Nigel King’s fantastic 78 year TD catch in the TCU game is one of four finalists for the CFB Play of the Year. You can vote on Twitter for him. So tweet your vote: #PlayOfTheYear Kansas
http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/93790/time-to-vote-for-the-cfb-play-of-the-year
Here is a youtube of the play:
Rock Chalk!
Seems to me that beating a zone defense will be the answer. 
This thread is for any Jayhawk fan that hasn’t been to a game in a long time for whatever reason. Last weekend, 33 years after I packed up my drumset after beating OSU to finish the Big 8 season in 1981, I was back in Allen Fieldhouse for the game against Texas. Just walking in and seeing the hallways (minus the track) started rushing many memories back. All the time spent trying to register. And mostly all the great games we had. The great crowds. Hardly lost at home.
Saturday was amazing to see the crowds, old and new traditions. Being there brought such a huge comfort level. I couldn’t stop smiling.
Then to see the players up close and personal in shoot around and warm ups. Wigs chatting to Conner. Embiid juggling the basketball 3 times with his feet before popping it up to his hands. Naa and Frank working on cuts with the ball. White, Greene, Frank, Naa and Conner shooting 3’s. Black, Jamari, Perry, Landon and even Mikelson in bigs drills with Coach Roberts who was smiling the whole time. I almost had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.
Then we went on to pound the runner up in the conference Texas by 31 points. Awesome plays by most of the guys. To be there live is so much better than watching it on TV. Hearing the band during timeouts and how the fans still respond to it is amazing after all these years. And being a part of the crowd through it all. Losing my voice.
And I got to do it again on Monday against Oklahoma. Sat in the student GA section to be closer to the band. Whooshing with the best of them. Had to learn the moves though. Much tougher game for us and we pulled through. Lost my voice again.
IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TO A GAME IN A LONG TIME, YOU NEED TO FIND A WAY TO GET BACK AND WITNESS THE MAGIC. IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN ALLEN FIELDHOUSE AND KANSAS BASKETBALL! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!
How about:
Having 5 different sets of jerseys, pants and helmets but no cleats for an icy and hard field??
Dumbing down the playbook to the simplest plays and becoming highly predictable.
Having a coach state all week that only wind affects the play in regards to weather and getting burned by the weather? Agree that I can’t believe he makes 2.5M.
The sun was in my eyes (Cozart running out of bounds with a first down one yard away), there was a hole in my gloves (pick any receiver here)…
Tired of seeing little to no heads up play by these so called “coached” players.
One other thing - did anyone else read the LJW article about Gavin Howard tutoring other players (props) and having Sterling state he helps him understand things better on the field. Isn’t that what the O-line coach is supposed to do?
Totally frustrated by this game.
I agree with Kip’s point but we should also remember that unlike Collins, Mason was not a point guard previously. Was a good column in letting the masses know he needs time to develop. But as many recognize here we really don’t have the time with Tharpe playing below his level. And I would add that overall intensity on this team is lacking at this time. We’ve seen it in spurts from individuals. Can’t wait to see it from the whole team at the same time. All in good time. We knew this was going to be a work in progress this year. Work hard, work smart and hang tough Jayhawks!
I have to say that I completely agreed with the original piece from Keegan when he said we needed an OC for the team. And I completely agree with what he has to say about Weis. Love the line that says while not arrogant he is a Jersey wise donkey. Cracked me up.
This move definitely gives me hope for more wins next season.
I have no problem with not scheduling the Shockers as it can only hurt us. No benefit for KU to play them.
Something we might want to consider is the history of the UK Louisville rivalry. I don’t know it well but it seems it might be a similar situation. Seems Denny Crum built one helluva program before UK was willing to play them. So it begs the question of whether the Louisville program seriously benefitted from the UK series? Or did the UK series help build the Louisville program? Anybody want to chime in on this?
I agree but the main reason we have looked better in the past two games is having a QB that doesn’t play like a deer in the headlights. He doesn’t look down after we lose possession. He takes the hits and bounces back up. He goes through his reads. We have some semblance of a longer passing game now which stretches the field and keeps the defenses honest. The only thing I didn’t like seeing was him throwing the ball into double coverage in the middle of the field on deep plays but that seems to be his confidence in King going up to get the ball. Keeping more possession time helps our defense from getting exhausted from being on the field most of the day. It’s all good. I love seeing our guys being competitive again. Just hope we don’t get too banged up against Baylor so that we have a solid shot at taking down ISU. Will be a true test as ISU doesn’t quit. We will have to play very well and show that same type of dogged determination to the final whistle. A little luck wouldn’t hurt us either.
