It's Here

Ah, the smell of grills firing-up on the hill, the sound of excitement in the air and the buzz around Memorial Stadium is finally here. It is time for all of the anticipation to finally end and the product on the party on the field to begin. Good luck to all our Hawk players and may they play safe this year. Time for me to head into the stadium and begin another fun season of JAYHAWK FOOTBALL

Jayhawk Players Making Preseason Watch List

A number of Jayhawk standouts are showing up on the preseason watch lists for varius football awards. Todd Reesing, Jake Sharp, Darrell Stuckey, Kerry Meier, and Dezmon Briscoe have made the rounds of various watch list's that have recently been named.

Todd Reesing is one of the 33 college quarterbacks named to the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback watch list. The award is given annually to the nation's top quarterback.

Running back Jake Sharp has been selected as one of 45 preseason candidates for the 2009 Doak Walker Award, given each year to the nation's top running back.

Senior safety Darrell Stuckey was selected as one of 31 players on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list. The nation's top defensive back is the recipient of this award.

Receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier were among the 37 players named this week to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation's top receiver. They are the only teammates named to this list.

The 2009 Kansas Jayhawks open their season Sept. 5 @ home against Northern Colorado. Kickoff is at 6:00 PM and Fox College Sports will be televising the game

KU preseason #26 in USA Today Coaches Poll

Mangino's Jayhawks begin the 2009 campaign ranked #26 in the USA Today Coaches Poll which was released earlier today (Aug. 7). The Hawks just missed the top 25 by less than 30 votes. I myself, am not a big proponent of preseason polls and would rather they wait till after week four for the first polls to be released. Having said that, it does allow you to pimp your team and begin to speculate if you were dissed or not as the season begins to shine upon us.

The top five as voted by the coaches came as no suprise: Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Alabama. Oklahoma State #11 & Nebraska #22 round out the rest of the Big 12 teams that were deemed tough enough to make the Top 25.

USC is getting a lot of love, but d0 face some huge losses to the NFL. Coach Pete Carroll has proven over the last 7-8 years that the Trojans just continue to reload and replace stars with second teamers. They do have a big hole to fill at QB and they do play three teams ranked in the TOP 23 all on the road in the first half of the season.

One suprise to me is the #14 ranking of the Oregon Ducks. The team with more uniform combinations than sandwich combinations at your local Subway returns only 9 total starters and are under the direction of new coach Chip Kelley.

It all kicks off in 27 days when the Oregon Ducks travels to Boise St. on Thursday night September 3rd for what should be the kickoff of an exciting weekend in college football. Other key games that opening weekend include: Virginia Tech @ Alabama(in Atlanta), Georgia @ Oklahoma State, BYU @ Oklahoma(in Dallas), and Miami @ Florida State.

I'm Back

Hello,
Yes I am BACK!!! I have been gone a while as nobody ever told me that I would no longer have vast amounts of free time with the arrival of our new son. Ok, everyone told me, but I thought I could still manage to do everything as normal as I had in the past. Last year was an exciting year for the Hawks and all their fans. While I didn't cover it here as I would have liked, I did witness the excitement and follow all things KU from that first kick-off of the year to the last heartfelt defeat by Michigan State. I look forward to once again covering the Hawks and will have a season preview of Mangino and his boys posted shortly

KU - Louisiana Tech Afterthoughts

Even with the chill & drizzle coming down, it was a great crowd for last saturday's Louisiana Tech game with an announced attendance of 48,621. The Hawks received the opening kickoff & took the ball right down the field, but had to settle for a Jacob Branstetter field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. Branstetter, an Air Force transfer, was declared eligible by the NCAA late last week & saw his first action of the season. Branstetter finished the night hitting all three of his field goal attempts. He did miss on an extra point, but Mangino stated in his press conference yesterday that it was due to a dropped hold. He also remarked that he hadn't decided if Branstetter or Grady Fowler would handle the place kicking duties this friday against South Florida.

