SB Nation - Greg Brown

Hawk Talk: UTEP Tailgate Edition

Denverjhawk — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:01:00 -0000

A look at news and notes from this week about the Jayhawks and their upcoming game....

The Good Guys...

Steven Foster may have found a home at defensive end.
The Springer Twins, Justin and Jeremy, will face off this week.
Jake Laptad a coaches dream.
Tanner Hawkinson successful through one game at protecting Todd Reesing's blind side.
The Jayhawks look for a better result in their first road game of the season in 2009 vs. 2008.
UDK piece on everybody's favorite head hunting kicker, Jacob Branstetter.
Bill Miller brings experience to a young defensive staff.
Change has been a good thing for Brad Thorson.
UTEP's passing game will look to test the Jayhawk secondary.
Chris Harris looks to have regained some of his 2007 confidence.
KC Star Game Preview

The Bad Guys...

UTEP looks to cut down on penalties after a tough first game with the zebra's.
QB Trevor Vittatoe looks to be a threat through the air and on the ground.
Miners focused for this years biggest home game.
El Paso Times piece on Reesing and the rise of the Jayhawks

Denver's Take...

Last week the Jayhawks put together a convincing win against an inferior opponent. A new found running game and a more balanced attack met the Jayhawks to start 2009 although much of that might be attributed to Northern Colorado's focus on limiting the pass. Regardless of how well things looked though, the Bears did expose some potential chinks in the armor.

On the other sideline, on all accounts UTEP played pretty poorly for at least half a game last week and ultimately it ended up costing them. The question is whether they can rally against a big time opponent and make things difficult in their own backyard.

My thought is this, Kansas defense will still be looking to find itself a bit but I just don't think that alone will be enough for UTEP to upset the Jayhawks. This one might get up and down but Kansas' offense has now shown they will be very difficult to stop. Throw Dezmon Briscoe back in the mix and it will take a pretty big UTEP defensive effort to stop the Jayhawks attack.

In terms of the Kansas defense, I don't look for things to settle here and I'm expecting a few changes on the depth chart in this one across the board. With that said, we'll get closer but the Jayhawks will still be vulnerable. In the end though Kansas stops UTEP more than the UTEP stops Kansas and the Jayhawks will win the turnover battle with some fairly savvy defenders running around and making plays.

My final thought is this, look for Kansas to go for the jugular early with a big play on the opening drive. From there Kansas keeps their foot on the gas and surprises many with a relatively easier win than expected.

Final Score: Kansas 42 UTEP 24

Supplemental Notes and more things to look for after the jump...

DID YOU KNOW? -- While Kansas has never played UTEP, the Jayhawks have played in the school's home stadium - the Sun Bowl. The Jayhawks met Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl on Christmas Day to cap the 1975 season. The Jayhawks lost 33-19 to the Panthers as Tony Dorsett rushed for 142 yards for Pittsburgh. Kansas was led by Laverne Smith, who rushed for 118 yards and Nolan Cromwell, who added 99 yards on the ground. Nearly 4,000 KU fans made the trip to El Paso for the game and were part of a then-Sun Bowl record crowd of 30,272.

DID YOU KNOW? -- Sure its only after one week, but Kansas is tied for the national lead in four NCAA offensive statistical categories including fewest tackles for loss allowed (1.00), fewest sacks allowed (0.00), fourth-down efficiency (100.0 percent) and red-zone efficiency (100.o percent). KU was two of two on fourth downs and scored on all six of its trips in the red zone against Northern Colorado last week.

This Week's Game
KU-UTEP SERIES -- Kansas and UTEP will be meeting for the first time in school history. In fact, each of KU's four non-conference games this year are first-time meetings.

KU VS. CONFERENCE USA -- Kansas owns a 16-9 record against current members of Conference USA all time. The last time the Jayhawks played a member of the league was its 42-13 victory against Houston
in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl. The last regular season meeting against a Conference USA opponent was a 21-3 victory against Tulsa to open the 2004 campaign.

