Archive for Sunday, November 1, 2009
QB playing hurt, and it clearly shows
Kansas University quarterback Todd Reesing (5) loses the ball after a big hit by Texas Tech’s Daniel Howard. The Jayhawks lost four of five fumbles in a 42-21 loss to the Red Raiders on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
November 1, 2009
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2009 KU-Texas Tech football
- Arist Wright talks about the improvement in KU's defense over the past few weeks
- Dezmon Briscoe tries to explain the recent struggles of KU's offense
- KU coach Mark Mangino full press conference
- Todd Reesing on his health: "I haven't been 100 percent"
- Todd Reesing says he couldn't have foreseen the struggles that KU's offense has faced recently
- Todd Reesing says he was surprised to get benched
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KU vs. Texas Tech
Pictures from the Jayhawks' game against the Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009.
Lubbock, Texas — Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino has his reasons for keeping injuries a secret. Knowing a player is hurt can change the way the opposition prepares its game plan. Dirty players might even want to aim for the injured guy’s aching body part.
But there comes a time when the whole truth has to be told, and that time arrived after the Kansas offense performed so horrifically Saturday in a 42-21 loss to a Texas Tech team that looked oh-so-vulnerable and gift-wrapped two touchdowns for the Jayhawks.
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing threw balls into the dirt, fumbled a snap, had passes batted at the line and, most puzzling, lost his ability to scramble. Reesing played so poorly that Mangino removed him and replaced him with unproven red-shirt freshman Kale Pick.
Without Reesing’s normal spark, which for the second week in a row was nowhere to be found, KU couldn’t do anything right offensively. The young line had its worst performance of the season. Veteran receivers Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe had a rare case of the butter fingers.
Mangino was asked if the removal of Reesing was performance-related or injury-related, the coach said Reesing wasn’t able to get anything moving so he turned to Pick. A few minutes later, when asked, “Are you healthy?” Reesing revealed he suffered a groin injury against Colorado. He also said it’s no excuse. Not coincidentally, the two worst performances of Reesing’s career came after the injury, against Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
To keep the injury a secret would leave Reesing’s teammates and the Kansas fan base wondering if he had checked out mentally, forgotten how to win, how to scramble, how to throw such accurate passes. Now that there’s an explanation, the burden shifts to teammates needing to lead Reesing, who has led them to rare heights since taking the starting quarterback job as a sophomore.
If Reesing can’t regain enough mobility during the week, the best option for the Kansas State game lies with putting Meier under center, not such a bad fall-back position. Meier’s team-first spirit made his transition to receiver a seamless one, but he still views himself as a quarterback, too, a very confident quarterback. His running ability would give Kansas State a little something extra for which to prepare. His superior experience to Pick makes him the easy choice, if Reesing can’t get loose enough at least to resemble himself.
It’s obvious how much a healthy Reesing elevates teammates by the way they never quit on plays because they know he can keep them going for so long. When he’s not right, neither are his mates.
“The last two performances we put up have just been terrible, honestly,” Briscoe said. “We’ve just got to bounce back. We’ve got a big game against K-State next week.”
Briscoe said he was “clueless” as to why Reesing was removed from the game and “very surprised” at his poor performance.
“As receivers, we didn’t help him out much with the dropped passes we had, which is something we don’t do often,” Briscoe said. “It’s part on us and part on the O-line as well.”
Largely, it’s on Reesing’s injured groin. He’s playing hurt.
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1 November 2009
at 2:48 a.m.
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TopJayhawk (Anonymous) says…
I don't believe for one second that Reesing is hurt. It's the same as Jake. “Oh, he's hurt.” Some mysterious malady. Then “Oh okay he's better now. we'll play him today.” Then he plays like crap and it's back to “OH, he's still hurt.”
Reesing has played poorly all year. Has he been hurt all year? Now it's “Oh he's been hurt for several weeks.” Yeah, right.
1 November 2009
at 6:58 a.m.
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LarryNative (Anonymous) says…
I don't know if Reesing is hurt or not but to say he has been playing poorly all year is a bit strong. I the guy has no offensive line and has been running for his life against every team we have played. He plays in a one dimensionsal offense were everyone knows we are going to pass 75% of the time. KU's secondary could not stop a Lawrence High wide receiver from running a fly pattern for a 80 yd. td. Reesing knows that every game is on his shoulders without much help. I can't imagine the pressure he must feel. I wish Todd the best but with such a young off. line and no support from the defensive secondary, the deck has been stacked against him all year.
1 November 2009
at 7:08 a.m.
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nbnozzy (Anonymous) says…
While I feel sorry for Reesing having his injury, this should have been properly addressed after the CU game. Meier is capable of taking over. We may have had better performances and possibly two more wins instead of the two loses.
