I'm most excited to see Udoka back on the floor. He looked so good last season. He should absolutely dominate the paint this year, starting in Italy. RCJH
stoptheflop
3267 posts
@JhwkSqdn Our QBs had enough time to throw downfield last year; they just weren't good enough at locating an open receiver and our offensive play calling too often called for short passes to the sidelines, rather than downfield. I really hope Meacham's offense includes many 10-15 yard passes. I was disappointed that Meacham's play calling during the spring game didn't include more mid-range passes. But, maybe the passes were called, but the defense covered well. It's the Air Raid Offense, right? Throw the damn ball. RCJHF
@kjayhawks Of course it's too early to know, but the great thing about this time of year is that anything is possible. Coach Beaty and his terrific staff have improved the team's talent level at every position, there is a genuine atmosphere of optimism and every player is working on getting better this summer. Our 2017 success will depend on four factors, QB play, QB play, offensive line and the kicking game. If we see improvement in these areas, we are going to make some noise in 2017. RCJHF
@jayballer54 Thanks for the update. Great news. Another big body on the offensive line will be very helpful. I'm still getting that vibe that good things are going to happen this year, not three years from now. RCJHF
Our 2017 kicking game may be just as important to our W/L success as our QB play. In 2016, we would have won a couple more games with a few more made field goals and better punting. But, I don't see who is going to replace last year's kicker, Matthew Wyman. He was 13/19 on FGs and very steady on kickoffs. The field goal attempts and punting during the spring game were unimpressive, dismal really. But all kicks into the strong south wind were bound to be affected.
Enter freshman Liam Jones from Oklahoma. I couldn't find complete stats, but he did everything in high school. MaxPreps shows he had 49 TBs on 64 kickoffs. His yards/punt were unimpressive at 33 yards. PATs were 39/43. I couldn't locate FG information, in my very brief search for stats.
Just imagine how a Bruce Kallmeyer ('80-'83) level kicker would greatly help our program turn the corner. Maybe Jones will get there is a couple of years, but I'm worried our 2017 kicking game will be a liability again this year, maybe even worse than in 2016.
Yea. Jayhawk football is on the rise. RCJHF
There's nothing wrong with a high school senior dreaming about being so special to a college that a building gets named after him or her. It's a cool dream really. I wish I wasn't so grounded in reality that I could dream like that. I don't ever laugh or ridicule the dreams of young people. I hope their dreams come true.
@Texas-Hawk-10 I thought Bender showed the most poise and he played against most of the players expected to start on defense. He had our best receivers too. I'll have to watch the replay to see how the lines fared against each other. The sacks are overstated since all it took was a touch on the QB. I didn't see some of the touches, but, the refs were much closer, so I accept their calls. The point was to keep players healthy, so I'm glad the touches were closely called. I was surprised by all the running plays called on third downs. I really wanted to see our QB's complete some third down passes. Our starting QB must be able to extend drives this year.
Ben Johnson certainly got plenty of looks during the spring game. Coach Meacham is going to get our offense going.
The defense has all the athletes it needs to keep us in games. I love the toughness that Water Moccasin Mike Lee and others are bringing to the defense. Having our NFL players give further encouragement to our defensive players is a huge plus. The defensive backs looked great against our talented receivers. We are going to be fine on defense.
Coach Meacham was everywhere during the spring game. Boy, does he have his work cut out for him. Bender showed the most composure; Stanley and Starks were both so confused at times to the point they couldn't make plays. Hopefully, that was because our defense covered well and rushed well.
What do we need to do to bring Aquib Talib back to the Jayhawk family? I know he's struggled off the field throughout his great NFL career, but whether he admits it or not, his career started at KU. Let's bring him back-whatever it takes. I'm sure Chris Harris knows what's going on with Aquib.
I really like the athletic department's focus on our NFL alumni. I sure wish we had more than a couple thousand fans at the game to show our appreciation for these warriors. Maybe, just maybe it helps everyone overlook our poor win/loss record. RCJH Football.
Many thanks to Crimson for the stats. Those are very helpful and show just how many receivers we have who will make plays for us this year. The no contact rule on the QB's makes sense, but I sure thought the refs saw some phantom touches and stopped plays too early.
I was rooting for the offense on every play and probably overlooked the defensive efforts throughout the game. We must improve on offense to become competitive. I was especially focused on the third down plays. Sadly, I didn't see any improvement there. On defense, the only mistake I saw was the receiver getting 5 yards behind the defense on Starks's TD pass. Otherwise, all the receivers were well covered and pass completions were hard to come by.
Finally, if the offensive stats are underwhelming to you keep in mind the game was very short due to the running clock. The game was over in less than 2 hours and the teams took a normal amount of time for half time. Kansas football in April is great. Now, I'm looking forward to Kansas basketball in August. RCJH
The spring football game was fun, windy but still fun. It was very difficult/nearly impossible to throw the ball going into the south wind. Some of Stanley's short passes were due to the wind.
My first impression is that Bender will start. I expected more offense and more scoring, but maybe it's true that it's difficult to score on your own defense. Second, we ran way more times than I thought an air attack allowed. Our offensive line has plenty of work to do, but maybe being split up caused some of their blocking problems. Next year, it makes better sense for the lines to be drafted as units rather than as individuals. Mike Lee is special, but hey Mike, it's a spring game and the receivers are your teammates.
Our receivers are a special group. It's going to be very competitive for players to get snaps. I really expected more passing in this game and way fewer rushes. Starks sure has an arm. But, he looked lost on a number of plays. So did Stanley.
The attendance was minimal, but those around me were very knowledgeable about our players. Only about 200 students were on the east side. The west side had a couple of thousand, maybe. The athletic department needs to make the spring game a party: give stuff away, etc. Why not offer some free tickets for the upcoming games. Make it fun and the fans will come. I hope the players don't feel let down by the poor attendance. 2018 verbal comit, Clayton Tune's parents sat near me. He's a QB from Texas. All-in-all a fun afternoon.
@Crimsonorblue22 I've already got it set to record. My wife and I have decided to forgo a couple of Easter events and go to the game. Jeez, I wish the weather was better.
I like Coach Beaty's idea of the player draft. Peyton Bender on team Jayhawks sure seems to be paired with our best receivers, Sims, Gonzalez and Charlot. But, Bender will face our better defenders. Ninety percent of my focus today will be on the quarterback play. We have the athletes. We have all the components we need to win. We just need a steady, consistent QB, who doesn't commit TO's that lead to easy points for our opponent. This is going to be really fun to watch. RCJH
Great highlights. Thanks for the video. How soon after Billy graduates will we know if he qualifies academically? I'd hate to see his eligibility drag out like it did with Diallo. I'd like to think our program is already working on the necessary background information.
Hey Costa, welcome to the site. I look forward to seeing more posts from you. RCJH
I appreciate all that you do, Approxinfinity. I understand other posters' frustration with the way the site looks on different formats. We'll figure it out. Keep those posts coming, especially about Kansas football.
I'm glad DeVonte is returning for his senior year. His experience will be invaluable. I'm still mystified by his disappearance against Oregon. His offensive absence reminds me of Selden's goose egg during the Wichita State game. DeVonte's 26 against Purdue and 3 against Oregon is exactly the difference between success and failure in the tournament.
The April 15 spring game should tell us a lot about which QB has the upper hand. If it doesn't rain, the weather should be great for a little spring football. RCJH
@Texas-Hawk-10 I'm hopeful for a breakout season, but it will depend on the quarterback. I'm looking forward to seeing the team next Saturday.
@Kcmatt7 I agree 1000%. I hope Coach Meacham opens up the offense; if I never see that stupid side lines pass to a covered receiver again I will be one happy KU football fan.
Now that we have a little bit of a QB discussion going, how much will this year's QB play contribute to the success of the upcoming season? Many blame the offensive line or play calling for last year's offensive woes, but 90% or more of the problem was with the QB taking the snap. I watched every play last year. I thought the O line gave our QBs enough time. It was Cozart and Willis who couldn't make enough consecutive plays to keep a drive going. To often the QB was responsible for a TO at a critical time. My main complaint with the O line last year was that they couldn't open holes or hold blocks for the running plays.
I'm very encouraged by the direction of the program, but still worried that we don't seem to have a starting QB on the roster. Carter and Bender are neck and neck. That doesn't sound like we have the QB we need to leap forward on offense.
It's interesting and problematic that once again none of our QB's are separating themselves in practice. Thank goodness it's early and someone may still step forward. Last year's struggle to find the right QB was the reason we lost ten games; not the only reason, but the main one. I was surprised when the order was Cozart, Willis, Stanley at the beginning of last season, but we never knew the extent of Willis's recovery from his hand injury. My biggest disappointment last year was Coach Beaty's inability to designate a starter. How is it that last year's third stringer was the answer all along?
Enter Doug Meacham. Thank goodness. I hope we have a real starting QB this year who gets the job done. It appears it's neck and neck between Stanley and Bender. I'm excited to witness the QB play during the spring game. It's going to take better than average QB play to be successful in 2017. A successful year for me will be 4-5 wins.