KU AND THE STATE OF TEXAS -- This will be the first of three trips to the state of Texas for the Jayhawks, who will also play at Texas Tech on Oct. 31 and at Texas on Nov. 21. KU's last trip to the state was
a 19-11 win at Texas A&M in 2007. KU is 2-5 in the state in the Mark Mangino era with a win against Houston in Fort Worth in 2005 and the win at Texas A&M in 2007.

TEXAS JAYHAWKS -- Kansas features 35 players on its roster from the state of Texas. That figure is the most of any state as KU has 23 players from its own state, 11 from Oklahoma and eight from Missouri for its biggest areas. KU starters from the lone star state include WR Dezmon Briscoe (Dallas), LB Drew Dudley (College Station), OC Jeremiah Hatch (Dallas), DE Maxwell Onyegbule (Arlington), CB Daymond Patterson (Mesquite), QB Todd Reesing (Austin), LB Justin Springer (Los Fresnos) and LB Arist Wright (Houston).

KU-UTEP CONNECTIONS -- KU LB Justin Springer's twin brother Jeremy is a LB at UTEP... In addition to the 35 players KU lists from the state of Texas, several KU coaches have ties to the state: KU LB coach Bill Miller played at Texas-Arlington and coached one year at his alma mater... KU WR coach David Beaty was a successful high school coach in the state at several schools before coaching wide receivers at Rice in 2006-07... KU RB and special teams coach Louie Matsakis was on staffs at Texas Tech and Texas State-San Marcos.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR AGAINST UTEP

KU is looking to start a season 2-0 for the sixth consecutive season.
KU has won three straight games dating back to last season.
KU has recorded three sacks in each of its last three games dating back to last year.
QB Todd Reesing (8,392) needs 30 total yards for ninth on the Big 12 career total offense list.
Reesing has thrown a touchdown pass in 19 consecutive games.
RB Jake Sharp (1,933) needs 38 yards to move past Kerwin Bell (1,970) for 10th on the KU career rushing

list.

Sharp (20) needs one rushing touchdown to tie three others for sixth on the KU career rushing touchdown list and two to tie David Winbush (22) for fifth.
Sharp (54) needs three receptions to pass Robert Miller (56) for third on the KU career receptions by a running back list.
WR Kerry Meier (129) needs five receptions to pass Willie Vaughn (133) for third on the KU career receptions list.
Meier (10) needs one touchdown reception to tie for ninth on the KU career touchdown receptions list.
Meier has caught at least two passes in 22 consecutive games.
S Darrell Stuckey (7) needs one interception to tie Richard Bertuzzi (8) for 10th on the KU career interceptions list.
DE Jake Laptad (12) needs three sacks to move past Nick Reid (14) for ninth on the KU career sacks list.
WR Dezmon Briscoe has produced four straight 100-yard receiving games.
Briscoe (7) needs one 100-yard game to tie Willie Vaughn for first on the KU career 100-yard receiving games list.
Briscoe has caught at least two passes in 19 consecutive games.
Briscoe (1,903) needs 95 yards to pass Richard Estell (1,997) for third on the KU career receiving yards list.

DID YOU KNOW? -- The Kansas at UTEP game features two of the nation's top active passers in Jayhawk Todd Reesing and Miner Trevor Vittatoe. Vittatoe ranks fourth (264.3) and Reesing fifth (259.5) among active quarterbacks in career passing yards per game. Reesing's 70 career touchdown passes are sixth among active players behind Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Tim Hiller, Dan LeFevour and Nate Davis, but ahead of such seniors as Tim Tebow, Max Hall, Zac Robinson, Matt Grothe and Juice Williams.

FIRST-TIME STARTERS -- Seven Jayhawks made their first career starts in the season opener including LT Tanner Hawkinson, LG Brad Thorson and RG Sal Capra on offense and DE Maxwell Onyegbule, DT Patrick Dorsey, LB Drew Dudley and CB Anthony Davis on defense.

