UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, October 11, 1996
Jayhawk Football: ON THE CLIPBOARD
8B
Over the years, the Jayhawk offense has shifted its emphasis back and forth between the passing game and the running game. In the air or on the ground, however, the focus always is on
MOVING THE BALL
Stories by Dan Gelston
KU offensive history
Total yards offense
Yards rushing
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
On the run
Everybody knows it's coming.
The fans know it, the coaches know it and more important,
opposing defenses know it.
And there is nothing they can do about it.
It's a June Henley run — the most successful component of the Kansas offense.
Henley has posted numbers worthy of Heisman Trophy consideration this season, with 127 carries for 667 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. He is the No. 3 rusher in the country behind Iowa State's Troy Davis and Texas Tech's Byron Hanspard, who will play tomorrow in the Kansas-Texas Tech game.
Henley attributes that to experience.
"Just getting more playing time and getting the experience that I need has made me a better back," he said.
"June Henley has done everything a running back can do and more," Kansas offensive coordinator Golden Pat Ruel said. "He's a great athlete. He has a better idea as to what to do with the ball when he gets it than he did four years ago." Henley attributes that to experi-
Kansas offensive coordinator Golden Pat Ruel has seen his coaching style and play calling change since he came to Kansas with head coach Glen Mason in 1988.
However, Henley was held to just 63 yards on Saturday against Oklahoma, his season low
It isn't necessarily because he's had a play-calling philosophy reawakening, but largely because he has better players.
"I know I can bounce back," he said. "Everybody has an off day, and hopefully that was mine."
Ruel said much has changed offensively for Kansas in nine years.
Kansas has relied heavily on the toss-sweep play in which the running back is pitched the ball and then runs outside to either the left or right side of the field.
"The whole purpose back then was just to do things consistently." Ruel recalled. "We weren't very wide open, and we didn't take many chances. We didn't have a very good defense at that time either. We played very conservatively." But as better players came to Kansas, so did better play-calling.
While Henley gets most of the carries, the other running backs have been productive as well.
Illustrations by Andy Rohrback
"That's probably been our most successful play," Ruel said. "Jung really like that."
Junior Eric Vann averages almost four yards a carry and junior Mark Galbreath almost five with 111 yards in 24 carries. Galbreath also is the only running back with at least 20 carries who does not have a carry for negative yardage.
Senior co-captain Mark Sanders, who missed the first two games with a twisted ankle, had a 62-yard run against Oklahoma on his first carry of the season.
"We've gotten better athletes and been able to open things up more," he said.
opening up more. he said.
That statement has been proven. Kansas
If Kansas is to defeat Texas Tech, a 200-yard performance by the rushing corps is a must.
increased its total offensive yards per game average every year from 1988 to 1992. The two highest offensive totals came in 1992 (395.09) and 1995 (393.3) — the two seasons the Jayhawks went to, and won, the Aloha Bowl.
"We had to throw a lot because were losing a lot." Ruel said.
When the offensive numbers dropped to 356.3 in 1993, the Javahawks finished 5-7.
But junior quarterback Matt Johner has an out side chance to throw for 2,000 yards this season.
Ahead coach Glen Mason said the offense had changed since he's been at Kansas.
Ruel said the quarterback is the most important part of the offence.
"The quarterback plays a large part in determining what we do," he said. "If we have a good runner, we may try more play action. If we have a good thrower, there will be more drop back and throw. If they're not very good, we might ask the tailbacks to pick up the pace."
Ruel added that the biggest thing the offense can do is take what opposing defenses give them.
"Have you seen him run?" he asked, laughing. Johner has rushed for -4 yards on 29 carries this season.
Ruel said Johner fit in the good thrower category.
"If defenses let us throw on them, then we'll throw on them. Same thing with the run," he said.
"Certainly we've made changes over the years," he said. "Some of the things we were doing weren't working and some of the plays we wanted to do, we just didn't have the type of players we needed."
