SB Nation User Blog: I need more Esteban

Europe no longer a straightforward decision for MLS players

I need more Esteban — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:39:29 -0000

Europe no longer a straightforward decision for MLS players

Article about the advantages/disadvantages of Americans overseas vs. MLS. I think I've seen this discussed around here some already. Good stuff.

"It was playing more not to mess up," Wilson said. "We were scared to mess up. That’s a big p...

I need more Esteban — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:49:13 -0000

"It was playing more not to mess up," Wilson said. "We were scared to mess up. That’s a big problem. We were scared to mess up."

Link

Crazy to see this and I do believe that this was a factor for our team this year. In my time in athletics, I definitely have seen this, at the end of a basketball game when you have the lead, if you start playing NOT to lose instead of playing to win, that is when a team makes a comeback. The same can be said for a lot of sports. I'm excited for a fresh start.

Mark and Ed: I'm begging you, run the ball!

I need more Esteban — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:34:43 -0000

We all know the ups and downs that have occurred this season for the KU football team. Some of the highest expectations in school history have been tough to live up to so far for this team. Our offense is great, our defense has struggled but is improving dramatically, and I would argue that they have done their part in each of the last 2 games to keep us in the game. Our offense has been the one to really make things tough. Two first half turnovers leading to 14 points against Colorado and three interceptions in the first half against OU leading to 14 first half points.

What is the problem all of the sudden? How about balance. While watching the OU vs. KU game from the stands, I couldn't help but notice that OU looked like they knew what we were doing on virtually every play, they swarmed to the ball, they blanketed our receivers, and they beat the crap out of us. OU has a great defense and maybe more running plays wouldn't have made a difference, but I believe that if we would've had a more balanced attack, this game would've been much closer.

The non-conference was pretty much labeled a success for KU. Everyone knows that the level of talent we played was not exactly up to par with the Big 12, although I will remind people that UTEP has looked good and Duke won back to back conference games for the first time since 1993, I believe. Nevertheless, still not Big 12 caliber. But we can only play the teams on our schedule and we won in very convincing fashion. What was so exciting about the non-con on offense? Our running game.

Here are the attempts and yards in each of the games. I'm going to cut the QB attempts in half as many times it is a pass play that breaks down, or a sack.

vs. Northern Colorado
Running back Attempts: 29
QB Attempts: 13 (6)
Rush Yards: 281

vs. UTEP
Running back Attempts: 32 (16 Sharp, 16 Opurum)
QB Attempts: 5 (2)
Rush Yards: 166

vs. Duke
Running back Attempts: 22
QB Attempts: 5 (3)
Rush Yards: 134

vs. Southern Miss
Running back Attempts: 28 (Opurum)
QB Attempts: 13 (6, Negative yards=sacks)
Rush Yards: 109

vs. Iowa St.

Running back Attempts: 24 (Opurum)
QB Attempts: 5 (2)
Rush Yards: 110

I don't think the QB attempts are as important here but I went ahead and included them because sometimes we have designed runs. I'm focusing more on the RB's carries, though. Before Colorado, not one time under 22 attempts for the running backs.

vs. Colorado
RB Attempts: 15
QB Attempts: 7 (3)
Rush Yards: 40

Loss! We lose this game, we hand the ball off a total of 15 times, 13 to Jake Sharp and 2 to Toben Opurum. This a week after Toben carried it 24 times for 98 yards. I know we were playing catch up for a lot of this game but it doesn't matter. We closed the gap and made it a game so there is no reason to not get 20 carries for our backs. Once again, loss.

vs. OU
RB Attempts: 20 (13 Opurum, 7 Sharp)
QB Attempts: 8 (4)
Rush Yards: 73

Loss Loss Loss! I don't want to take the time to look this up but I would guess that half of those carries came when we were down big late in the game. We rarely tried to run the ball Saturday even when OU was blitzing and dropping 8 guys into coverage. Our unbalanced offense looks like it is being outcoached week in and week out now. Why our coaches think that we can just pass when teams are expecting it every play, boggles my mind.

I'm not here to say that if we run the ball more, we will win. But I think our offense has a much better chance of succeeding when the defense doesn't know what is coming at them. It should also lead to less oppurtunities for costly turnovers that have really hurt us in the last 2 games. In the Reesing era, things have always been better when we have committed to the running game as well as the passing game. So I'm here to say:

Coaches: PLEASE RUN THE BALL MORE! I don't care if it's Jake or Toben, just get them out there running at least 25 times a game.

That is all.

Beshears to start at CB; Omigie could lose redshirt

I need more Esteban — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:58:04 -0000

Beshears to start at CB; Omigie could lose redshirt

A week after making his first appearance of the season, true freshman cornerback D.J. Beshears will start Saturday against Oklahoma, Mangino said Wednesday.

In replacing incumbent cornerback Daymond Patterson, Beshears, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound Denton, Texas, native, finished with five tackles against the Buffaloes and played with a tenacity that left the team’s coaching staff impressed.
-kusports.com

Not sure what to make of this. It's one of those things that is hard to understand because one side of me wants to think, "Oh good, Behears has some potential and is really pushing to get this spot." The other side of me remembers that I said the same thing about Patterson last year and look at him now.

Is this fix permanant?
What happens to Patterson now? (Please no Anthony Webb)

Update: From Jayhawkslant

Prior to the Colorado game, true freshman wide receiver Chris Omigie had replaced Isiah Barfield on the depth chart. Omigie is now listed as the second string wide receiver behind Dezmon Brsicoe. Offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said Omigie is close to burning his redshirt and seeing time on the field.