Great win by a young team. Seems the non-con scheduling is already paying dividends. Embiid is now a marked man. So is Perry. Jamari seemed to be out of it in the first half. Also didn’t like Hogue literally pulling Perry over on a wrestling arm bar move late in the second. Ref’s needed to call him on that intentional foul. Good to see the plan coming together. Another big game this Saturday. RCJH!
A smart move. A up and coming OC that wants to be back in Lawrence with his kids. Only bad news is that he can’t start recruiting for a while. Very happy to hear this. Great news!
We can add Darnell Valentine to the list of freshman point guards starting at KU. He was awesome.
I will watch the BCS bowls. Some really good games this year. Was disappointed that both OSU’s lost to tiggers. OU beating Bama is an instant classic. Big 12 is doing better than expected from my seat. Only highly favored Baylor was a real let down. One more to go.
Just read the article and while valid, I thought that it didn’t address one particular point which is his style of play. Perry Ellis is much more of a finesse player than a banger down low. Many times last year he would disappear for stretches against tough teams that challenged his layups and put backs. I thought I saw more of that type of play against Florida. Not only do we need him to be more aggressive attacking but we need him attacking the basket with strength whether in shooting or rebounding.
Off topic - something else I have noticed this year is that our bigs don’t seem to be as sure handed in grabbing rebounds. Many times we are not in position to get them but even when we are, we seem to bobble the ball instead of locking it down which gives our opponents an open door to contest it further. I have seen this with Black, Ellis, Traylor and Embiid. Hope it is something they are working on.
And if anybody watched it, I would really like to see us utilize Pierson the way that Clemson used Sammy Watkins. He was all over the field running out of the backfield and catching balls. Don’t believe the stats from the game though, half of his official catches were 2 foot catches with a 10+ yard run. They really found great ways to get him the ball. Hopefully Reagan can do the same with Pierson.
Glad to see the boys play some positive ball and get rewarded. We still have two tough non-cons coming up. In the meantime they can’t forget the lessons learned against the zone. Saw some great, quick ball movement tonight. Keep working hard guys! Rock Chalk!
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/jan/16/jayhawks-land-commitment-2014-defensive-end-daniel/
Welcome to the squad Daniel Wise! Looking forward to you hitting the field at KU! Rock Chalk!
Happy to see another commit to KU! We should be hearing about many more in the next couple of weeks. Hope this is a class we talk about for years to come.
Great read and analysis Jesse. Isn’t that what busting a zone about? Getting 3 on 2 in an area for a free shot. Love it. The boys are learning unlike Hinson’s kids.
Two more defensive line good gets for the program. Good to see us picking up solid HS talent. Keep it up and then coach them up CW!
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/jan/23/three-star-defensive-lineman-dj-williams-commits-k/
My first game back in the Fieldhouse after 32 years = AWESOME!
A 31 point beat down of the second place team in the conference = IMPOSING
A 3 game conference lead looking for our 10th straight championship = EPIC
Don’t want to forget there is one Jayhawk that will not be able to sign with us. Wonderful story of a great guy.
http://www.kansascity.com/2014/02/04/4797973/andre-maloneys-memory-will-be.html
Here is the LJW article on how the recruits are remembering him.
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/feb/04/ku-football-recruiting-class-35playfordre/
Gone but not forgotten.
Just wanted to share this great article about our bruising middle linebacker with the rest of the folks interested in KU football. Enjoy!
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article1275834.html
So good to see the team be able to celebrate a conference win. I would say this was a must have for Clint Bowen (who I like) to stay in consideration for the HC position. However, I wouldn’t just hand him the keys to the office yet. We still have 3 more games and we need to keep showing improvement in all areas on the field. We can’t get blown out of the next 3 games either. One maybe, but all three, no.
The scary thing I noticed in this game was not hearing Ben Heeney’s name much. Not sure what it was but if it was Mangino finding a way to negate his play or our depleted D line not being able to platoon that’s a problem for me. Michael Reynolds was a beast out there today. Keegan had Victor Simmons first in his player ratings and Reynolds tenth. If I remember correctly wasn’t it Reynolds that flushed the ISU QB directly into Simmons on one of his sacks? I think Reynolds should have been 2nd or 3rd in the ratings.
Overall, it is great to have a “feel good” day for KU football. They come too far between! Rock Chalk!