Side Note: I watched the KU Sports video that showed some of the offensive reps. It took me a while to recognize Coach Meacham. He is absolutely skinny. How in the heck did he play on the offensive line for OState? His build now is more like a former wide receiver. It's interesting that he reformed himself during his playing years to help out OState on the offensive line.
The Big 12 certainly wasn't guarding KU during the Oregon game and forcing us to shoot 35% from the field. Come on now: if a team shoots 35%, 21/60 and 20%,, 5/25 from 3, it just isn't going to win an Elite Eight game. Oregon shot 51% from the field on 29/57 and 44% from 3, 11/25. Let's acknowledge our guys had a poor shooting night and just move on. This is what happens in a one and done tournament. I didn't even think our poor shooting was attributable to good defense. It just wasn't our night. I do think Josh's early fouls contributed to our lack of offensive rhythm. Oregon played well; Ku didn't.
And oh yea, I like the streak.
I don't know who thought it was a good ideal to schedule the spring game for Easter weekend. But, I'm going to attend just to be at the start of our breakout season. RCJH
Graham and Jackson are both 0/1. We need to get them into the offense
Frank's 12 pts and Vick's 7 is why we are in this
@brooksmd Stay with us. There's no such thing as a bad post.
Now that spring break is almost over, the squad will get back to spring practice. Finally, we will get some news from the Lawrence Journal World about spring ball. I really enjoyed the first reports by Benton Smith and Tom Keegan. I'm keeping Saturday, April 15 open for a trip to Lawrence.
As I was looking at the matchups with Oregon, I find that my analysis has shifted and I can't help it. How are the Ducks going to stop the Jayhawk Juggernaut? How do you stop Mason, Graham, Jackson, and now Vick and Svi? Whatcha got, Ducks? This special team is playing with more energy and athleticism than any other Jayhawk team. And Oh Yea, they are having a blast. The fun they are having leads to more positive plays. How about that goofy play at the end of the first half where we got a runout dunk with an assist from the ref. Fun, Fun, Fun. RCJH
Josh's line completely understates and totally misrepresents his contribution to the huge Sweet Sixteen Victory. 36 minutes, 15points. Yawn. 6/13, 2/5(3), 1/3 FTs, 12 RBs, 4 STL and 1 BLK.
Josh was everywhere, guarding everybody and completely disrupted and destroyed the Lukewarmmakers on offense. Frank and Devonte were great, but Josh was equally great. Josh's frenetic defense created way more turnovers than the official scorer credited. I credit Josh with throwing the Purdue bigs off their games. Josh's help defense was smothering. Bring on the Ducks.
@DanR The foul wasn't really shown. All I saw was Swanigan fall.
tough offensive line for Lucas 0/0 and 2 rbs, but his defense is helping
@globaljaybird Swanigan has 6
So far, it seems the other teams are playing tight. I hope we play loose.
Lutz was just looking for an edge to his Frank Mason story that appears in Thursday's Wichita Eagle paper. It's sad to bring up a single high school grade for a young man who has been an outstanding college student. The point of the story is Frank's path to KU, which is old and tired by now. Lutz is a poor journalist who is thankfully close to retirement and obscurity.
I know the stress of coaching D1 basketball is immense on college coaches. I'm also sure the stress and anxiety falls on the coach's entire family. I will always take that pressure into consideration before I criticize or ridicule a coach's wife. I think she's suffered enough.
@brooksmd Many thanks Brooks. That was just as fun as the first time I say it. RCJH
@chriz CBS showed a replay of when Bridges pulled the muscle in his side while rebounding or blocking. It didn't have anything to do with Mason. Bridges had a couple of cheap shots during the game. CBS showed the intentional shoulder bump with Josh too.
So far, Baylor is looking good against USC.
Someone please post Josh's down the lane dunk. That's my favorite highlight from this victory. Man's game.
@Crimsonorblue22 It looked to me like to stretched so hard going up he pulled muscles in his side.
@Crimsonorblue22 They showed Bridges going up for a rebound or block and he strained his side. He was gripping it when he came down. It wasn't Mason at all.
Our line is fantastic: 53% shooting; 40% from trey and 93.3 % FTs. RCJH
What's the chance Coleby just became the first big off the bench. He's earned it. Bragg has earned the demotion. RCJH
4/15 from 3 for us. 27%
Fouls: Lucas 2, Jackson 2 and Bragg 3
Bragg has an ugly line 0/1 shooting, 1 foul, 0 points 0 rbs.
MState shot 5/12 from 3, 42%