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2011-02-05T11:25:00.001-08:00

Kansas 28, Georgia Tech 25

2010-09-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

What a difference a week makes! Last week at this time, the debate was over whether Kansas could win another game. Now, a bowl game seems attainable again as the Jayhawks prepare for a Friday night game in Hattiesburg, MI against Southern Miss. The GT victory was impressive, but still left plenty of room for improvement. Here is my weekly breakdown of the performance...

Offensive Line, Grade: B- Again, what a difference a week makes! Last week the O-line was easily the largest on-field contributor to our struggles. This time around there were actual holes for the backs to run through, and time for the Webb to calmly make decisions. I attribute much of this to Hatch's return to the center position, and Capra's return to left guard. By all accounts, Duane Zlatnik is an up-and-coming young player, but he struggled mightily against NDSU. Capra also looked much more comfortable at the guard position, and the line play was much more cohesive. The reason for the low B is several occasions where blitzing GT linebackers ran unabated into our backfield. There seemed to be some confusion on assignments when the pressure came from the outside, and on more than one occasion I saw blockers being knocked back or even pushed down by smaller defenders. Obviously it wasn't an insurmountable problem, however, as Sims was able to gash Tech's defense on his way to a 100 yard day, and Webb tossed 3 TD passes.

Running Backs, Grade: A- It feels great to give out an A! James Sims and his Fresh Prince haircut had a fantastic college debut rushing for 101 yards and a TD on 17 carries. Sims showed a rare combination of both elusivity and power, coupled with a knack for finding space. He's now listed as the starter for Friday night, and it seems KU has found its guy at this position. Angus Quigley was also able to gash the Jackets for over 5 ypc.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends, Grade: B- While some might consider this position a strength from Saturday's game, some dropped passes lowered their grade for me. McDougald dropped a pair while Patterson contibuted one of his own. All these were on-the-money, easily catchable passes. Upon further review of the game, it seems in all three instances, the receiver simply started to look upfield before actually reeling in the pass. This is a correctable problem, and just requires more focus from the WRs. On the upside, DP continued to show amazing quickness and evasiveness in the open field, along with a knack for getting open and making tough catches. Biere got a confidence boost as well, catching a TD pass in the red zone. Biere did have some struggles blocking, but I counted that against him the O-line review rather than here.

Quarterback, Grade: B Webb had a fine debut as a starter, and did everything he was asked to do. Most of his completions were screens and short passes, but hey, why go downfield if you don't have to? The pick he threw was not his fault in the least, and was overshadowed by three TD passes. He, like most young quarterbacks, needs to develop a better feel for when and where the pocket is collapsing to avoid costly sacks, but this a normal part of the learning curve at this position. Kale Pick appeared a few times to run a wildcat-style package, which could be useful in some situations as long as it's not overused.

Defensive Line, Grade: B This was hard for me to grade, since KU began using a variety of different defensive packages, many featuring only 3 down-linemen. In this situation, the line's job is more to occupy blockers, and less to make plays themselves. As a result, we did not hear the names of d-linemen often during the game. However, the linebackers went on a savage tackling spree. This means the DL was effective in their assignments, otherwise the LBs would have been occupied by blockers, leaving the secondary to do most of the tackling. The long runs seemed to be more of an assignment issue than a line issue, so I give them a solid grade for their effort.

Linebackers, Grade: B+ Despite incredible performances by this group, specifically Springer (Big 12 defensive Player of the Week) and Johnson, I was tempted to give this group a C. Yes, the 'Hawks came up with stops when they needed them, but Tech was able to spring for a number of long runs. In the end, I didn't feel like this group of LBs could have been expected to do much more, as they are not athletically equipped to run with some of the speed in the Tech backfield, and because every team GT faces gives up some long runs. In the end, the linebackers generally played assignment-sound, tough football and tackled very well, and were instrumental in the many vital stops the D made down the stretch.

Secondary, Grade: B- While Tech had a poor day passing the ball, I saw a number of problems watching this game a second time. I hadn't initially realized just how many well-thrown balls were dropped by GT's receivers. Their passing game could easily have been more effective than it was. Now, I realize part of this is due to Carl Torbush's gameplan, which was essentially to leave 9 men in the box every play, and let the CBs do everything in man-to-man coverage, knowing Tech would not abandon their gameplan and start airing it out. The secondary was similar in this game to what it was in the first in that, while they didn't get burned, they seemed to consistently run a step behind the receivers. However, the safeties brought the grade up, as they tackled remarkably well and assisted the LBs in the run game. Keeston Terry continues to look good at safety, and may well explode at the position next year when he's had time to add some needed weight.

Special Teams, Grade: C- The only reason they don't get a D is that nothing terrible actually happened on special teams. The problem for me was a continuation of some of the disturbing trends from the first game. As I wrote last week, Beshears' success in the return game against NDSU was likely the result of his speed, and not the return unit as a whole. Against bigger, faster players this week, DJ had nowhere to go, and the kickoff returns were medicore at best. Once again, Rojas had players coming at him while he tried to punt. We saw a return to the rugby-style punting he had adopted last season which, fortunately for us, he excels with. Tech punted only once, so it was hard to score that element of the unit. Overall, I still didn't feel like this unit is going to be a strength on this team, and I fear for Alonso Rojas' life.

Coaching, Grade: A- Maybe this grade is inflated because the coaching was so much better than in the debut, but it seemed like the 'Hawks had a solid game plan for this one, and rode it out to victory. The defense seemed to largely have an answer for Tech's triple option game, which has been known to run many an opponent out of their own houses. OC Chuck Long wisely changed to a more spread-like offense, which this team was built for. The new offense can be worked in gradually, and the coaching staff seems to have realized that looking competent and winning games is more important than insisting the power running game upon a team that was built to throw. KU was also clearly more energized and focused for this game, which I would hope would happen naturally after the week one debacle, but I'll still credit the coaching staff for harnessing it effectively.

Overall, Grade: B+ While I would like to say that this performance was indicative of what we'll be seeing the rest of the year, simple logic would say otherwise. Our week-in and week-out ability probably lies somewhere between "bad enough to lose to Missouri Valley schools" and "good enough to take down Top 15 competition." By my estimation, the mean would be "decent football team," and I think that's what we are. We had some weak points in our game this week, but overall played very sound football and it led us to a win. Tech's 407 yards of offense alone is enough to prevent me from calling this an "A grade" performance, but a win against a team with that kind of talent is enough for me to call it a B+, the next best thing. A great win for Turner Gill and the Jayhawk football program!

-David P

North Dakota State 6, Kansas 3

2010-09-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Frankly, the final score is all the recap you need. You look at the score and think "Damn, that sucks," and quite frankly, you've recapped the experience yourself. Nonetheless, some may be interested in further breakdown of what can objectively be referred to as a "debacle." As I plan to do each week after each game, I am going to break down the performance of each unit on the team, and how they contributed, good or bad, to the outcome. We'll start with the unit most responsible for the performance...

Offensive Line, Grade: F I tried to think of a way to justify a D-, I really did. If they had turned in an identical performance against Oklahoma or Nebraska, I'd probably have given them a D. But this wasn't a top 10 team. This wasn't a top 100 team. This was an FCS team that won three games last year. And they physically dominated our O-line. If you want the reason we lost, it may not singularly be the OL, but that's where it started on the field. No holes for the running backs to run through, no pocket to protect Kale Pick. Pick spent more time running sideline to sideline than he did downfield. Even All-Big 12 LT Tanner Hawkinson got beat a few times. I attribute the level of play to learning a completely new system, which includes a completely different style of blocking. I'm hopeful the OL will improve rapidly as the season progresses, but as of right now they are at best a question mark, and really earned their grade.

Running Backs, Grade: C Strictly in terms of production, the RBs probably earned an F as well, but seeing as how they had nothing to work with, it hardly seemed fair to rate them that way. It would be like giving a performance review to an accountant when you never gave them a calculator. The backs had NO holes to run through. None. So their production of about 1.5 ypc (most of the team's rushing yards were by WRs) is not as reflective of their performance as it is of the o-line's. As a result I grade the RBs right in the middle, a C, until they are truly given a chance.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends, Grade: B- The lone bright spot for the team was the receivers. McDougald had a nice long play, Patterson was the main target of the night, in addition to gaining the most rushing yards on the team, and Beshears added some interesting looks to the running game. Tim Biere, however, single-handedly brought the unit drown from a B+ down to a B-. Two fumbles and two dropped passes, albeit difficult ones, really hurt the offense at crucial points in the game. I'm not concerned about Biere, however, as he's shown no prior fumbling or dropping tendencies in the past. The only negative for the receivers was some inability to gain separation from the secondary. However, since Pick had somewhere between zero and one second to pass the ball, the WRs may simply not have had time to separate. Another area hard to judge because of the poor play of the OL.

Quarterbacks, Grade: C- I think the QBs did pretty well considering what they had to work with. It's hard to accomplish much when the pocket is constantly collapsing around you. Pick showed a surprising ability to thread the needle on several plays. Unfortunately he also displayed a tendency to lock on to his primary target, and threw a bewildering interception in the end zone that frankly could have been caught by several different defenders. Webb came in late and consistently forced passes, but that could be due to a combination of first-game jitters, and the fact the he was essentially told to go in and win the game for us. That's a lot for a freshman to shoulder. Much like with the running backs, I don't feel like this game gave us a fair opportunity to assess the quarterback play. Nonetheless, I'll grade based on how they performed, which was slightly below average.

Defensive Line, Grade: B- I wanted to grade them higher, but the simple fact is that we were playing North Dakota State, and that puts a damper on any excitement one could derive from the performance. Yes, the line played pretty well, but let's face it...they were supposed to. There were a few too many holes up the middle on running plays, and despite constant pressure on the QB we only forced one sack, but at the end of the day we only gave up 168 yards and 6 points, which is actually better than I was anticipating. Also, redshirt freshmen Kevin Young and Tyrone Sellers were solid, and true freshman Keba Augostinho had a nice QB pressure as well, so the DE spot would seem to be looking up this year.

Linebackers, Grade: C+ The linebacking corps' biggest problem a year ago was plugging the wrong gaps and straying from their lanes on slow-developing plays. While NDSU's offense was not sharp enough to take advantage, the fact remains that the middle of the field was available, and I fear our FBS opponents will be able to use it against us the same way they did last year.

Secondary, Grade: B- We gave up no big pass plays to NDSU, who completed right around 50% of their passes. Holding a short-passing game to 50% is pretty impressive, but much like with the linebackers I had some deja vu moments here. Too many times I saw NDSU receivers out ahead of our DBs by a step, and the throw simply didn't get to them. We held the passing offense down, so they earn a decent grade, but I won't be shocked if I end up giving them Cs or Ds against better groups of receivers.

Special Teams, Grade: D DJ Beshears is the only reason special teams did not earn a failing grade. A blocked punt, low snaps, and giving up an average of 20 yards per punt return resulted in the Jayhawks losing the field position battle, which is 100% unacceptable against an opponent of this level. I'm not convinced Beshears' success on kick returns was not simply the result of being too fast for an FCS kickoff unit. With our offense seemingly weak to start the season, the special teams units MUST improve so Pick/Webb are not facing an 70+ yard field every time they get the ball.

Coaching, Grade: F As I said yesterday, I'm no where near calling for Gill's dismissal. That being said, the overall feel of disorganization and chaos on the field Saturday can only be attributed to the coaching staff. Plays were not in on time, subs were consistently running on and off the field with the play clock running down, timeouts wasted early in both halves, 10 men on the field during a punt return...this team is good enough to have success on the field, but only if the game is run properly. They don't have the overwhelming talent necessary to overcome these obstacles. Fortunately, this is something that can be remedied very quickly. If they spend some extra time in practice tightening up the organization on offense, I can see these problems going away by next week.