1 November 2009
at 7:26 a.m.
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nschmi04 (Anonymous) says…
I hope Reesing can go. That said, if he can't then we need to stick with Pick. You don't want to take a receiving weapon like Meier out of the equation. Pick has plenty experience running this offense and should be groomed for next year. Let Meier play where he's going to be playing on Sunday's next year.
1 November 2009
at 7:36 a.m.
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LarryNative (Anonymous) says…
It will be Pick. He is the future of the team. Even with a healthy Reesing, 6/6 or maybe 7/5 was the best this team was going to do this year. Pick will play to get ready for next year.
1 November 2009
at 7:50 a.m.
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LarryNative (Anonymous) says…
Hellsb, Kstate, who just played OU pretty tough at OU and Mizz are the only chances we have left. I think Mizz is win with or without Reesing. Kstate will be the tough game. Is Meier taking snaps this year in practice? I have no idea. I hate to harp on it but with this young line, if our QB can't scramble, we are toast.
1 November 2009
at 8:08 a.m.
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shleppy (Anonymous) says…
it takes more than one groin to play a football game.
1 November 2009
at 8:09 a.m.
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sundancewierdo (Anonymous) says…
It's going to take more than 6 wins to get a bowl game. if todd is hurt, you gotta play pick. But it really doesn't matter if our two best wr's can't catch th f-n ball!!! One other thing GoTtA GiVe OpUrUm more ToUcHeS!!! He only had 8 touches yesterday. if sharp is still hurt why is toben only getting 8 touches?
1 November 2009
at 8:43 a.m.
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newmedia (Anonymous) says…
I certainly hope Todd can finish his career at KU on a high note. He has meant too much to the football program the last 3 years not to. I have been surprised how he has taken that physical beating week after week, mostly through no fault of his own, and popped back the way he has for this long.
Bigger decisions will have to be made at the end of the season other than a starting QB. If the Jayhawks fritter away another chance at the Big 12 North title and heaven forbid fail to receive a bowl bid after a 5-0 start there are too many shiny new buildings and millions recently invested around the stadium to allow this malaise to continue.
Stayed tuned…….
1 November 2009
at 8:58 a.m.
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Silly_me (Anonymous) says…
Yep, Newmedia…Lew is watching these events VERY carefully.
1 November 2009
at 9:14 a.m.
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tophawk87 (Anonymous) says…
Time to start Kale Pick, Meier is much better as a receiver, Pick will be able to get it to him….If Reesing has a pulled groin, he should sit and rest for the MU game
1 November 2009
at 9:16 a.m.
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Practicality (Anonymous) says…
“If the Jayhawks fritter away another chance at the Big 12 North title and heaven forbid fail to receive a bowl bid after a 5-0 start ”
The first part of your statement appears to be a forgone conclusion. After the way we have played in the big 12, does anyone really believe we can beat NU, K-State (Did you see how well they played against OU) and Mizzou? NU's defensive line will record 14 sacks against KU without ever blitzing if they play like they did against TT and Reesing can't scramble.
If Reesing doesn't get better quick, KU will finish 5-7. If he does miraculoustly return back to his old self, maybe 7-5 but that is highly unlikely.
1 November 2009
at 9:27 a.m.
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somebodynew (Anonymous) says…
Just a question - why hasn't the Coach made some decisions before this???? He surely has seen how practice has gone, not to mention the game performance. I am truely sorry that TR is hurt and hope he recovers soon, but if he is playing hurt and not doing well, that is the Head Coach's decision. Of course Todd is going to say he can stay in, but the Coach has to decide if that is best for the team.
1 November 2009
at 10:41 a.m.
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Thats_messed_up (Anonymous) says…
Hey Tom Keegan, How's Reesing's Heisman Campaign going? LOL
1 November 2009
at 11:28 a.m.
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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…
I's gots my armchair.
1 November 2009
at 11:36 a.m.
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rgh (Anonymous) says…
Give Pick the snaps he needs in practice to be ready and he'll be fine. We need Meier at wide out and Briscoe has to catch the easy passes! Reesing needs to start, but needs a quicker hook if the offense is not moving.
Our “D” has played much better than expected and thank goodness for that or the scores would be much worse. When you give teams the field position we've given them by turnovers, etc. we're lucky OU and Tech didn't score much more than they did. We've been asking a lot of our defensive unit considering the offensive power we were suppose to have shown this year. K-state didn't look bad against OU and if we lose in Craphattan, we're going 5-7. That loss at Colorado hurt worse than most people realize.
You certainly can't pin all this on Reesing either. Our preparation has been lacking all year on the offensive side. You could see the difference right away from game 1 over last year's team. We can still step up and go to a bowl but let's worry about improving all aspects of the game first.
1 November 2009
at 1:22 p.m.
