SB Nation - Austin Davis

Game Day: Louisville vs. Southern Mississippi

Mike Rutherford — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:28:18 -0000

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (1-3, 0-1) vs. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (3-2, 0-1)

Game Time: 7:30

Location: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ESPNU

Favorite: Southern Miss. by 2

All-Time Series: Southern Miss leads 18-8-1

Last Meeting: Louisville won 20-17 (OT) in 2002

Excitement Level: 1.3

Like most of you, my only interest is looking for any indication that the Kragclusion may be drawing near.

Honestly, skipping this game to participate in the open thread is a play everyone with tickets should seriously consider.

Game Attire: Red Louisville basketball shorts, white long-sleeve Bellarmine shirt

It's what I put on this morning, I'm not going to the game, and I really see no need to change.

Pregame Meal: Chicken wings

Kragtastic Prediction: We miss more than two field goals

Predicted Star of the Game: Adam Froman

This is probably going to be disgusting so a fleet-footed, moderately throwing-impaired quarterback could easily be the star.

NOTABLE

--If Louisville loses tonight, Steve Kragthorpe will become the first Cardinal head coach to lose more than eight consecutive games to FBS opponents.

--Louisville has won three straight over Southern Miss.

--Tackle Jeff Adams will be making his season debut this evening. Adams started all 12 games a season ago.

Quotable

--"We're doing some good things but we're not doing enough good things. Our guys are frustrated right now."--Steve Kragthorpe

--"We've got to get back on track. Everybody is aware of our game against UAB (a 30-17 loss) and how poorly we played as a football team. We have to get back to playing the game the way we're supposed to play it." --USM coach Larry Fedora

--"Obviously, everybody’s very, very disappointed for Austin Davis. I can’t say that it’s not going to affect us, but I do feel a sense of excitement about seeing how Martevious is going to respond in this situation."--Larry Fedora

--"You play this game to win."--Steve Kragthorpe

--"Nobody likes losing." --Mario Benavides

CC Prediction: Louisville 20, Southern Miss 17 (OT)

"Well, That Was Basically Exactly What We Expected" -- Kansas 35 Southern Miss 28

rockchalk — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:53:52 -0000

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

2 months ago: Kansas coach Mark Mangino talks with a game official during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Southern Miss in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Browse more photos »

Going in, everyone kept on talking about how "scared" they were for Southern Miss. And for good reason -- the Golden Eagles have a very good offense, a passable defense and a really solid coaching staff. They are kind of like that one mid-major you never want to play in the NCAA Tournament. We all continued to say that it wouldn't be easy, that it would be a legitimately tough test and that it would be all okay as long as we won.

Well, that's pretty much what happened. Denver showed off his immense football predicting abilities, prognosticating a 38-28 Kansas victory, with the final score 35-28. So, yeah, it's basically exactly the type of game we expected.

Mostly filled with offense. Enough intrigue to get the Kansas fanbase nervous for the first time this year. Not in the bag until a minute-or-so left. Some national pundits calling for the upset, and acting like they were half-correct given the close game.

So, the point is -- it isn't a bad thing it was so close. The Golden Eagles know how to play football well. We aren't perfect. Don't freak out. I'm glad it was this close. It should be helpful to at least have some experience in close-and-late situations. The College Football Landscape is beginning to look like 2007 again -- it's our job to make sure we put ourselves in position just like two years ago. Except, yeah, let's win that game in Arrowhead.

Extra thoughts after the jump

Todd and the passing game looked better, which is comforting. I don't think anybody was seriously freaking out or anything, but it was nice to see him pick apart a not-terrible Golden Eagle defense. The pass to Kerry Meier on the first score was absolutely perfect, too.

Toben Opurum, I like what I see. I'm kind of miffed that Rell Lewis didn't get anything in the way of a carry, but obviously the staff feels there is a substantial gap between the two. And TO, or Toben, or whatever certainly didn't disappoint -- nearly 4 yards a carry on 28 carries is nothing to sneeze at. Of course, we still desperately need Jake Sharp and a 1-2 punch for future games, but Toben can be the man. Kind of.

Best part of the game was the dominating, suffocating run defense. The first three games, Clint Bowen and Company reared back their head and continually went after the quarterback. Repeatedly, we put in pass-rush specialists, sometimes even in non-passing downs, with the goal to get to Trevor Vittatoe or Thaddeus Lewis. With Southern Miss, though, the real danger is runningback Damion Fletcher -- he is going to play in the NFL, and he is as talented as any runningback we'll see all year. So, the defensive strategy changed. No longer was the primary goal to get to the quarterback, but instead to try and 2007 it, limiting the running game. And it worked beautifully -- 10 carries, 27 yards. That is fantastic. Probably the worst game Fletcher will have all season.

Of course, that still doesn't entirely excuse the embarrassing amount of pass rush on 3rd and long. Maybe it was turning back on the get-to-the-quarterback-at-all-costs switch or something, but even when the run wasn't a possibility, we really struggled in getting much pressure at all on Austin Davis. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if opponents have figured out that four defensive end front, so now it's time for Bowen and Bill Miller, with a bye weak, to throw in a new wrinkle.

We have four good players in the secondary. Four players who nearly everyone is confident in, at least on some level. Daymond Patterson, Darrell Stuckey, Justin Thornton and Chris Harris (who has struggled some since moving back to a pure corner, however). Of course, with our switch to a base 4-2-5 defense, we're left searching for that fifth member. Coming into the season, it was supposed to be Anthony Davis. He picked up three PI penalties in the first game. If he faltered, as he did, Calvin Rubles was the back-up option. He showed major JUCO rust. Then we re-arranged everything and tried out Phillip Strozier. He had middling results. He's still seeing the field, unlike the other two who are gone, but not as much. That would be because of Brian Murphy, who showed up in a big way yesterday. He was quite often tasked with defending the tight end on third down passing situations. And quite often, our secondary did a good job of forcing the ball to the tight end, short of the first down marker. And nearly every time, Brian did an excellent job of wrapping up, making the tackle short of the first down and getting the offense the ball back. Don't forget the interception, either. Being a hometown boy and all, it would be sweet if he can emerge as a RS sophomore and turn into a really solid player. He showed serious flashes of that yesterday.

Kerry Meier, do you really have to graduate?

But since you do, and it isn't negotiable, at least we have Bradley McDougald. Todd already trusts him to get open on third downs, and he is doing a pretty good job at it. As opponents key more and more on Kerry Meier, he is the guy who is going to benefit. He'll end up on a linebacker, and that just isn't fair.

Also -- Me likey McDougald at kickoff returner. For whatever reason, Briscoe hasn't been all that great. We're obviously looking at other options (Stuckey returned a kickoff too, IIRC), and McDougald had a good first audition.

That's all for now. Starting in Big 12 play, these will go up either Saturday night or Sunday afternoon. I promise x 1000. I'll get this whole thing worked out.

Postgame Reaction: K-State vs. Tennessee Tech

TB — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:18:05 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Brandon Banks and company want you to read the Postgame Reaction. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Browse more photos »

We're going to try not to overanalyze this one, and positive noted below should come with the huge caveat that we were playing Tennessee Tech. This is an FCS program that hasn't had a winning record since 2004. In other words, they're really bad, and the way we played yesterday really should have been the minimum achievement.

On the bright side, this was a perfect game for a team coming off a two-game losing streak and heading into conference play. We'll have to wait until next week to see how things translate, but it had to help Carson Coffman's confidence complete some passes and move the ball effectively, for the most part.

What I liked...

...seeing Brandon Banks find his groove. There's not much you can add to the stat line when I guy has two kickoff returns for two touchdowns and a 92-yard average. He also had three receptions for 90 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown catch.

...a little rumble from the D-Train. After last week's frustrating performance against UCLA, Daniel Thomas was back in form this week, rolling for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Overall, the rushing game was very solid, as Keithen Valentine had 73 yards on only 10 carries. As a team, the Cats averaged almost five yards per carry, picking up 296 net yards on 60 (!) carries. Once again, repeat the refrain with me -- "it was against Tennessee Tech" -- but hey, ya gotta start somewhere.

...the passing game, when used, being downright efficient. For the day, our passers were 10-11 for 152 yards and two touchdowns. It's been a long time since we've seen 60 rushing attempts against only 11 passing attempts, but in a game like this, there was no reason to air it out. Further, we probably maintained our national lead in time of possession, controlling the ball for more than 36 minutes.

...after a rough first drive, a stifling defense. The great frustration of having to rely on Wyatt and Stan during games is that, no matter how well they describe what happened, you can't see exactly what happened. It sounded like we had a complete coverage fail on TTU's opening drive, resulting in a wide-open tight end for a touchdown. A lot of credit to Vic Koenning and the defense, though, because those 73 yards on that opening drive were almost 3/4s of TTU's total yards on the day. And anytime you hold any opponent to -19 yards rushing on 25 rushing attempts, something went right.

