Harper shines in debut

? By Kendrick Harper’s count, it was the third play of his Division-I football career.

And, man, was it a big one.

Harper intercepted a pass from Kansas State’s Josh Freeman with 5:03 to play, helping ice Kansas University’s 30-24 football victory over No. 24 K-State on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

At the time, Kansas was up 27-24 and K-State was in the beginning stages of what it hoped would be the game-winning drive.

But Harper anticipated a short pass to KSU’s Deon Murphy, jumped in front and pulled it in at the K-State 26-yard line.

Not bad, considering he still has a hard cast covering his right wrist.

“We were in man coverage,” Harper said. “I had my receiver the whole time. As he broke, I broke.”

Harper’s pick set up a six-play drive, which Scott Webb finished by booting a 24-yard field goal to put KU up 30-24. The lead stuck.

It was a memorable debut – albeit a tardy one – for Harper, a Butler Community College transfer.

Slated to start at cornerback opposite standout Aqib Talib, Harper was injured on the first day of August practices and was limited for the next eight weeks. He played sparingly as a cornerback and on the kickoff-coverage unit Saturday in his Kansas debut, tallying only two or three plays before coming up big late.

“He played the technique perfect,” said Talib, who added an interception of his own with 1:12 to play. “He played the technique as good as you can play it. He came through with a big-time play.”

No telling where it will lead. When Harper was knocked out of action, freshman Chris Harris stepped in and filled the void nicely. Harris had seven tackles on Saturday.

But Harper’s return gives Kansas a good problem among its cornerbacks. Saturday, Harper’s return gave the Jayhawks a great solution, too.

“It felt pretty good,” Harper said. “I’ve been rehabbing, practicing a lot of no contact, just working hard. It feels good that it all paid off.”