FRESHMEN SEE PLAYING TIME -- Against Northern Colorado 11 freshmen saw action including three true freshmen in WR Bradley McDougald, LB Huldon Tharp and RB Toben Opurum. Redshirt freshmen who played for the first time included QB Kale Pick, S Lubbock Smith, CB Greg Brown, OL Trevor Marrongelli, OL John Williams, OL Tanner Hawkinson, DE D.J. Marshall and DT Duane Zlatnik.

OFFENSIVE NOTES -- KU rushed for 334 yards vs. Northern Colorado, the first 300-yard rushing game for the Jayhawks since 2001... KU produced 553 yards of total offense vs. UNC, its most in its last 15
games... KU did not commit a turnover against UNC (had two games last year without a turnover - Louisiana Tech and Colorado)... KU scored touchdowns on all six of its trips into the red zone... Three Jayhawks scored two touchdowns each against UNC including QB Todd Reesing, RB Jake Sharp and RB Toben Opurum... KU had two 80-plus yard scoring drives against UNC... KU had two 10-plus play drives against the Bears... KU scored on seven of its 10 possessions and punted just twice against UNC... KU converted eight of 12 thirddown
attempts against UNC... Four different Jayhawks had runs of 20 or more yards, including both quarterbacks... KU had only one play that lost yards against Northern Colorado, a team rush that lost six yards.

DEFENSIVE NOTES -- KU allowed just three points, the fewest its allowed since shutting out Louisiana Tech in the second game of last year... UNC's 246 total yards were the fewest allowed by KU since limiting Colorado to 233 in the sixth game of last year... KU allowed two 10-plus play drives by UNC, but neither resulted in points (both punts) and the two drives combined for only 51 yards... UNC reached KU's 20-yard line just twice in 10 possessions and scored one field goal... KU allowed only two plays of more than 20 yards by UNC.

Kansas Football Depth Chart Is Out

Denverjhawk — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:20:36 -0000

One week out and we've got an official word from the athletic department on what things will look like when we take the field on Saturday the 5th. For the better part of three weeks we've been trying to piece together what this thing might look like from the eyes in the sky, but it's always fun to see the official look from the staff.

Let the speculation end because this is the Jayhawks story and for now their sticking to it. We'll see come next Saturday.

Offense:

LT 72 Tanner Hawkinson 6-6 270 Fr. RS
63 Ian Wolfe 6-5 295 Jr. 1L

LG 76 Brad Thorson 6-3 290 Jr. 1L
71 John Williams 6-4 309 Fr. RS

OC 77 Jeremiah Hatch 6-3 311 So. 1L
76 Brad Thorson 6-3 290 Jr. 1L

RG 59 Sal Capra 6-3 295 Jr. 1L
69 Trevor Marrongelli 6-4 285 Fr. RS

RT 74 Jeff Spikes 6-6 314 So. 1L
55 Darius Parish 6-4 314 So. 1L

TE 86 Tim Biere 6-4 250 So. 1L
43 Ted McNulty 6-5 231 So. SQ

WR 81 Johnathan Wilson 6-3 189 Jr. 2L
29 Isiah Barfi eld 6-0 184 So. 1L

WR 10 Kerry Meier 6-3 221 Sr. 3L
24 Bradley McDougald 6-2 195 Fr. HS

WR 80 Dezmon Briscoe 6-3 202 Jr. 2L
89 Tertavian Ingram 6-0 200 Jr. SQ

RB 1 Jake Sharp 5-10 195 Sr. 3L
35 Toben Opurum 6-2 235 Fr. HS
or 6 Rell Lewis 5-10 201 So. SQ

QB 5 Todd Reesing 5-11 200 Sr. 3L
19 Kale Pick 6-2 200 Fr. RS

Defense:

LE 90 Maxwell Onyegbule 6-5 258 Sr. 2L
84 Jeff Wheeler 6-7 260 Sr. 3L

LT 97 Richard Johnson 6-2 281 So. 1L
99 Jamal Greene 6-4 304 Jr. 1L

RT 94 Caleb Blakesley 6-5 298 Sr. 3L
98 Duane Zlatnik 6-4 303 Fr. RS
or 92 Patrick Dorsey 6-0 275 So. SQ

RE 91 Jake Laptad 6-5 258 Jr. 2L
93 Quintin Woods 6-5 230 Jr. JC

SLB 45 Justin Springer 6-4 242 Jr. 2L
9 Vernon Brooks 5-11 230 Jr. JC

MLB 49 Drew Dudley 6-2 232 Jr. 2L
52 Steven Johnson 6-2 229 So. 1L

WLB 41 Arist Wright 6-0 226 Sr. 3L
34 Huldon Tharp 6-1 215 Fr. HS

LC 15 Daymond Patterson 5-9 175 So. 1L
27 Greg Brown 5-11 177 Fr. RS

SS 25 Darrell Stuckey 6-1 205 Sr. 3L
13 Lubbock Smith 5-11 192 Fr. RS

FS 46 Justin Thornton 6-1 213 Sr. 3L
26 Phillip Strozier 6-1 201 Jr. 2L

RC 30 Anthony Davis 6-0 192 So. 1L
17 Calvin Rubles 6-3 203 Jr. JC

Kansas Positional Previews: Cornerback

Denverjhawk — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:00:11 -0000

Daymond Patterson Will Begin the 2009 Season Where he Left Off in the Defensive Backfield as a Corner for the Jayhawks

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Moving away from the defensive front and into the backfield, the cornerback position will be the focus of today's positional preview. Kansas has had a great deal of success in turning corners into stars of late with both Charles Gordon and Aqib Talib gaining national attention before taking their games to the next level in the NFL.

This has led to a bit of a recruiting boon as the Jayhawks sit in the position of having a lot of players that can fill this roll, while not quite being certain who is the one to fill it.

Last year was an interesting one at the position as an assortment of young players took a stab at things and unfortunately almost all were eaten alive by Big12 offenses. The result wasn't terribly unexpected when you are asking a freshman or redshirt freshman to cover the likes of Michael Crabtree and Jordan Shipley among others, but it still leaves a little bit of concern that there wasn't really anyone at the position capable of ultimately locking down a starting role.

One year later the staff has addressed the position through a variety of means. Position changes, additional recruiting as well as the overall development of those already in the position should lead to some stiffer competition this year.

Full Positional Preview After the Jump...

The starting role at the corner position, like many positions appears only partially resolved at this point. Daymond Patterson who joined the team as a true freshman was slated as a receiver at the beginning of the fall of 2008. A lack of success in filling the role of corner through other means led the Kansas staff to make a change with Patterson and try his quick feet out on the defensive side of the ball. Now after a full offseason in the training program and gaining experience at the position it appears Patterson has made some pretty big strides and could be a breakthrough player in the secondary this fall. A year removed from a 21 tackle, 2 pass breakup performance Patterson has improved himself physically and ideally prepared himself more mentally for being a solid corner in the pass happy Big 12.

The other corner position is a little more up in the air with last year's starter by the end of the season Justin Thornton running second team. Thornton broke into the Kansas lineup at safety in 2007 as part of the Orange Bowl championship team and actually finished tied for the team lead in interceptions with first round draft pick Aqib Talib. It was those ball skills and the lack of anyone else stepping into the role that ultimately led to his move to corner in the middle of 2008. At 6'1" 213 pound Thornton brings excellent size and strength to the position along with the ability to provide run support when needed. Thornton finished 2008 with 63 tackles for the team, 1 int and 11 pass breakups. The biggest hindrance to his success this year may well be his late season suspension from the insight bowl as the Mangino doghouse is not a place you want to be.

