Leavitt and Mangino Together Again
USF head coach Jim Leavitt ( 0-3 against Big 12 teams ) and KU head coach Mark Mangino are very familiar with each other, having spent five seasons together at Kansas State. Leavitt spent six seasons (1990-95) at KSU, while Mangino was there for eight (1991-98).



A Kansas Win Would...
• Improve KU to 5-8 vs. ranked teams in the Mark Mangino era.
• Be KU’s fifth straight road win.
• Be KU’s ninth straight victory against a non-Big 12 opponent.
• Be KU’s 18th win in its last 20 games overall.
. KU is 8-21 on the road under Mangino, but was 4-0 last year, all at Big 12 schools

• Kansas has held its opponent to less than 200 yards rushing in 29 consecutive games.
• Kansas has scored at least 30 points in 17 of 27 non-conference games in the Mark Mangino era.
Kansas is 13-2 in its last 15 games when ranked in the Associated Press poll.

QB Todd Reesing has attempted 44 straight passes without an interception entering the USF game. He started the season throwing 45 straight before throwing his only pick on his 46th attempt in the fourth quarter against FIU.

Kansas and South Florida will be meeting for the second time as Kansas posted a 13-7 victory against the Bulls in Lawrence on Sept. 23, 2006. KU out-gained USF 391 to 309 yards while holding a time of possession advantage of 35:40 to 24:20. KU QB Adam Barmann completed 25 of 35 passes for 273 yards, while Cornish rushed 26 times for 105 yards. Grothe led USF with 196 passing yards and 86 rushing yards.

FRESHMEN IMPACT
Two freshman earned starts in the season opener against FIU in DT Richard Johnson and OT Jeff Spikes. Last week against Louisiana Tech, two more freshmen made their first starts in OT Jeremiah Hatch and true freshman WR Daymond Patterson.

WHO IS BACK -- Kansas returns 40 lettermen, including 15 starters from last year’s team, which was 12-1, tied for the Big 12 North Division Championship with a 7-1 league record, won the FedEx Orange Bowl and finished ranked seventh in the national polls. Among the returnees are 2007 All-Big 12 honorees LB Joe Mortensen (First Team), QB Todd Reesing and KR Marcus Herford (Second Team), and OC Ryan Cantrell, LB James Holt, LB Mike Rivera and S Darrell Stuckey (Honorable Mention).

LINEBACKERS AMONG NATION’S BEST -- The trio of starting linebackers for Kansas - Joe Mortensen, Mike Rivera and James Holt - is considered by many to be among the best group in the nation. The three seniors were KU’s top three tacklers a year ago. Here are some quick notes on the trio: Started a combined 66 games in 2006 and 2007... Mortensen is on preseason watch lists for the Butkus Award, Nagurski Award and Lombardi Award... Rivera is on the Bednarik Award watch list

Kansas returns nine starters and 22 total lettermen from last year’s defense which ranked fourth in the NCAA in scoring defense (16.38), eighth in rushing defense (94.77), 12th in total defense (317.31) and 49th in passing defense (317.31)... KU led the Big 12 in pass efficiency defense, total defense, scoring defense, turnover margin and tackles for loss last year.

Kansas is replacing two long-time regulars as P Kyle Tucker is now a student assistant coach with the team and PK Scott Webb has graduated... KU returns long snapper Kayl Anderson, who will handle those chores for the third straight season and kickoff return standout Marcus Herford, who ranked 15th in the NCAA a year ago with a 28.65 average.

2008 Preseason Award Candidates
QB Todd Reesing
Davey O’Brien Watch List (Quarterback)
Maxwell Award Watch List (Outstanding Player)
Walter Camp Player of the Year
OC Ryan Cantrell
Rimington Watch List (Outstanding Center)
DE John Larson
Lott Watch List (Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year)
LB Mike Rivera
Chuck Bednarik Watch List (Defensive Player)
DE Russell Brorsen
Lott Watch List (Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year)
LB Joe Mortensen
Bronko Nagurski Watch List (Defensive Player)
Lombardi Watch List (Defensive Player within five yards of ball)
Butkus Award Watch List (Outstanding Linebacker)

Kansas is averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Head coach Mark Mangino stressed both Florida International and Louisiana Tech both took away the run. Run-game coordinator and offensive-line coach John Reagan noted the offensive line is a “work in progress.”
“When you’re playing with two red-shirt freshman tackles, that’s obviously a factor, too,” Reagan said. “And I don’t know if we’ve played as well inside (the two guards and center) as we should have played thus far.”