Todd Reesing continues his steady play. He is staying in the pocket more & giving all of his receivers a look before tucking the ball & making plays on his own. He ended the first half by completing 19 of 24 pass attempts for 215 yards. He only misfired one time during the second half and ended the night by connecting on 32 of 38 attempts for 412 yards along with 3 td's.

The running game continues to need improvement. Anqus Quigley led the attack with 84 yards on 15 carries. He did remind me of Brandon McAnderson at times the way would be tacklers seem to bounce off his legs. He is methodical in his running style and just seems to chug along once he breaks thru the line. Jocques Crawford is seems to be coming along slower than anticipated and all signs point to Quigley getting the bulk of the carries against South Florida.

I am going to call the Jayhawk receiving corp one of the best in the Big 12. They have a great mix of athletes who can do numerous things which help to compliment the passing game. Daymond Patterson started for the injured Dexton Fields and continued to turn heads with his 2 touchdown 130 yard performance. He makes people miss & has another gear to get by would be tacklers. Dezmond Briscoe took a short pass across the middle from Reesing in the third quarter & broke numerous tackles as he rumbled into the endzone for a 48 yard TD reception. Kerry Meier continues to be a possession type receiver who always keeps the chains moving.

Clint Bowen's defensive squad continues to shine as they have yet to have a TD scored upon them this season. They withstood a 22 play, 82 yard drive in the first-half to keep Louisiana Tech off the board. Darrell Stucky ran down a would be touchdown in the 3rd quarter after the speedster from Tech had sprinted for a 78 yard gain to the KU 2-yard line. Three playes later & a missed field-goal attempt helped preserve the Hawk shutout.

The Hawks go on the road to face a South Florida team that held on to beat in-state rival Central Florida. Friday's nationally telivised game will begin at 7:00 on ESPN2 & I am getting word that the athletic department is very pleased with the number of Hawk fans who will be making the trip to Tampa Bay for the game.

Smoking Tree in New York

I was going to take this time to discuss the Hawks holiday weekend trip to Canada. I have spoken with a few people who traveled and witnessed the games & had received some emails from others regarding what they saw from the Coach Self's young squad. With that said, I guess I should discuss just what the hell went down in New York regarding "KU Hero" Mario Chalmers & Darrell Arthur.

What were these two knuckleheads possibly thinking when they decided to enjoy some weed & women while in New York on official NBA business? How many people attend an AA meeting with a beer in their hand, or a Sex Anonymous meeting with a Playboy tucked underneath their arm. Way to go guys, you just labeled yourself as a pothead before you even broke a sweat in the NBA.

I have heard the excuse today that marijuana isn't that bad and should be legalized, thus they really didn't do anything wrong. That's not the point..........It is an illegal substance and one that can cost a person their career, not matter how much money they make. I am no angel, and don't hold myself up high and cast stone's on others, but make your money, enjoy your career, and when you are done......smoke all the grass you want.

Since the end of KU's magical run thru the NCAA tournament we as fans have not had much to cheer about. Darrell Arthur's high school eligibility comes into question, Sherron Collins cannot show-up to court, and Markieff Morris is firing off BB's out his dorm window. I also question how the twins are bringing in over sized flat screen t.v's & lavish furnishings at the awe of other students in Jayhawker Towers.

We all thank Coach Self and the rest of the squad for all they do and the Championship they brought home, but let's not allow our athletic programs to run amuck. Aqib Talib failed numerous drug tests while at KU & you can't possibly believe that Tuesday night was the first time Chalmers & Arthur experienced pot.

Jayhawks - FIU Afterthoughts

I took a few things away from the game against FIU this past weekend and hopefully we can build on the game as I believe we have a tough Louisiana Tech squad heading into town this saturday. We need to be able to rush for more than the 128 yards we grinded out on saturday. Coach Mangino stated in his press conference today that FIU was stacking the box and daring us to throw the ball. That may be correct, but with the big uglies up front we should still be able to run better than we did.