What I didn't like...

...very little explosiveness offensively. Other than Banks' 64-yard touchdown reception, our yards largely came in smallish chunks on sustained drives. Ordinarily, I'd say there's nothing wrong with sustained drives, but when you're playing an opponent that's completely outmanned, you'd like to see some big plays. We got them on special teams, but it's clear that our offense is going to struggle against better opponents. The more plays you run have to run to score, the more likely a mistake is, and our offense has been mistake prone against the teams we've played this year that weren't completely outgunned.

...penalties galore. It was good that things improved in the second half, after being penalized nine times for 87 yards in the first half. But 10 penalties for 96 yards is still too much.

OK, that's enough of that. Hit the jump for what it means, where we're going, a look at how our opponents fared, and the Big 12 Roundup.

What it means and where we're going...

It means we can beat up on completely overmatched opponents. That's certainly better than the alternative, but still, 478 yards and 49 points is not really the beatdown you'd expect of a team this bad. Further, two of our touchdowns came on kickoff returns. So really, our offense only scored 35 points. Granted, we called off the dogs in the third quarter, but don't get too overblown from this game. Tennessee Tech is, by far, the worst team we will face this season.

Next week, K-State travels to Kansas City, Mo., for the Farmageddon at Arrowhead matchup with Iowa State. Tickets are still available, and in fact, I'll be ordering mine as soon as I'm done writing this post. If you're going, let me know, either via email or in the comments. We won't be setting up an official BOTC tailgate, but I plan on tailgating at Arrowhead with a friend or two, so feel free to stop by and introduce yourself.

What our opponents are doing...

UCLA had the week off, and Louisiana played Nebraska this week, so we'll cover that one below. Massachusetts rolled Stony Brook, 44-17, improving to 3-1 on the season. In the win, UMass compiled 500 yards of total offense against a Stony Brook team that was 5-6 last year in the Big South (they're an FCS opponent).

Big 12 Roundup

Missouri 31, Nevada 21: While I didn't see all of this one, I'm comfortable saying that it wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Mizzou led 31-13 before a junk-time touchdown late pulled Nevada to within eight with only 2:32 remaining. Blaine Gabbert was outstanding, completing 25-40 for 414 yards and three TDs against no INTs. Mizzou fans are probably a little concerned at the continuing inability to run ineffectively, as the Tigers gained only 78 yards rushing on the day. Giving up 218 rushing yards to 0-3 Nevada is probably a little concerning, too, especially with Nebraska and Roy Helu on the horizon.

For more: Rock M Nation

Up next: Nebraska (Columbia, Mo.), Thurs. 10/8

KU 35, Southern Mississippi 28: A 21-14 halftime lead gave way to a nightmare third quarter that saw USM tie the beaks up at 28-28 heading into the final stanza. That said, a lot of credit goes to the KU defense for figuring things out and stifling USM when it counted in the last 15 minutes. Todd Reesing was back on track for the beaks, throwing for 331 total yards and three touchdowns, with one INT. KU's running game looked worse in the final stats than it really was, as five sacks of Reesing resulted in a lot of yards lost. USM's rushing game was pretty weak, too, but the Golden Eagles and quarterback Austin Davis torched KU for 331 passing yards on the day.

For more: Rock Chalk Talk

Up next: Iowa State (Lawrence, Kan.), Sat. 10/10

Texas 64, UTEP 7: When a pick-six is your only score on the day, you know you're pretty bad. After Melvin Stephenson picked off Colt McCoy and took it to the house, the Miners may as well have headed back to El Paso, because nothing good happened the rest of the day. On the day, UTEP gained 53 total yards (not a misprint), while yielding 639 to the Longhorns. It wasn't even this close for UTEP, as the final margin of the game was set five seconds into the fourth quarter. Other than the early pick, McCoy played more like he did last year, going 28-35 for 286 yards and three TDs. The sometimes-maligned Texas rushing game steamrolled through the Miners for 304 yards on 42 carries.