Overall performance, Grade: F No matter how many things may have looked alright for the 'Hawks Saturday, the bottom line was a loss to an FCS school that went 3-8 last year. That would be unacceptable for a Sun Belt school, so it certainly won't get it done at the Big 12 level. Any analyst will tell you not to read too much into the first game of the season, but let's face it, solid teams don't lose these games, whether they take place in September or December. There is a lot of work to do, and unfortunately, this Saturday may be one of our toughest games of the year. I still believe this team will win some games this season, but Saturday was a discouraging reminder of how tough Turner Gill's job will be.

-David P

KU Loses to...North Dakota State?

2010-09-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

You know, I had planned on actually writing here weekly (or better) back in August, to preview the football season and express my excitement for the upcoming era of Jayhawk football. And maybe even recruit a reader or two. Obviously, that never made it to the top of my priority list. Even sadder is what finally did bring it to the top of my priority list. As everyone knows at this point, the Jayhawks were brought down 6-3 by the powerful football apparatus that is the Missouri Valley's North Dakota State. What happened has already been rehashed myriad times already, but I'll still offer up my perspective on the debacle, by listing my Top Three Reasons We Lost list...

1. The offensive line has serious problems. Last year started off similarly. Todd Reesing was running for his life altogether too often against early-season foes like Northern Colorado and Duke. Yet somehow, over the course of the season, the unit solidified and became one of the more consistent elements of 2009's unstable team. The OL united to shut down top five draft picks Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy, and later rendered Mizzou's standout pass-rusher Aldon Smith a non-factor. Last night, the line looked to have regressed to pre-Northern Colorado form. NDSU consistently collapsed the pocket, plugged running lanes, and pushed our linemen into our own backfield. Yes, Jeff Spikes is out. Yes, Jeremiah Hatch showed up to camp looking like something you could milk and lost his spot at center. Still, 4 of our 5 starters on the OL last night started games last year as well, and the other (Duane Zlatnik) drew rave reviews in the offseason. This had all the makings of a very solid offensive line. So what happened? Well I was at the game, and having taken in opinions from others who were there, as well as those watching on their TV sets, the answer is a resounding: "huh?"
My only guess as to the problem is the simple fact that people in general, no matter how good they may be at something, perform poorly when they are uncomfortable with how they are doing it. The O-line finished well last year, and returned all everyone who saw significant playing time, so we (myself included) assumed that this year the OL would continue to be a strength. Perhaps we overlooked just how drastically different our offense would be. Not only did we run the ball on 50% of our plays, we actually did so from a variety of formations (i.e. not out of the spread). We tend to think of the lineman's job as simple: block the other guy. In reality, different types of plays can draw a variety of assignments. In the spread, the of linemen line's role is simplified: keep the pass rush from getting to the quarterback (for the most part). This group of linement became good at what they had been expected to do since the moment they got to Lawrence: protect the quarterback within the spread system. It may simply take time for them to become good at what they're now expected to do. In the mean time, I do expect to see us using the shotgun quite a bit more next week.

2. Special teams STILL has serious problems. They're just new problems. For the past two years, the kick return game has been atrocious, and KU has consistently lost the field position battle. Last night, DJ Beshears torched NDSU's kick coverage on both his returns, and Daymond Patterson showed he is still adept at evading would-be tacklers when returning punts. Undercutting their success, however, were a number of small issues with other facets of special teams. You know, small issues like making field goals and getting all eleven men on the field. Branstetter continues to be an enigma at kicker. An erratic, frustrating enigma. The senior who kicked one in from 58 yards last year missed on attempts of 43 and 52. The punting game suffered as well, as Alonso Rojas fielded questionable snaps and felt heavy pressure throughout the evening. One punt was blocked and another terribly rushed, in addition to a near miss that ended up benefiting the Jayhawks by way of a roughing the kicker penalty. We're breaking in a new long-snapper, so I do look for this facet of the game to improve, but it still merits watching. All things considered our performance on special teams would have to be considered subpar, despite Beshears' electrifying returns. The field goals alone would have won the game, to say nothing of our continued struggles in the field position game.

