A / GAME DAY / FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
KU KICKOFF AT A GLANCE
The Kansas football team is on the heels of one of its biggest victories in recent history, a 28-25 upset of them-No.15 Georgia Tech. Coach Turner Gill leads his squad on the road for the first time and has the added pressure (or motivation, depending on who you ask) of playing on national television in a hostile environment.
PLAYER TO WATCH
A quick glance at the Jayhawks and the Golden Eagles.
Junior center Jeremiah Hatch Hatch returned to action last afternoon after being held out of
the lineup to health related concerns.The new offensive line produced mixed results they helped freshman running back James
Saturday after being held out or
Hatch
KANSAS AT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI 7 p.m., M. M. ROBERTS STADIUM, Hattiesburg, Miss.. ESPN
Sims top the 100 yard mark but allowed four sacks — but having both Hatch and senior left guard Sal Capra in the same unit should give the somewhat immobile Webb more time to make his reads
QUESTION MARK
How will the defense fail against the spread?
Kansas is five-point underdogs, but that is not the important spread to the players or the coaching staff. Southern Miss runs a Big 12-style spread offense and is known to go no-huddle numerous times throughout the course of a game.The Kansas defense has looked great against "run first"-minded North Dakota State and Georgia Tech,but their secondary will face their first true test of the season in Southern Miss junior wide receiver DeAndre Brown.
GAME PREVIEW
BY THENUMBERS
With their visit to Hattiesburg, Mississippi becomes the 37th state the Kansas football team has played in.
37
Rushing yards for sophomore linebacker Toben Opurum last season against Southern Miss in a 35-28 victory in Lawrence. Opurum converted to linebacker during fall camp.
16.5
109
Number of career sacks for senior defensive end Jake Laptad.
KANSAS (1-1)
OFFENSE
Running back James Sims, the "freshman prince of Lawrence," should have another solid shot at a 100-yard game with senior running back Angus Quigley questionable with a leg injury. Hopefully Sims can have a performance as eye-popping as his hi-fade haircut.
DEFENSE
Linebackers Justin Springer, Steven Johnson and Drew Dudley were tremendous against Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua Nesbitt and their other cast of running backs. The linebackers recorded 34 total tackles, 15 of which came from Springer alone. Limiting
Sims
the run will not be as important against the pass-first Golden Eagles, but continuing to make tackles will be key.
Springer
SPECIAL TEAMS
Coach Gill said at Tuesday's press conference that special teams aggressiveness will be a key factor in determining the outcome of Friday night's game."The
Beshears
keys to the game — we have to play with tenacity,"Gill said."Our guys have to play with the same type of execution, passion, and confidence that we played with last week. We have to win the special teams battle. That's going to be an important phase."
COACHING
Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt knows Southern Miss well—he
was the associate
head coach and offensive coordinator the last two seasons before joining the Kansas coaching staff.
The short-week should help the Jayhawks carry over some of their good vibes from the Georgia Tech game, but Southern Miss is coming off a dominant win of their own. Orange Bowl champions just two seasons ago, the Jayhawks are more comfortable playing on the national stage than their Conference USA counterpart.
SOUTHERN MISS (1-1)
MOMENTUM
OFFENSE
The Golden Eagle offense is led by junior quarterback Austin Davis. Davis, who started his freshman year, has accounted for more than 4,700 yards throughout his career. Freshman running back Kendrick Hardy received the bulk of the carries last week in Southern Miss' 34-7 win past Prairie View A&M. He rushed 20 times for 86 yards.
DEFENSE
The Golden Eagle defense allowed only seven points last week to Prairie View A&M but gave up 41 points the first week to South Carolina. Senior linebacker Martez Smith leads the Southern Miss defense with 15 tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Davis
Smith
Hrapmann
school. He sat out last year after transferring from Southern Louisiana.
COACHING
The Golden Eagles are coached by Larry Fedora. He has led Southern Miss to winning records his first two years with the school.
In 2007, he replaced longtime coach Jeff Bower. Fedora had previously been an offensive coordinator at Florida and, more recently, Oklahoma State.
MOMENTUM
Southern Miss was embarrassed against South Carolina to begin the year. In that game, the Golden Eagles scored only twice of the six times they were in South Carolina's red zone. They played Prairie View A&M last week and won easily.