For more: Burnt Orange Nation

Up next: Colorado (Austin, Texas), Sat. 10/10

Iowa State 31, Army 10: It's official, Paul Rhoads is a better coach than Gene Chizik. The Cyclones have now topped their win total for all of last year, and could double it with a win at Farmageddon next week. No unit was particularly spectacular for ISU, but whatever they did, it was effective. Austen Arnaud was only 11-20, but the Clones picked up 175 yards and two TDs through the air. On the ground, Alexander Robinson diced up Army for 127 yards on only 21 carries, although more than half of that came on one 68-yard run. Defensively, ISU withstood a balanced Army attack that controlled the clock but didn't amass much yardage (316 total) or many points (10).

For more: Clone Chronicles

Up next: K-State (Kansas City, Mo. | Arrowhead Stadium), Sat. 10/3

Nebraska 55, Louisiana 0: Nebraska celebrated 300-straight fall Saturdays of nothing better to do than watch the Huskers in style. Zac Lee bounced back from his nightmare game in Blacksburg last week by going 15-18 for 238 yards and a TD with no INTs in limited action. On the day, the Huskers threw for 300 yards and rushed for 133, a shockingly low total (433) for how many points they scored. Talk about being efficient. On the complete opposite side of the efficiency coin, UL managed only 222 yards. Brutal.

For more: Corn Nation

Up next: at Missouri (Columbia, Mo.), Thurs. 10/8

Oklahoma State 56, Grambling 6: Nothing like wacking a SWAC team to get your mojo back. This was more like the Cowboy team we expected to see all year long, racking up 587 yards, including 321 on the ground. Jeremy Smith may not be 40, or a household name anywhere other than with his immediate family, but he was a man in this one, rushing for 160 yards on only 15 carries. One question: where was Dez Bryant? He doesn't show up anywhere in the box score, and I hadn't heard that he was hurt.

Up next: at Texas A&M (College Station, Texas), Sat. 10/10

Baylor 68, Northwestern State 13: The real Robert Griffin returned as far as throwing the ball (13-19 for 226 yards and three TDs), but the all-world sprinter still is doing nothing rushing the ball (four carries for 16 yards). Didn't matter in this one, though, as the Bears jumped on the Demons early, leading 41-10 at halftime. Baylor more than doubled NSU's offensive output, gaining 567 yards to Northwestern State's 248. Shocking stat of the day: Baylor did all that on only 58 plays while controlling the ball for only 21 minutes of the game.

Up next: Kent State (Waco, Texas), Sat. 10/3

Texas A&M 56, UAB 19: The Aggies continued their offensive barrage against outmanned UAB (1-3 on the season, with losses to Southern Methodist and Troy). In three games against completely overmatched competition, A&M has rolled up yards and points by the bundle, clearly indicating they are a better team than last year, when they couldn't even beat Arkansas State. Just how much better is a judgment that will have to wait until they play someone decent. That could be next week, when they take on Arkansas in Dallas, but the Razorbacks look pretty bad, too, getting into a shootout with Georgia last week (they lost) and getting blown out by Alabama this week.

For more: I Am the 12th Man

Up next: Arkansas (Dallas, Texas | Cowboys Stadium), Sat. 10/3

Houston 29, Texas Tech 28: This was one of the more entertaining games I've seen in a long time. In a battle of Texas gunslingers, Case Keenum outdueled Taylor Potts, leading the Coogs to their second victory over a Big 12 opponent this season. Some will probably question how much defensive improvement Tech has really made after UH put up 579 total yards, but the mere fact that Houston gained that many yards and scored only 29 points says something for Tech. Further, it's not like anybody has stopped the Cougars effectively this season, as they are second in total offense and sixth in scoring offense. Texas Tech finally found a running game, picking up 163 yards rushing after having only 92 yards on the season coming into this game. I'll argue, however, that Mike Leach's stubborn refusal to stick with a running game against a clearly undersized Houston defense probably contributed to Tech's loss as much as anything.

For more: Double T Nation

Up next: New Mexico (Lubbock, Texas), Sat. 10/3

Kansas vs. Southern Mississippi Team Analysis

Denverjhawk — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:00:22 -0000

The Golden Eagles come to Lawrence this weekend in what many considered Kansas' first major test with UTEP being the other possible exception. To date the Jayhawks have handled their business with relative ease but haven't been quite as crisp or efficient as some would have hoped. Sure there are those that contend this offense is perfectly fine averaging in the top 3 in terms of production, but if you take the statistical blinders off for a moment it would be hard to not at least acknowledge some concerns.

