photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas quarterback Montell Cozart celebrates with receiver Tony Pierson after the two connected for a touchdown against Southeast Missouri State during the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 at Memorial Stadium.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas quarterback Montell Cozart celebrates with receiver Tony Pierson after the two connected for a touchdown against Southeast Missouri State during the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 at Memorial Stadium.

When Kansas University’s offensive veterans look at quarterback Montell Cozart, they don’t see the guy who struggled to an 11-for-27, 89-yard passing outing at Duke, with two interceptions.

That wouldn’t do anyone involved a bit of good. Cozart’s teammates know the QB left the road blowout disappointed, feeling as if he alone had let down the entire program

So when the Jayhawks look in the 19-year-old’s direction, they choose to see a young, confident sophomore signal-caller with the ability to bounce back for KU (1-1) against Central Michigan (2-1) on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

It doesn’t get much rougher than a 41-3 loss, so senior wide receiver Nick Harwell said there was only one reasonable way for the offense to respond: keep things upbeat.

In the days since Kansas returned home, Harwell has focused on motivating and inspiring, instead of tearing down.

“I just told (Cozart) to keep pushing,
keep going forward,” the senior
captain said. “We’ve got a saying that
goes: Keep choppin’ wood. Keep working
hard and work on things we did poorly
last week and hopefully this week will
be better.”

That’s coming from a talented offensive weapon who only had two catches for nine yards against the Blue Devils. KU coach Charlie Weis said Duke didn’t shut Harwell down, offering instead that Cozart was the one to blame for the receiver’s lack of production.

The same claim could be made by senior receivers Tony Pierson (two catches, 17 yards) and Justin McCay (two catches, eight yards). But, like Harwell, they know supporting their QB is the proper solution right now.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas receiver Justin McCay can't quite get to a pass as Southeast Missouri State cornerback Reggie Jennings covers him on an end zone pass during the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 at Memorial Stadium.

McCay has told Cozart to keep his head up, and trusts that he will, because the receiver sees him as a competitor.

“I know for myself I would like to
catch more balls and do more for the
team,” McCay said, “but he can only do
so much. He’s only a quarterback. I
think he does a good job, and we’ll be
fine.”

Obviously, every player on the team felt down about the Duke outcome. But Pierson said the Jayhawks had put it behind them by Sunday, and he trusts that Cozart just suffered through a bad afternoon in Durham, North Carolina.

None of the QB’s offensive cohorts want him worrying about that performance anymore. Pierson said they think he will be back on track against Central Michigan.

“Montell is confident in himself,”
Pierson said, “and he’s just gonna
keep on coming in each day and just
working hard.”

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas tight end Jimmay Mundine has nowhere to go as he is surrounded by several Duke defenders during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2013 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Senior tight end Jimmay Mundine, who has just three catches for 17 yards through two games, said there are simple things holding back KU’s offense (145.5 passing yards a game) right now, and although those issues have made the Jayhawks look bad, they are correctable.

Mundine didn’t want to get into the specifics of the problems, but said Cozart isn’t the only Jayhawk responsible for fixing them.

“He’s got growing to do, just as well
as I do and other guys do,” the senior
tight end said. “We’re still all
figuring this out. This (was) Week 2
and we’re just excited to get back out
there and redeem ourselves for last
week’s performance.”

Receivers Pierson, Harwell, McCay and Nigel King have combined for just 16 receptions so far this season. Harwell said while the receivers haven’t had as many pass-catching chances as they expected, they know they’re capable of more and they will do their part to help Cozart salvage this season.

“I’m definitely confident in how we
play,” Harwell said. “We have very
little dropped balls. I just feel like
if we continue to catch most of what
is thrown to us, then we’ll do well.”