Fedora
— Max Vosburgh
Jordan Webb
USM KICKOFF AT A GLANCE
Southern Miss has started the season exactly opposite of Kansas. The Golden Eagles lost to talented South Carolina and beat inferior Prairie View &M. On the other hand, Kansas has lost to a team they should have beat and was victorious against a team that was favored. This game should be fairly evenly matched.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior wide receiver DeAndre Brown
Brown may be the Golden
likely NFL prospect. At 6 feet 6 inches tall and 239 lbs., he could create matchup problems for the Jayhawk secondary Last
secondary. Last
Brown
week, Brown caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.
QUESTION MARK
Which Southern Miss team will show up?
Like Kansas, Southern Miss has been a tale of two teams. They played poorly against undefeated SEC foe South Carolina but decisively beat FCS opponent Prairie View A&M. Although Kansas lost to an FCS team, they beat a team as good as South Carolina. This game should answer a lot of questions on where both the Jayhawks and Golden Eagles are talent-wise.
5
BY THE NUMBERS
Times Southern Miss has fumbled the ball already this year. They've only lost two, however.
17
Penalties called against the Golden Eagles in their first two games combined.
27.316
People were at the Golden Eagles home game last Saturday against Prairie View A&M.
KANSAS STARTERS
Offense
Pos. Name Number Year
QB Jordan Webb 2 Fr.
RB James Sims 29 Fr.
WR Johnathan Wilson 81 Sr.
WR Bradley McDougald 24 So.
WR Daymond Patterson 15 Jr.
TE Tim Biere 86 Jr.
T Tanner Hawkinson 72 So.
G Sal Capra 59 Sr.
C Jeremiah Hatch 77 Jr.
G Trevor Marrongelli 69 So.
T Brad Thorson 76 Sr
Defense
| Defense | Name | Number | Year |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| DE | Kevin Young | 90 | Fr. |
| DT | Richard Johnson, Jr. | 97 | Jr. |
| DT | Patrick Dorsey | 92 | Jr. |
| DE | Jake Laptad | 91 | Sr. |
| OLB | Drew Dudley | 49 | Sr. |
| MLB | Justin Springer | 45 | Sr. |
| OLB | Steven Johnson | 52 | Jr. |
| CB | Isiah Barfield | 19 | Jr. |
| SS | Olaitan Oguntodu | 44 | Sr. |
| FS | Lubbock Smith | 1 | So. |
| CB | Chris Harris | 16 | Sr. |
BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF...
...The Jayhawks are humiliated on national television. Southern Miss will not be a pushover, and with the national television appearance, the crowd environment will resemble more of a SEC powerhouse than the Conference USA program that it is. Nobody would be devastated if the Jayhawks lose to a speedy team on the road, but a blowout on ESPN is not the positive step Gill is looking for.
...Kansas wins on national television. Gill and his staff are hoping to rehabilitate the image of Kansas Athletics in the wake of Athletic Director Lew Perkins' resignation and the recent reports of debt in the program. Of course, Gill has nothing to do with those stormy clouds, but a win on the four-letter network would go a long way toward healing the wounds.
BIG JAY WILL CHEER IF...
Prediction: Kansas 27, Southern Miss 21
SOUTHERN MISS STARTERS
Offense
Pos. Name Number Year
QB Austin Davis 12 Jr.
RB V.J. Floyd 2 Sr.
WR DeAndre Brown 5 Jr.
WR Ryan Balentine 80 Jr.
TE Ryan Hanks 81 So.
TE Jonathon Massey 19 Sr.
T Lamar Holmes 72 Jr.
G Joe Duhon 68 So.
C Cameron Zipp 59 Sr.
G Alex Michael 55 Sr.
T Jason Weaver 52 Sr
Defense
Pos. Name Number Year
DE Deddrick Jones 91 Jr.
NT Terrance Pope 90 Jr.
DT John Henderson 48 Sr.
LB Cordarro Law 91 Jr.
LB Ronnie Thornton 49 Jr.
LB Korey Williams 42 Jr.
LB Martez Smith 32 Sr.
CB Deron Wilson 1 Fr.
SS Justin Wilson 8 Sr.
FS Kendrick Presley 26 Jr.
CB C.J. Bailey 2 Sr.
8
1