009 schedule released
The Jayhawks released their 2009 schedule last week and the nonconference schedule continues to get harder. Kansas will play host to Northern Colorado, Duke and Southern Mississippi and travel to UTEP during the team's first four games next fall.
The Jayhawks will play the same conference schedule in the same order as this year, but all home and road games will be flipped. Kansas will end the season against Missouri for the fourth consecutive year.
Jayhawks in the polls
Kansas enters the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll at No. 14, its second highest preseason ranking in school history.
The Jayhawks are ranked 13th in the USA Today Coaches' poll.
| Team (1st place) | 2007 | Pts. |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Georgia (22) | 11-2 | 1528 |
| 2. Ohio State (21) | 11-2 | 1506 |
| 3. Southern Cal (12) | 11-2 | 1490 |
| 4. Oklahoma (4) | 11-3 | 1444 |
| 5. Florida (6) | 12-2 | 1266 |
| 6. Missouri | 12-2 | 1266 |
| 7. LSU | 12-2 | 1135 |
| 8. West Virginia | 11-2 | 1116 |
| 9. Clemson | 9-4 | 1105 |
| 10. Auburn | 9-4 | 968 |
| 11. Texas | 10-3 | 966 |
| 12. Texas Tech | 9-4 | 786 |
| 13. Wisconsin | 9-4 | 771 |
| 14. Kansas | 12-1 | 707 |
| 15. Arizona State | 10-3 | 631 |
| 16. BYU | 11-2 | 590 |
| 17. Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 578 |
| 18. Tennessee | 10-4 | 509 |
| 19. South Florida | 9-4 | 496 |
| 20. Illinois | 9-4 | 483 |
| 21. Oregon | 9-4 | 366 |
| 22. Penn State | 9-4 | 293 |
| 23. Wake Forest | 9-4 | 227 |
| 24. Alabama | 7-6 | 89 |
| 25. Pittsburgh | 5-7 | 85 |
—B.J.Rains
How easily Long forgets that Kansas won a BCS bowl against national football power Virginia Tech and lost by just eight points to the No. 3-ranked team in the country in its lone defeat.
"It doesn't bother me at all," Mangino said of the schedule talk. "Tell me when there was a time when Kansas's football program could beat the likes of Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado and Virginia Tech and you have to sit and defend your schedule?"
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Also going against the Jayhawks in 2008 is their schedule, which looks to be much tougher than a year ago. Many writers and broadcasters still question the difficulty of the Jayhawks' schedule last season, with some openly questioning how good Kansas really was.
The Jayhawks' 2007 schedule was a topic at the Mountain West Conference Media Day a few weeks ago, when New Mexico coach Rocky Long openly took a stab at the quality of their opponents.
"I mean, who did Kansas play last year?" Long said.
As Mangino points out, a closer look will show that the lajawhays
schedule wasn't nearly as bad as advertised. The victories against Colorado and Texas 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 Husker program. In all, the Jayhawks played six teams that went on to play in a bowl game.
"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'
layhawks won't play the three worst south teams of Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M and will play the heavyweights — Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.
Kansas will play host to Texas and Texas Tech in Lawrence, a place where the Jayhawks are 18-2 since 2005, but the October 18 matchup against Oklahoma is in Norman and certain to be the Jayhawks' toughest test in 2008. The schedule gets even harder with the week three road game at South Florida.
And though Mangino said he wasn't in the business of making predictions for the upcoming season, he knows that it could be another special season for his squad.
"We think we're going to have a pretty good football team again." Mangino said.
The jayhawks, who are a combined 0-6 against the Sooners, Longhorns and Red Raiders during Mangino's tenure, now have their chance to prove that last year's suc
"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."
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."
A year after just wanting to get enough wine to make it to a bowl game, the Jayhawks and their fans have much higher goals this season. The thought of a Big 12 Championship or high-profile bowl game no longer seems like that much of a dream.
This year, the three actually may matter for Reesing and the Jayhawks. Because of the rotating Big 12 South schedule, the
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MARK MANGINO Kansas coach
"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
cess was not a result of a weak schedule.
defeat those teams as well."
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
"Times have changed, haven't they?" Mangino said.
Junior running back jake Sharp, left, looks on as Jojos Crawford trains with the KU football team. After being named the 2007 National College Offensive Player of the Year, Crawford may become one of the teams' strongest running back this year.
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
—Edited by Brenna Hawley
FOOTBALL
Hawks to have strong running back squad
As the 2007 National Junior College Offensive Player of the Year, Joocjew Crawford came to Lawrence with a great deal of expectations. Whether he'll ultimately live up to those remains to be seen, but after two weeks of practice Crawford appears ready to step in at the top running back.
Crawford and junior Jake Sharp, who rushed for 821 yards and seven touchdowns in 2007, split the carries at practice when camp opened, but lately Crawford has taken more and more reps with the first-team offense.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
"I think as he's learning the system here, he becomes more and more confident," coach Mark Mangino said. "He's a very talented guy and he runs the ball hard."
Mangino said he instructed his defenders to get a firm grasp on Crawford because he's an expert at breaking tackles and then using his speed to get down the field.
"He has a lot of tools, and I think it's just a matter of him continuing to learn and getting comfortable in the system," Mangino said.
Last year Brandon McAnderson led the rushing attack with 190 carries for 1,125 yards and 16 touchdowns. That averaged out to 5.9 yards per carry. Sharp wasn't far behind, tallying 5.6 yards per attempt.
That kind of production is hard to ignore and although Crawford seems to have a leg up right now, Sharp is definitely still in the conversation.
"I wouldn't look for any one guy to shoulder the load," Sharp said. "I can do whatever I'm asked to do."
The offense will break in two freshmen at offensive tackle but the three inside lineman — center Ryan Cantrell and guards Adrian Mayes and Chet Hartley — return and should help maintain a constant running attack.
"I think we'll be able to run the ball as much as we want, plus our pass game provides creases and opportunities to run the football," Mangino said.
Joining Crawford and Sharp in the hunt for playing time is junior Angus Quigley. Quigley rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns in spot action last year.
Outside of those three the running back pond has dried up as two former Jayhawks transferred away last week. Sophomores Donte Bean and Carmon Boyd-Anderson each asked Mangino to be let out of their scholarships. Bean plans to join the Washburn University team while Boyd-Anderson is still undecided.
Bean figured to get only a few carries late in games while coaches were considering redshirting Boyd-Anderson.
Recently Mangino reacted after a practice when asked if he was concerned about his depth at running back.
"There's no strength in numbers, it's the quality of the players not the quantity."
Fourth on the running back depth chart after the recent departures is redshirt freshman Rell Lewis. Lewis has a body size similar to Sharp and should get any carries that would have gone to Bean.
"Why?" Mangino said. "You got two guys who hardly ever played. I don't have a problem with what we have, to tell you the truth."
—Edited by Luke Morris