Why Kansas?	Edge	Scenario	Edge	Why Southern Miss.?
Kansas has been good but not great on offense and last week lost the services of running back Jake Sharp temporarily. With or without Sharp back Kansas' balanced attack will need to continue to be a strength against the Golden Eagles. Stats or no stats Kansas is a top 20 offense nationally and you have to think the pieces will come together soon. Some teams might be able to contain the Jayhawks offense but not many will stop them.	Closer than normal though based on Kansas' last few games.	KU Offense vs. Southern Mississippi's Defense		Southern Mississippi has been very strong against the run and better than average against the pass. If they can make Kansas one dimensional, continue to put pressure on the quarterback and ride that to a couple turnovers they'll be in this. Southern Mississippi's defense is fully capable of mustering enough chaos to give the Jayhawk offense some trouble if Kansas is sloppy.
I want to believe, I'm trying to believe, I even added the Monkey's to my IPod this week to help me believe this Kansas defense has turned a corner. So far Kansas is winning the battle up front and it's translating to success on defense. What happens as the level of competition increases? Kansas has to continue to get pressure on the quarterback, continue stopping the run and this week take advantage of Southern Mississippi's mistakes which have led to them being ever so slightly turnover prone early this year. Do those things and Kansas wins this matchup and turns this fan into a believer.	I wanted to say push on this one but after last season, I need one more good showing before I take the Kansas defense against such a solid offense.	KU Defense vs. Southern Mississippi's Offense		Southern Mississippi has the horses and athletes on offense to make this a game. This will be as solid a test for the Jayhawks defense that they've seen this year in every way. The quarterback can beat you through the air or with his feet. They field a running back that will punish you for blown assignments. The Golden Eagles also put a reicever on the field that will be a SERIOUS test for this Kansas secondary. Kansas' defense will have it's hands full in this one and if the Golden Eagles play mistake free football it will be tough for Kansas to stop them.
Kansas looks to be an improved team in this area for 2009. Besides a few missed field goals every unit looks better. The kick coverage is solid as is the kick return. However, the most underrated stat has to be Alonso Rojas' punting which from a net standpoint looks pretty abysmal. Again though take the statistical blinders off and Rojas and the rest of the Kansas special teams are winning the field position battle for the Jayhawks.		Special Teams		Southern Miss. like Kansas has been pretty solid here if not slightly better in the return game. Like Kansas, the Golden Eagles do a nice job of putting their offense and defense in positions to succeed and no surprise here but one of these two has to give. At the end of this one special teams may be a major factor but deciding an edge is a push for me at this point based on how early it is in the season and how similar these two teams special teams units have performed.
Last week against Duke the Jayhawks defense looked to be returning to old habits after a first drive which saw Duke go the length of the field in a hurry. From there though the Jayhawk defensive staff was able to buckle down and force 8 straight possessions with no points from the Blue Devils. Throw in the fact that the Hawks are getting much more creative in terms of stunting and blitzing and the only thing that is missing is a little more aggressive pass coverage. Once again just another example of the upgrade in coaching this offseason for the Jayhawks. Kansas staff is deep and Mark Mangino teams come around as good as any.		Coaching		Larry Fedora is the Southern Mississippi Coach and for those who think that name sounds familiar it's because he was the Offensive Coordinator with the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2005-2007. Fedora was instrumental in taking OSU from Big12 South afterthought to what they are now. In his second season with the Cowboys Fedora took OSU from 96th in the nation in offensive production to 7th. Fact of the matter is the guy can coach. If he can put together a defensive scheme as good as some of his offensive one's he'll win this battle of wits against the Jayhawks.

Southern Mississippi will be the most well rounded team the Jayhawks play, the best defensive team the Jayhawks play and they will have a legitimate playmakers on the field. Austin Davis returns at quarterback where he produced over 3500 yards of offense as a sophomore in 2008. Damien Fletcher returns in the backfield following a 1300 yard rushing season in 2008 and is off to a fast start in 2009 averaging over 5 yards per carry. Lastly, DeAndre Brown is perhaps their most dangerous weapon at the reciever spot for the Golden Eagles. Coach Mangino says Brown might be the toughest Kansas faces all year he is coming off of a 2008 season with over 1100 yards recieving and 12 touchdowns.

Factor in solid special teams play, a notable coaching talent on top of the fact that this team is riding a stout defense to an 8 game win streak dating to late last year and the Jayhawks are looking at a potentially tricky one at home.