FEATURE
NON-CONFERENCE NECESSITIES
From rehabbing old wounds to getting used to new ones, developing a rhythm is a must before Big 12 play.
By Stephen Montemayor smontemayor@kansan.com
Kansas' four non-conference opponents went a combined 17-31 (.354) in 2008. Northern Colorado, this season's opening opponent, is a Championship Subdivision school (formerly regarded as l-AA) and finished 1-10.
Yet for all the grief a school can catch about the credentials of its non-conference opponents, teams often deal with a dueling foe at the onset of a season: themselves.
"Those first few games you really learn the speed of the game again," senior safety Darrell Stuckey says. "You really figure out how fast or how slow you have to move to be in the right position, what you need to see and how fast you need to react."
Weston White/KANSAN
Freshman wide receiver Bradley McDougald says his first few KU games haven't been as taxing as his high school games, when he played every down of every quarter. McDougald will see playing time at Kansas when he finds himself among second-team wide receivers.
With two more non-conference games to play, each player can get a number of things out of the early weeks of the year. Veterans like Stuckey and senior quarterback Todd Reesing are eager to get back up to speed. Freshmen are getting acclimated to playing at the college level. And there are players rehabbing old injuries sustained a year before.
It's tough to say what the outcome of last year's victory against Missouri would have been without any of those three turnovers Stuckey forced, though there's little doubt they were the product of experience. The annual postgame nicks and bruises? Not something that grows easier through time.
Taking a hit not easier in time
"They don't really change. Your body just becomes immune to them." Stuckey says with a laugh. "And you just find ways to flush them out earlier or your body gets rid of them before the next Saturday."
Adds Reesing: "Well, I guess you get used to them. Sometimes they get better, sometimes they get worse as the year goes along."
Barely a few seconds later, Reesing is compelled to amend his assessment.
"Actually, I don't think they usually get better. Usually you get more banged up, but that's part of the game." Reeing says. "You feel sore Sunday and Monday, and then by the time you get going the rest of the week you start to feel better and things start to slow down a bit."
"Those first game jitters"
Stuckey says the first few weeks of the season are for relearning "the speed of the game" and knowing when to use that speed — and when to hold back — in game situations. He calls it "those first game jitters" something players both learned and inexperienced can attest to.
"You're getting to play so that's the biggest thing," Reesing says. "A lot of good things come out of non-conference — a lot of learning that you can't really teach on the practice field."
That first opportunity led to a 49-3 victory against Northern Colorado, the second a 34-7 road victory against UTEP. But defensive coordinator Clint Bowen says he expects to see weekly improvement during non-conference play as players grow more comfortable under the lights.
"I think going from game one to game two
is a big difference, because for the new kids that haven't played a lot some of those nerves disappear," Bowen says. "So I expect between game one and game two to be a pretty good improvement."
So what are the symptoms of said nerves, or jitters?
"You're a little bit more cautious maybe, a little bit more hesitant on making a read and going as fast as you usually would have if you were a more comfortable guy," Bowen says. "I think it's just kind of confidence going out and knowing that I've done this before and I can do it again. It's not a problem."
A level head prevails in most scenarios. In vehicle collisions, the more tense a driver, the more apt they are to serious injury. On the football field, one may assume the same although Bowen has observed differently during his eight years at Kansas.
"Just maybe more embarrassment than injury," Bowen says.
Just getting started
For some, the process of getting used to game situations will extend past non-conference play. Whether it's a freshman seeing his playing time slowly ascend or a player rebounding from injury, getting into a rhythm can be a weekly process.
Last year junior linebacker Justin Springer appeared to be in a good position to supplant a graduating trio of linebackers. But two weeks after recording eight tackles against Oklahoma, Springer suffered an excruciating setback when he tore his ACL against Kansas State.
"I thought I broke my knee or something like that," Springer says. "I thought my knee was on the other side of my leg. I didn't know what the hell happened. I just heard a big ass pop and it hurt real bad."
"I'm not 100 percent." Springer says. "I tore my ACL in November and it takes at least a year of recovery after surgery, and I had my surgery in December so it's going to take a couple more months. I should be pretty good by December."
Now Springer again finds himself among the few linebackers expected to fill the shoes of Mike Rivera, James Holt and Joe Mortensen — only his road to recovery is an ongoing process.
Despite a lengthier layoff than most of his teammates, Springer says he felt pretty good the next day aside from a sore neck.
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 18,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN