Matt Tait’s KU football notebook: South Dakota vs. Kansas

Not saving much

Asked if he would hold back some of the playbook in the opener to keep from giving away anything to future opponents, Kansas coach Charlie Weis made it clear that he’d thought plenty about that.

“We’ve already done that,” he said. “We already know what we’re doing and what we’re not doing. I’m not worrying about next week’s game. We’re not in a position to be saving a whole bunch. But there are things that we won’t be doing until the appropriate time.”

Secondary coming along

With several new faces expected to play key roles in the KU secondary this season, the jury is out on just how talented that group can be. Of all the position groups on KU’s new-look team, the secondary may have been the slowest to come together, but that does not mean it’s devoid of talent.

“The secondary was a little slower (becoming) competitive because some of the guys weren’t all in at the same time,” Weis said. “But (cornerback) Kevin (Short is) probably as good a talent as we have on the whole team.”

Fondal under the radar

Similar sentiments could be uttered about KU’s offensive line, which features three junior-college transfers with the first unit and two returning players slotted into new positions.

Although most of them have received plenty of press throughout the offseason, right tackle Zach Fondal, the one guy who has not been talked about too much, might be the most impressive in at least one area.

“He’s the best pass-blocker we have,” Weis said. “He doesn’t have as much girth as (left tackle) Aslam (Sterling) has right now, but he’s getting better as a run-blocker every day, and he’s very athletic. I would imagine, a year from now, he’ll end up being the left tackle. As a matter of fact, we weren’t so sure he wasn’t going to be the starting left tackle (this year).”

Jayhawks favored

It’s not a position the Jayhawks have experienced often during the past few years, but KU enters its opener as a 23.5-point favorite over the Coyotes.