3. The coaching was disorganized. Do NOT confuse this with "fire Turner Gill." I've heard far too much of that sentiment already, and it's inane, unproductive, and honestly, downright stupid. We are one game into the man's tenure, and I know I wouldn't want my productvity judged solely upon my first day of work. That being said, there were far too many cases of poor communication and failed execution last night. The mistakes we saw would be inexcusable for a high school team. A few examples of said mistakes: a delay of game penalty immediately following a media timeout, burning all three second half timeouts early in the fourth quarter, Kale Pick routinely screaming to the sideline for the next play, offensive substitutions with ten seconds left on the playclock, and having only 10 men on the field during at least one punt return. Some would argue that pulling Kale Pick due to poor performance in his first game as a starter belongs on the list as well. While I'm not ready to weigh in the Pick situation yet, the preceeding list are things that need addressed immediately. Pass protection can improve as the season goes along, failure to inform your quarterback of the next play must change now. I fully expect these problems to be fixed in time for next week, but nonetheless, they played a major role in last night's debacle, and should be considered intolerable.

These were not the only problems last night, but they did stand out to me as the three most significant. Just missing the list were: Kale Pick's inexplicable reluctance to run, even when facing ten yards of open field, Tim Biere's bewildering, momentum-killing fumbles and drops, and the defense's inability to stop the ball-carriers' momentum, even when the numbers were in their favor.
I'll post a complete rundown of each unit's performance later. Sadly, a description of last night's meltdowns seemed more important than an in-depth breakdown of the game. Just remember, the season is just beginning, and there is ample time for improvement.

-David P

Armageddon? Or Hiccup?

2010-06-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

The "sky is falling" mentality has been slowly overtaking Jayhawk Nation. It likely started with the unsettling loss to Northern Iowa in the basketball tournament in March. However, it soon gave way to more serious concerns. The ticket scandal, the blackmail scandal, our apparent lack of an athletic conference, and yesterday, Lew Perkins' announcement that he'll be retiring (resigning?) next year.
Obviously, there is a lot on the line here. The worst-case scenario would be the end of Kansas athletics as we know them. Falling to a non-BCS conference would immediately halt the progress that has been made in the football program, and would certainly make KU a less-appealing option for the 5-star basketball recruits typically lining up to play in Lawrence.
Nonetheless, I'm remaining optimistic until given a solid reason to do otherwise. With so little confirmed at this point, it's difficult to truly know what our options are, so much like anyone else who's written on the subject of conference expansion (or implosion, depending on what state you're in), I'll admit this post is speculative in nature.
That being said, it would appear there are several possibilities for how this mess could work out favorably for the 'Hawks. First is that the Pac-10 is not out of the question yet. Chip Brown of orangebloods.com has written that Texas A&M has grown increasingly resentful of the Longhorns of late, and are exploring their options in the SEC. This paired with a speculative report that both UT and A&M are trying to get into the Big 10 leaves a window open for KU to move west (and NOT Mountain West). Since the Pac-10 has already officially added Colorado to their ranks, they need to expand to avoid an odd-numbered membership with an arbitrary, disconnected school well off to the east. With these Texas schools seemingly willing to go elsewhere, the door will at least remain open for the Pac-10 extending an invitation to KU, who has been mentioned along with Utah as a possible second option.
Even if the Pac-10 doesn't pan out, there seems to be the possibility of an interest from the Big East. This is my personal favorite rumor circulating as of right now. The idea would be that the four jilted Big 12 North teams (KU, KSU, ISU, MU) would be added to the Big East to form a "West Division" with existing BEC schools Cincinnati and Louisville (winnable division, no?). It would also have the benefit of adding us to the premiere basketball conference in the country, one with a large ESPN contract and the ability to benefit from the east-coast bias that permeates throughout the national sports media.
I briefly considered throwing out the "Big 12 stays together" possibility, but with Colorado gone and Nebraska's intentions the leave likely coming within the next hour or so, it seems a waste of effort.
These are the options (at least the ones the don't involve October football games with Akron) as I seem them at this point. I'll continue to share my KU-based analysis of expansion news as it develops over the coming days and weeks.