With that said, our O-line play needs to improve. The pocket was collapsing around Reesing all night forcing him outside where he kept encounterinig the defensive ends. This was the first live action for these guys and I look forward for much improvement as they break-down game tape and correct mistakes.

We have a great group of receivers in Kerry Meier, Dexton Fields, Dezmon Briscoe, & Jonathan Wilson. Meier is always steady & Briscoe can catch anything thrown his way. I believe you all will come to love Wilson as he was voted the player that will suprise the most by the rest of the team coming into fall camp. No word out of Lawrence yet pertaining to the injury Fields sustained.

Daymond Patterson is the answer to our punt return problems. He racked-up 135 yards on 4 returns including 75 yard touchdown dash down the sideline that included hurdling a would-be tackler. Take away his TD return and he still averaged 20 yards per return.

Enjoy the win KU fans as Louisiana Tech rolls into town this Saturday fresh off a 22-14 home vistory against Mississippi St. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. central time & will be broadcast on FSN. Former KU great & NFL Hall of Famer Mike McCormack will be inducted into the Kansas Ring of Honor.

Stone's Thoughts On The Hawks

Heading into this weekend's opening game has caused me to reflect on what I was thinking this time last year. My main worry was would our defense keep doing enought to keep us in the games each week. Over the course of the past few years our defense was the lone bright spot. Every week they played their heart out and . Nick Reid, Banks Floodman, & Gabe Toomey began the run of outstanding linebacker tandems that continues today. The Hawks' were in most games until the defense began to wear down in the second-half due to the inability of the offense to move the ball. Our defense was there, now we just needed an offense to materialize.

Hello Todd Reesing..........He gave us stability at quarterback that we haven't had since the days of Bill Wittemore (and that can even be questioned). We managed to go a whole year with one guy leading the team down field. Coach Mangino & Kerry Meier get a lot of credit for making this happen. Coach Mangino for having the stones to go to a guy her recruited to be his QB and lead the squad, and asking him to take one for the team and step aside. Kerry Meier for not letting his ego get in the way and learning to help the team in other ways. We have found our team!!!!

Getting back to the upcoming season and I have a level of excitement that I haven't had in quite a while regarding KU football. While excited, I am also a realist and realize that this is all new to us and the team. I believe the team will go into this season playing with a chip on their shoulder and continue using that for motivation throughtout the year. As far as Hawk fans we need to set our sights high, but not unobatinable.

I see the South Florida game as key to our season. If we can go into their backyard and grab a win, then I think our confidence will explode. If not, then the doubt pertaining to our schedule will begin to creep into our minds and the pundents will come out of the woodwork to say, "I told you so." This game is the key to our season.

We also need a win against on of the so-called Big Three from the south division (OU, Texas Tech, or Texas). I hope I am wrong, but I do not see us getting a win in Norman, so that leaves the other two. Can Mangino's squad rebound off a loss to OU and be ready to face the high octane offense of the Red Raiders in Lawrence the following weekend?? I believe we can and predict this game to be a tight one which the Hawks pull-out.

Win's against K-State at home & Nebraska on the road (yes, we will end the streak in Lincoln) sets-up a big game against Texas back in Lawrence. Colt McCoy has to improve a lot for me to think that this kid can lead the Longhorn's. I just cannot buy into the Texas-sized hype when it comes to this kid. He makes way to many mistakes for me and I think the Jayhawk's get it done this time.

That sends us into Arrowhead to face the Tigers and let's face it, we picked a bad time last season to play our worst game of the season. The Tigers will be an even better team this year. They now have a great defense to go with the arm of Chase Daniels. If they come in undefeated then all the expectations and pressure will be on their shoulder's. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain and our maturity & experience this season will get the job done.

That sends us to the Big 12 Title Game, but our season hinges on the outcome of the South Florida game. Get a victory in Florida and we are on our way. Lose that game and it becomes a matter of us getting our confidence back and getting on a roll. Good Luck to Coach Mangino & the 2008 Kansas Jayhawk's