Warinner said in the right situation they could use him.

Thoughts on this? I'm always a fan of the best players playing no matter what, and if McDougald is seeing more time on D then another playmaker on offense is welcomed by me, dude has got size.

KU football will play Oklahoma at either 2:30 or 7 p.m. on ABC

I need more Esteban — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:25:42 -0000

KU football will play Oklahoma at either 2:30 or 7 p.m. on ABC

I know many have probably seen this but I'm looking for some thoughts.

Which time would you rather have?

I know 7 for me is the choice. All day to tailgate and a rare night game at Memorial would mean a rowdy crowd. Peope want to make little jabs about people leaving during games but in a huge game like this there is no doubt the place will be packed and loud.

What has to happen to get the 7 pm game?

It's between our game and Texas vs. Missouri. Is it all about the Red River Shootout outcome or do KU and Misery's outcomes matter as well?

Either way, I'm pumped for having the 2 prime spots as options.

Expectations Tempered

I need more Esteban — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:49:22 -0000

Before we played Iowa St. at Memorial Stadium this week, I was very confident in this team's ability to win the North. After the horrible showing by our defense and season saving job by our offense, I've lowered my expectations a little. I truly thought that our defense was better and it looked like it might not be. Is there still time for them to be better? Oh yes, lots of time and I'm not willing to concede that they are as bad as they looked Saturday. I saw too much in the non-con that I didn't see last season. But are they going to win us any games? Probably not.

Let's start with the bad. Linebacker has to be our weakest position (not surprising). So what is going to be done about it? Personally, even though he is a true freshman, I would like to see a lot more of Huldon Tharp. Even though he is undersized, the kid seems like he is just a playmaker. A nose for the ball is what has been said about him on more than a few occasions. Get him in there on a constant rotation.

Vernon Brooks name is starting to pop up around conversations. Where is the Juco All-American that we signed, hoping to give a depleted linebacking crew a boost? I tend to trust the coaches because this is their job, there has to be a reason he isn't seeing the field. But maybe it's time to throw him out there and see if he makes plays.

The secondary was exposed Saturday. Daymond Patterson looked absolutely awful. I had been impressed with him threw the non-con for the most part but Saturday he realllly looked lost. He was burned on several occasions with his head constantly turned away from the QB. Are there any DB's from our top 5 nationally ranked DB class ready to play? Probably not, but others should probably be ready to play if needed.

More Ryan Murphy. The last two games he has started to see the field a lot more and I think that is a good thing. He has been making a lot of plays and think he needs to keep seeing the field.

D-Line still isn't getting enough pressure. There isn't much of a problem with Laptad and Max has had some good games as well. But we need more of a pass rush to take pressure of of our secondary. It all starts up front, and the secondary can only cover for so long, so we need more pressure. Quinton Woods, this would be a good time to start adjusting to Div. 1 football and give us another pass rushing presence. DT's, let's start clogging up the middle more.

Offense. I'm not too worried. Sharp back will be another weapon and maybe we'll start seeing some 2 back sets which could really change the way opponents have to prepare for us.

This Colorado game didn't scare me at all in the pre-season. Now, even though Colorado has looked bad I am nervous. It has the feel of an upset type of game. Crazy things happen in Boulder (see OU 2007). In the end, I think we will win the game and go into the matchup with OU at 6-0 which would be so great. Hopefully then, we have the primetime game and Memorial will seriously be rocking. OU definitely has more talent than us but we are due to beat Coach Mangino's former team at some point.

For the rest of the way, well, I'm not sure yet. I still think that we can beat NU at home even if they are the better team than us. It's going to be a very tough road as a win in Lubbock looks very hard as well. We can still do this, but there is no doubt that a name we haven't heard much from will have to step up on defense and make some plays for us to go to Dallas.

Thoughts?

Poll

Have you lowered your expectations for the KU football team?

Yes, I think 2nd in the North is a good goal right now.

7 votes

No, I still think we win the North.

24 votes

My expectations were never that high.

2 votes

33 votes | Poll has closed

KU football's top 10 surprise players

I need more Esteban — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:44:10 -0000

KU football's top 10 surprise players

Cool piece from "The Newell Post" on KUSports. Agree with his top 10.

Tom Keegan needs a new story

I need more Esteban — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:46:05 -0000

Tom Keegan needs a new story

So as if this guy hasn't been milking this enough and whining about not getting coverage or interviews, now he comes out and goes to a cultural issue in his sports column.

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to read this article because it really isn't good and he, yet again, sheds bad light on KU athletics when we should be moving on from this. But I had to post it here because it kind of pisses me off that the editor of KU's hometown paper is so ignorant about this subject and still chose to write about it and put it out there for outsiders to judge.

I was happy when the LJWorld replaced Chuck Woodling with a "bigger name" but now I'm not so sure that was such a good thing.

Kansas #4 in Big 12 Power Rankings

I need more Esteban — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:45:47 -0000

Kansas #4 in Big 12 Power Rankings

Tim Griffin has us 4th behind the Big 3 of the South.

A pitch for Greinke’s Cy Young candidacy

I need more Esteban — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:52:51 -0000

A pitch for Greinke’s Cy Young candidacy

Yet another column defending Greinke as the Cy Young, this time from Jeff Passan. I don't see how he can't get it.