-David P

Brackets

2010-03-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Much ado has been made of the Jayhawks' draw in the Tournament. Despite being the overall 1 seed, KU managed to draw arguably the best 2 seed of the tourney in Ohio State, a tough 3 in Georgetown, and two coaches in Gary Williams (Maryland) and Tom Izzo (Michigan State) who are proven winners in March. This is to say nothing of being placed in a bracket with the only two teams (Tennessee and Oklahoma State) to have knocked off the 'Hawks this year. Still, KU doesn't necessarily have it so bad.
Why? Well out of Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Georgetown and Ohio State, Kansas will be playing no more than one of them. These teams are all located in the bottom half of the Midwest bracket, and Kansas won't have a chance to play any of them until the Elite Eight, at which point only one of them can be standing, likely Georgetown and Ohio State. And upon further inspection, the Hoyas and Buckeyes may not be as tough as they appear. Georgetown, despite a good showing in the Big East Tournament, lost ten games this season, and as such may actually be lucky to have drawn a 3 seed. Ohio State is a notoriously shallow team, with most of their starters averaging over 30 minutes per game. Can a team with that makeup put together a deep run with succumbing to exhaustion?
As for Coaches Izzo and Williams, they will likely be playing each other for a Sweet 16 bid where the winner would face Kansas in St. Louis. So KU's only truly difficult games in the bracket will be in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, where a team would have a reasonable expectation of playing a difficult game anyway. Are there a lot of tough teams in KU's bracket? Sure, but isn't this the tournament designed to crown a National Champion? They're all tough teams. As long as Kansas continue to do what they've done all year - keep winning games - they'll be just fine regardless of seeding and bracket arrangement.

-David P

Follow David on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DavidPKU

Trophy Too Soon?

2010-02-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

After the Jayhawks' Monday night victory over Oklahoma, Sherron Collins triumpantly hoisted a 2010 Big 12 Championship trophy, which was naturally met with roaring applause from the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse. With this win the Jayhawks, undefeated in conference play through thirteen games, clinched a share of the regular season championship, their sixth in as many years. The scene in the Phog was perfect.
After all, what better place and time to show off the new hardware than at Allen Fieldhouse on a Big Monday? Well, Mizzou Arena on March 6th, after the conference season has actually ended, springs to mind. Why is the Big 12 trophy being given out now? While the 'Hawks can finish no worse than a tie for first, no one has won the title outright yet. But my concerns go beyond the premature recognition of a team that will, in all likelihood, have the title to themselves within a week anyway.
We all can agree that Kansas has suffered through some motivational issues this season. Memphis, Cornell, Nebraska and Baylor have all witnessed firsthand some seriously lackluster play from the top-ranked team in the country. Tennessee actually pulled off the upset. After a near miss in Boulder, Bill Self referred to his team's performance as "playing tired." In College Station, he characterized the team's play as "flat" after narrowly escaping Texas A&M.
Bottom line, this team doesn't need any help in taking things for granted. This being the case, the trophy ceremony couldn't have come at a worse time. Saturday, the Jayhawks will take on a tournament-bound Oklahoma State team in Stillwater, where Kansas has still yet to win a game in the Bill Self era. They follow that with a top-ten ranked Kansas State team, and a road trip to Columbia to face Missouri on a court where the Jayhawks' bitter rivals have lost only one game this year.
The awarding of the trophy sends a subliminal message: "Job well done." With arguably the three toughest tests of the season approaching, it feels akin to, say, standing on an aircraft carrier under a "Mission Accomplished " banner with the hardest part of the war still ahead. Not that anyone would ever do that.
The road to 13-0 has not been pretty for the Jayhawks. We still don't know what to expect each night from Xavier Henry. Self doesn't seem to trust anyone outside his first eight players. Sherron Collins' numbers are coming down faster than Tyshawn Taylor's Facebook page. Bill Self may now, more so than at any other time so far this season, have his work cut out for him in maintaining his players' focus.
A perfect 16-0 conference season would bring many benefits, including a guaranteed overall one seed in the Big Dance, and a special place in a storied program's history. Can this Jayhawk squad stay dedicated to the gold, with silver already sitting in their trophy case? Let's hope so. In the meantime, perhaps we can start giving out trophies after the season is over.