WR Dexter Field will not play vs.USF. He led the Jhawks in receptions LY, but was hurt vs. Flint. Fields is KU’s best blocking receiver, and he was more than responsible for springing Brandon McAnderson free for bigger gains than he otherwise would have gotten.
He was replaced by true Fr Daymond Peterson last week and had 8 rec for 180 yds and 2 Tds. Todd Reesing has thrown to him 11 times, and those throws have resulted in 11 completions for 152 yards, a 13.8-yard average, and two touchdowns.
A down-by-down examination of Reesing’s receivers two games into the season reveals that KU’s quarterback uses all of his options on all downs and doesn’t play favorites.
Reesing does tend to look for WR/BUQB Kerry Meier as a safety valve, especially on do-or-die downs. On third and fourth downs, Reesing has thrown to Meier 10 times, resulting in six catches for 81 yards. Proving Meier has a knack for running his routes long enough to get the first down, all six of the receptions were for first downs.
Dezmon Briscoe has been targeted six times on such downs, with five receptions for 141 yards, three first downs and two touchdowns.
No. 4 receiver Jonathan Wilson twice has been thrown to on third down, catching both balls for first downs covering a total of 53 yards.

• Starting RB job between Quigley and Crawford: While junior Jake Sharp began the season as Kansas’ starting running back, Mangino is now looking to Jocques Crawford or Angus Quigley to fill the role of the team’s primary back.
In two games this season, Sharp and Crawford have combined for 113 yards on 34 carries, compared to Quigley’s totals of 21 carries and 133 yards.
Florida International blitzed incessantly, and Louisiana Tech cheated its middle linebacker toward the line.
On Sunday, Mangino said he planned to use Quigley earlier than usual in Friday’s game against South Florida, and Monday morning, during the Big 12 coaches’ weekly teleconference, he reiterated that sentiment.

In order to improve its red-zone offense, Kansas will need to improve its running game, but it won’t necessarily have to be as good as last year’s for KU to be as good a team. Patterson and Dezmon Briscoe give KU such dangerous yards-after-catch receivers, and both are deep threats as well. Meanwhile, few teams have as automatic a third-down target as Kerry Meier, who has a knack for running his routes just past the first-down marker and catches everything thrown his way.

It was either Kansas or Akron for Jeff Spikes,a redshirt freshman,the Jayhawks' starting left tackle. And as a third-game starter, he gets George Selvie, one of college football's most feared and prolific pass rushers, a 2007 All-American lining up across from him on Friday
South Florida's previous two foes, Tennessee-Martin and Central Florida, have been more concerned about Selvie, who has school records with 20 career sacks and 47.5 tackles for loss. He is the No. 2 active pass rusher in the NCAA. Double teams have shut out Selvie in sacks this season.

Brett McMurphy covers South Florida with Tampa Tribune:
Two games in, it is starting to look like Kansas doesn't run the ball well, but can do whatever it wants to through the air. So how good is South Florida in coverage?
BM: “…I’m not sure how good the defense is - yet. USF’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach both told me before the season they thought the secondary would be the strength of the defense – and that’s after losing two CBs to the NFL Draft. We’ll find out soon enough if that’s true.”
“USF is very comfortable playing in a nickel package. The best way to beat USF is by running the football with a power running game. If they give up on trying to run, they’re probably playing into USF’s strength. Maybe Mangino has been sandbagging the first two games and saving the running game for this week?”
Note: One potentially telling moment, however, came about 10 minutes into Saturday's game. The Jayhawks faced fourth-and-1 from the La Tech 12 and relied on Jocques Crawford for the tough yard.
The juco transfer, a self-anointed 2,000-yard man, was stopped for no gain.
Just as in week one, third-team back Angus Quigley gave KU a late boost. He gained 84 yards, but 67 came on the final series with the outcome decided. Starter Jake Sharp carried once in the second half and added 22 yards. Crawford only gained 17. Each carried seven times and together averaged 2.8 yards after combining for just 61 yards in the opener.

Seems like South Florida is pretty comfortable lighting it up. Do the Bulls want a shootout, or will they try to shorten the game?
BM: “They would probably fare better in a shootout. They’ve lost 20 consecutive games when they have scored 20 points or less. So that’s been the magical number for USF’s opponents, holding the Bulls under 21. But I think it will be hard for anyone to hold them under 20 this year – they’ve got 10 returning starters from last year’s offense and have already topped 500 yards in consecutive games this year.”

For the second straight week KU looked far more comfortable airing it out as it blanked Louisiana Tech 29-0 Saturday night in Memorial Stadium.
Junior quarterback Todd Reesing again looked sharp — 32 of 38 for 412 yards and three touchdowns — while distributing a wet ball through unseasonable mist, drizzle and rain.