In the air
If the mediocre seasons Kansas had in 1993 and 1994 had one positive effect, it was that it forced the Jayhawks to open up their passing game.
"Going 6-5, 5-7 every year is what did it," Kansas senior wide receiver Isaac Byrd said. "Other than Nebraska, you can't always run in this conference and be successful. We had to find that out the hard way, but it opened up the offense a lot more."
Byrd has been the primary benefactor of the expanded air offense.
Last season, he led the Jayhawks with 48 receptions and 604 yards. He also leads the team in receptions and in yards this season with 14 and 160, respectively.
Byrd said he had seen a noticeable difference in the number of passing attempts per game since he has been at Kansas.
"During my sophomore year we rarely threw the ball," he said. "We were throwing maybe 12 or 14 times, and that just isn't enough. I think it really helped when we had Williams here last season.
Mark Williams here last season.
He certainly had the ability needed to get the coaches to open up the offense."
Kansas offensive coordinator Golden Pat Ruel agreed with Byrd that it was time for a change.
"What we were doing just wasn't working," he said. "However, that has something to do with the players. As the players got better, we were able to do more with offense as a whole."
This season, six players have at least six catches.
Doing more with the passing game included working the running backs into the receiving game.
"I've seen a big difference as far as me getting catches since I've been here," said senior running back John Henley. "Last year I lined up as a receiver sometimes. I liked it a little bit. I'll just do what's best for the team."
Henley's receptions have gone from eight his freshman year to five to 26 to 12 this season.
"I think sometimes people overlook our passing game, but it's just as important as our running game," Ruel said.
Keeping the pace: the outlook for 1996 and beyond
D
espite an increased emphasis on the passing game the last two years, the running attack is still the motor in the Kansas offensive machine.
Kansas offensive coordinator Golden Pat Ruel said a good balance between the pass and run was what made the offense successful.
Rushing attempts double the number of passing attempts this season. Kansas running backs have carried the ball 229 times for 1,009 yards, while quarterbacks are 63-107.
"You've got to be balanced," he said. "You cannot be one-dimensional in this day of college football. Defenses have caught up to that."
"You can see we've become more successful as we've been able to find the right kind of balance between the two," he said. "Most teams aren't going to have a whole lot of success if they focus
Ruel said that becoming more balanced had played a big part in Kansas' renaissance.
just solely on one part of their offensive game. A good running back or a good quarterback can only win so many games by themselves."
The Kansas passing game has blossomed with the emergence first of Mark Williams and now of Matt Johner.
Last season, Williams threw for 1,957 yards — the most for a KU quarterback since 1989. Johner is on pace to better Williams' numbers. He's 56-94 for 661 yards and seven touchdowns.
But more important, Johner will be the starting quarterback next season, giving Kansas the kind of stability it hasn't had since 1992.
Johner isn't thinking that far ahead, though.
Johner said he had enough to think about with this season, and he was just trying to get better every game.
Although Johner is in his first year as a starter,
it's his third year in the Kansas program. During
the previous years, he had been able to learn the Jayhawks' pro-style offense.
Kansas coach Glen Mason said Johner was exactly where he thought Johner would be progress-wise, considering he had spent three years in the program.
Kansas running back June Henley is even better after four years in the program than KU coaches thought he'd be.
Although Henley he was happy with the season he's having, he also thinks he can improve.
Ruel, however, does have a favorite play.
"I don't have a favorite play." Henley said. "I don't think I'm better on one particular play. I just try to do each one to perfection."
"Whichever one works," he said. "Whatever is working is what I like to go with. It could change from game to game, from play to play. Until the defense proves it can stop it, we're going to go with it."
What works today
Rushing
RUSH ATTEMPTS YARDS PER ATTEMPT TOUCH-DOWNS YARDS PER GAME
229 1009 4.4 13 252.3
127 667 5.3 11 160.8
Passing
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASSES COMPLETED INTERCEPTIONS TOTAL YARDS TOUCH DOWNS YARDS PER GAME
107 63 1 751 9 187.5
94 56 0 661 7 165.3
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