-David P

Follow David at http://twitter.com/DavidPKU

Déjà Vu?

2010-02-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Déjà Vu, not many people think of it in terms of a basketball game, but this exactly what took place Wednesday night as the number one ranked Kansas Jayhawks took on the unranked Colorado Buffalos in Boulder.
With the air as thin as a super model on a runway in Paris, the Jayhawks took the floor in as close a game that they had played since, well, their last game. Cole Aldrich did his duty once again with a stellar sixteen points and fourteen rebounds to go along with five blocks for his fourth straight double- double. But even these beautiful numbers were not enough to put away the pesky Buffs.
Down by one with thirty-eight seconds to play, they put the ball in the hand of their warrior Sherron Collins. He cut through the lane and was immediately hacked which then sent him to the line. After knocking down one of two, it sent the game to overtime where Kansas eventually came out victorious winning 72-66.
Now, I am just as happy with a win like the next person, but this game wouldn’t have even needed to have heroics by the beast from Chi town if it were not for one simple reason; free throws. Kansas was 14-38 from the charity stripe shooting a dismal forty seven percent from the line. If the Jayhawks would have hit their usual seventy two percent, they would have had the potential of winning by eight at the least. I think Sherron put it best at the end of the game. “Tomorrow I guarantee that we will be shooting 150 free throws. “ Well said Sherron. And thank your lucky stars that we are not playing Texas in Boulder or we would be in deep trouble.
Again, another great game that comes down to the wire. Kansas knows how to make great drama. And I am sure that, along with the millions of other Jayhawks out there, they would take a nail biter from Kansas with the opportunity to Rock Chalk then another tired plot line from CSI.

Jayhawk Pride

2010-02-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

A sea of purple filled the stands at the octagon of doom as the number one ranked Kansas Jayhawks took the floor against the number thirteen ranked Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan over the weekend. This game had such astronomical amounts of hype going in, giving ESPN’s College Game Day program its biggest sellout of all time. This was the biggest game of the year for Frank Martin and his Wildcats, as was it for Bill Self and company because if Kansas State lost they would lose virtually all control of competing for the Big 12 crown and, if Kansas were to suffer defeat, it would mean losing an attempt to regain the coveted number one ranking. But it was more than all of this that was on the line. It was Kansas and Kansas State. The Sunflower Showdown. A very storied rivalry in which bragging rights were on the line and a game in which point guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich were not going to let slip away to the opposition.

Aldrich started out the game strong and finished even stronger with a team high eighteen points. But even with his impressive two halves of action, it was not enough to hold off the wildcats who forced overtime. It was in the extra time where the theatrics took place. You could not put together a better plot even if you were in Hollywood.

Picture this. With three minutes left in overtime, Collins, the esteemed senior leader of Kansas, goes down with back and leg problems. Watching from the bench and seeing his team in need after a turnover by Tyshawn Taylor that led to him picking up a foul to stop Sutton from scoring, he asked Coach Self to put him in. Then, during a timeout called by K-State coach Frank Martin, Collins demanded the ball be put in his hands with sixteen seconds left down by one. And then it happened. It was set up perfectly; an isolation play where he drove in got bumped and put up a shot so beautiful it belonged in an art museum. The shot went in and with the addition of a free throw; Kansas pulled away victorious, 81-79.

It is little moments like these that make you proud to be a Jayhawk fan. Not only was this game great basketball, it was great entertainment, great theatre. And what more could we ask for then from the senior artist himself, Sherron Collins?