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sundancewierdo (Anonymous) says…
The trouble is, we used to listen to our team play on the radio and hoped we could play spoiler for our rivals. We were lucky to get two games on tv. You could go to memorial and pick your seat. We were never good but we always hoped we could win. now that we have had some success, a mediocre season is tough to swallow. hang in there kids, you can still salvage this season. all we need are two more wins. and since i already bought a ticket to arrowhead, we at least better improve by then.
1 November 2009
at 4:28 p.m.
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lionheart72661 (Anonymous) says…
Why is it when Todd is playing good he's superman and now with 3 losses in a row he's got an injury. Like I've told my friends and coworkers wait until they start playing conference teams. here are a list of loss excuses i've heard
1) loss to Colorado was because of the fights between the basketball gang and the football gang.
2) Because of the loss to Colorado their head wasn't in it.
3) Todds groin injury.
fact is the whole team is sucking right now from the coaching staff on down. So no more stupid excuses.
1 November 2009
at 4:35 p.m.
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randysavage (Anonymous) says…
no bowl this year….
Now, all in unison, “oh well, basketball season starts this week”
1 November 2009
at 4:40 p.m.
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barrypenders (Anonymous) says…
How many times has a college won it all in basketball followed up by winning it big in football?
Let's see now……
Darwin bless you all
1 November 2009
at 6:18 p.m.
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yankeevet (Anonymous) says…
So if the quarterback is hurt; why did they allow him too keep playing?
1 November 2009
at 6:31 p.m.
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jumpin_catfish (Anonymous) says…
They're just not that good this year folks. Deal with it, no bowl game this year and if they luck out and get one it will be the twinkie bowl or something. Makes the big game at Arrowhead a big “oh well”.
1 November 2009
at 6:59 p.m.
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greenworld (Anonymous) says…
Okay injury or not with Sharp and Reesing, are we playing to win with hurt guys or to lose with them. Surely Mangino knows there is a damn good backup to Sharp as in Operum and Meier or Pick for Reesing so what is the holdup. Is it that Mangino doesnt want to play for next year yet or he just plain has loyality towards his seniors and doesnt want them to remember their senior year watching from a sideline. I think he knows he needs to make the change and wants to but he has to be gracefull about it as it is a very delicate switch dealing with guys that were loyal to him for 4 years.
1 November 2009
at 7:30 p.m.
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JayhawkeyeTexan (Anonymous) says…
People need to lay off Reesing. He is playing with a lot of heart. KU needs to recruit and build up its defense. Offense is nice, but defense wins championships. Look at the teams in the BCS Top Ten, such as Florida, Alabama, Oregon, TCU, and my other alma mater (along with KU): Iowa. All have stout defenses. Long term, I would like to see TCU's Gary Patterson become KU's head coach. He would bring an aggressive defense mentality to the Big 12 North, which needs it.
1 November 2009
at 9:55 p.m.
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tanaumaga (Anonymous) says…
I hear he's a good bartender…
2 November 2009
at 12:38 a.m.
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leedavid (Anonymous) says…
Tanaumag, I heard the same thing, witnesses saw him out drinking the night before the Oklahoma game. Ressing's injury is inbetween his ears, not his legs. His decisions in the last three games, following the fight, have been extremely poor. I'm pretty sure Ressing has more turnovers than the entire team combined. Number one responsiblity for a quarteback is ball control.
2 November 2009
at 1:28 a.m.
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ilegler86 (Anonymous) says…
Top Jayhawk, Todd has not been playing poorly all year. You forget it was his and the offense heroics that kept them in games earlier in the year. Todd was receiving Heisman votes at one point… If he's hurt, bench him and allow him to recover, if it is a groin injury I know from personal experience how nagging they can be…
2 November 2009
at 3:55 a.m.
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TopJayhawk (Anonymous) says…
ilegler86.
He looked adequate against lesser competition. Guys were so wide open it was obscene. But the ball was still late, he still has not thrown with the same accuracy of the last two yrs. Eg. He is not hitting guys in stride, balls are high or low, receivers are landing out of bounds because of his throws.
Don't get me wrong, I like the guy and love what he has done for this team. But it was evident from the first game that his performance has not wha it has been in yrs past.
Groin injurys make it hard to turn and change direction. If he is hurt, sit him.
2 November 2009
at 3:58 a.m.
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TopJayhawk (Anonymous) says…
He is also not seeing wide open guys. Now that can be because he is running for his llife. Part of that is the O. line. Part is poor play calling. You got to run some and do more play action. More screens. That is the coaches fault.
2 November 2009
at 7:21 a.m.
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Hydra (Anonymous) says…
Man everybody is dogging Reesing and the offense for only scoring 21. Then they brag on defense for only allowing 42?