The player to date that has stepped into the first team role in place of Thornton is a 6' 195 pound sophomore in Anthony Davis. Davis arrived at Kansas with a pretty solid reputation as a player but one who might need some development in terms of the speed of the game in college. He was a 2 time all state player in high school and was known as a player with the physical tools and athleticism to make plays in coverage. In his now third season with the Jayhawks it appears the switch may have been flipped and the kid out of Tulsa with untapped potential, might finally be realizing it and ready to contribute.

After those three there are two other players who saw action last year but were clearly not quite ready. The first is 5'10" sophomore out of Lawrence Free State in Ryan Murphy. Murphy came to Kansas as a 4* athlete and had a lot of folks excited because he was a player people were familiar with. He's been tested at receiver and corner but appears to have found a home in the defensive backfield. While he has yet to see significant minutes on gameday he has done fairly well as a scout team player and he may still contribute down the line for the Jayhawks.

Another player the Jayhawks tested last year was true freshman at the time Corrigan Powell. Unfortunately for Powell, he was tested during the Texas Tech game and we all know how that ended up. I guess my feeling on Powell is this, as a true freshman he played in a total of 9 games and if nothing else that means he showed something during practice that the coaches felt could contribute. Maybe last year he wasn't quite ready but I would say that he certainly has to be up there on the depth chart this year if he continues to develop.

Another player that came in with Powell in 2008 is 5'11" 180 pound Greg Brown. Brown has been referenced more than once as a player that has made strides in the offseason and while it's hard to say where he'll land on the depth chart, he definitely could provide good depth at the position. Brown comes from a solid high school program in Cedar Hill out of Texas and was considered a Texas top 100 player out of high school.

Now it's time for a look at the newbies at the corner position and as I said Kansas added a lot in terms of recruiting at this position. Calvin Rubles, Tyler Patmon, DJ Beshears and Taylor Lee all joined the program in the offseason.

Starting off with Rubles, Calvin is the former teammate of a familiar Jayhawk corner Aqib Talib. At 6'3" 200 pounds the junior college transfer bring great size to the position after transferring in from Tyler Junior College in Texas. Last season Rubles was an all conference first team selection at Tyler after recording 45 tackles and three interceptions on the year.

Tyler Patmon is a guy that we interviewed here as part of our Rock Chalk Talk series last season and while he was relatively unheralded in last year's class he has apparently turned some heads in the preseason and wouldn't surprise anyone if he were to see minutes this season as a true freshman. Patmon measures 5'10" 180 and the staff was very complimentary of his footwork and hips during the recruiting process. It seems those strengths have translated well to coverage against the Kansas receivers so they might just get tested on gameday at some point.

DJ Beshears is a player in the similar mold of a Daymond Patterson. In fact when he initially committed to Kansas I think many saw him as an addition to the receiving corps because nearly all the film that existed of him showed the 5'9" speedster catching the ball on a bubble screen and scrambling for the end zone. He finished his senior season with 88 receptions for over 1400 yards and 21 touchdowns. Who knows he may jump back over to that side of the ball but with the way Pattersons quickness and speed have translated to a successful corner, it appears that's where Beshears will begin his career.

The last name on the list is a 6'1" walk on freshman in Taylor Lee. Very little is known about Lee but he is on the roster and working with the cornerbacks at this point.

So there you have it, 9 guys that are on scholarship and slated at the cornerback position. Obviously the need for good quality coverage corners in a league like the Big 12 is huge and the Jayhawk staff has filled the pipeline with athletes who will have to compete for time from day one. This trend will likely continue and hopefully so too will Kansas' tradition of producing NFL caliber corners.

Poll

Who do you want starting opposite Daymond Patterson

Justin Thornton

36 votes

Anthony Davis

17 votes

Corrigan Powell

3 votes

Ryan Murphy

2 votes

Greg Brown

1 votes

Calvin Rubles

5 votes

Tyler Patmon

1 votes

65 votes | Poll has closed