CB Harper returns

Kansas University’s football team learned injured cornerback Kendrick Harper likely will be in the lineup for the Jayhawks’ 11:30 a.m. matchup with Iowa State Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

Harper, who hasn’t played since leaving the Jayhawks’ victory over Louisiana Tech following a head-first collision, has been practicing at full-speed since last week and likely will provide a welcome addition to the team’s secondary unit, which has struggled in the team’s past two games.

“It’s the type of thing with Kendrick where you have to see every day how he responds on the practice field,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “But do we expect him to play? Yes.”

Harper, who declined to discuss the details of the injury Tuesday, did say that he experienced blurred vision and became disoriented following a hit on Louisiana Tech running back Phillip Livas, the injury that led to his removal from Memorial Stadium on a stretcher.

“My body just started feeling woozy and crazy,” said Harper, who was held at a nearby hospital until the following evening.

Unfortunately for the 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior from Hartwell, Ga., this year’s injury isn’t the first that has kept him out of the lineup for a significant time. As a junior in 2007, his first season at Kansas after transferring from Butler County Community College, Harper missed the first four games of the season due to injury. He was out two more games later in the year, and entering Saturday’s game against Iowa State, he has competed in just 10 of a possible 17 games since arriving in Lawrence.

Starters still out

Of the multiple starters who had managed to find their way into their coach’s dog house two weeks ago, none had successfully worked their way out as of Tuesday afternoon.

“At this point in time, as I sit here today, nobody has,” Mangino said during his weekly meeting with the media. “That could change, but nobody has as I stand here now.”

Against Sam Houston State two weeks ago, Mangino declined to start a number of the team’s standouts – including receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Daymond Patterson and linebacker Mike Rivera – opting instead for little-used backups Raimond Pendleton, Raymond Brown and Arist Wright.

Afterward, Mangino cited a lack of production and consistency at the positions, although he made it clear that the players would have the opportunity to work their way back into the starting lineup by the start of the conference schedule.

“That doesn’t mean we’ve given up on anybody or anything like that,” he said at the time. “But you’ve got to do the job here. It takes no talent to give effort.”

What about Mike?

Perhaps the most surprising player to be kept out of the lineup against Sam Houston State was Rivera, a senior who had started every game since the start of his sophomore year.

Rivera, an all-Big 12 honorable-mention selection a season ago who was replaced against the Bearkats by Wright, eventually entered the game, but failed to record a tackle for the first time all season.

“I don’t critique players publicly – never have, never will,” Mangino said. “Mike understands what the challenges are. And I expect him to respond in a positive manner.”