• Through two games, Kansas has attempted 90 passes to 69 run plays – one of just six AP Top-25 teams to attempt more passes than runs. The usual suspects round out the rest of that group, including two teams Kansas will meet this year, Missouri (five more pass plays) and Texas Tech (57 more pass plays).
• The AP Poll’s final 2007 rankings also saw just six teams attempt more pass plays. One of that six was the lone blemish on Kansas’ 12-1 season: Missouri, who attempted 52 more pass plays than running plays.


"If I was playing us, I'd be trying to defend the pass," Mangino said. "With us, we like to throw the football. And we've got a very good trigger guy to do it. We can be successful with that (pass-first) philosophy."

South Florida is promoting quarterback Matt Grothe as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Grothe, a dual-threat passer, has thrown for 442 yards and five touchdowns thus far. Odds are, the Bulls will go to the air early and often on Friday to avoid KU’s stingy run defense. Grothe will have to keep an eye out for Strozier, who picked off two passes in the opener against Florida International. Strozier is now the starter at nickel back after beating out redshirt freshman cornerback Isiah Barfield in fall camp. And, with starting cornerback Kendrick Harper out for Friday night’s game at South Florida, the Jayhawks may have to depend on Strozier even more.
For the last two seasons, KU’s nickel backs have been greedy, to be sure. Last season, Thornton tied Aqib Talib for the team high in interceptions with five, even though he played about half the snaps. With Strozier in the lead this season, it’s starting to look as if the nickel backs have an advantage in the Jayhawks’ system.

Players To Watch
First year starting cornerbacks Tyller Roberts and Jerome Murphy will have a tall challenge in trying
to slow down the high-powered Kansas offense and QB Todd Reesing.

Preseason props
Nate Allen
Sporting News Third Team All-American
Thorpe Award Watch List
Jake Griffin
Rimington Award Watch List
Matt Grothe
Davey O’Brien Watch List
Maxwell Award Watch List
Tyrone McKenzie
Phil Steele, Fourth Team All-American
Bednarik Award Watch List
Lott Trophy Watch List
Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Ryan Schmidt
Outland Trophy Watch List
George Selvie
Consensus Preseason All-American
Bednarik Award Watch List
Lott Trophy Watch List
Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Hendricks Award Watch List
Lombardi Award Watch List
Maxwell Award Watch List

USF QB Matt Grothe was one of just two players nationally to rush for 850 yards and throw for more than 3,500 yards last season. The other was Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida.

USF and Cincinnati tied for the national lead in takeaways (42) in 2007.

USF dominated just about every statistical category against Central Florida Saturday, but
found itself needing overtime to get the 31-24 victory in Orlando, Fla. … The Bulls finished with a 504-226 advantage in total offense and a 25-12 gap in first downs … QB Matt Grothe had 400 yards of total offense as he completed 23 of 40 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns
while rushing for a team-high 54 yards on 20 carries … Grothe hit WRTaurus Johnson for a 25-yard TD on third-and-10 in USF’s overtime possession … Johnson finished with 143 receiving yards on six catches and was one of 10 USF players with at least one catch … RB Moise Plancher
made his first start in two years and responded by running for 50 yards

For most of USF's non-conference opponents, QB Matt Grothe's dual-threat ability presents a unique challenge for the defense.
That won't be the case, however, against the Jayhawks.
"He is a lot like some of the quarterbacks in the Big 12. Most of our quarterbacks can run and throw," Kansas junior safety Darrell Stuckey said. "It's not something that we haven't seen before, but it is something that will prepare us better for our conference games."

While Leavitt was noncommittal on who will handle the field goal kicking on Friday, junior Delbert Alvarado's confidence hasn't wavered. Alvarado, who missed a game-winning kick in the closing seconds of regulation at UCF, has made just one of four attempts this season.
No. 19-ranked Bulls will feature two new starters in freshman K Maikon Bonani and sophomore RG Jacob Sims.
Bonani will replace junior Delbert Alvarado, of Robinson, and will make his collegiate debut, while Sims will start for RG Zach Hermann, who suffered a broken foot Monday.


University of South Florida RB Ben Williams (ankle) took part in practice Tuesday for the first time this week. He participated in kickoff drills and position drills during the first 30 minutes of practice. RBs Ben Williams (ankle) and Mike Ford (ankle) will be game-time decisions, Leavitt said. Both are nursing sprained ankles.
Leavitt used RB’s junior Mo Plancher and sophomore Richard Kelly primarily against UCF for a combined 89 yards

WR/PR Marcus Edwards, who left the UCF game with a rib injury, said he's "100 percent" and will play.

Sophomore defensive tackle Terrell McClain — who had four tackles in relief duty against UCF Saturday — is competing for a spot in the starting lineup, Burnham said.
“He’s had a great week,” he said. “We haven’t made the final decision yet because we have to look at today’s film. We’ll probably make a final decision after tomorrow’s practice.”

whew, lean to Kan in a close game.











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