Advertisement

Monday, October 9, 2006

Wood

Wood: Close games vex KU

Jayhawks must find way to win thrillers to earn bowl berth

By Ryan Wood

Advertisement

Whatever it is - luck, stamina, heart, pride or poise - Kansas University's football team better find a quick remedy. And fix it quicker than anything has been fixed.

Close games have never reflected well on KU in coach Mark Mangino's five seasons in Lawrence - especially in Big 12 Conference play. The Jayhawks are 3-8 in league games that are decided by one score. Of those eight losses, Kansas had a lead in the final five minutes of six of them.

Saturday's 21-18 loss to Texas A&M was another one that got away just in time. KU's 39-32 loss to Nebraska the week before that - though a great game defined by clutch moments instead of poor ones down the stretch - still shows a team that doesn't put its foot on the throat when it's time to determine a winner.

If there's anything Kansas has to get better at this season, it's finishing out these games. Why? Because the rest of the schedule shows that more close games are coming.

Many more.

The Big 12 is a league of parity this season, at least in teams three through 12. And the best and second-best squads - probably Texas and Oklahoma - aren't on KU's schedule.

Here's a rough ranking of the conference's 12 teams halfway through the regular season:

1. Texas

2. Oklahoma

3. Missouri

4. Nebraska

5. Texas Tech

6. Texas A&M

7. Kansas

8. Baylor

9. Iowa State

10. Kansas State

11. Oklahoma State

12. Colorado

Now, the rest of KU's schedule: Oklahoma State, at Baylor, Colorado, at Iowa State, Kansas State, at Missouri.

The good news for the Jayhawks is that a bowl berth is definitely attainable simply by taking care of their own turf. Look closer at KU's remaining schedule: Five of the six games are against teams 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in those rankings. Furthermore, 10, 11 and 12 all play the Jayhawks at Memorial Stadium.

Only one game remains with any team in the top six - at undefeated Missouri on Nov. 25, a squad Kansas has beaten each year Mangino has fielded a competitive team.

The bad news for the Jayhawks? They aren't good enough to have gimmes in any of these final six contests. None of the final six is a chip shot, and certainly no road game KU plays is a sure victory, either. The Baylor and Iowa State games probably are coin flips, with the edge going to the home team. That's not Kansas.

There's a great chance that all six of these games could be determined late in the fourth quarter. That makes for exciting football.

But until Kansas proves it can pull it out against fellow Big 12 schools, it could be equally as excruciating for Kansas fans dreaming of someplace warm to travel for bowl season.

More like this

Comments

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

I don't see how anyone could discern that the rest of the games are going to be thrillers. Yes we've had some close games so far but all in completely different ways. At Toledo freshman mistakes allowed them to stay in the game, at Nebraska we put up huge offensive numbers and traded scores, then against A&M our offense was stagnant and the defense was worn down by the end of the game from being on the field too much.

I will be glad to see Kerry Meier return to the field next week. I'm not saying that we would have won either one of the last two games with him, but our play calling has to change when Barmann is in the game. The third and one play near the end of the game for instance. With Meier's strength and sure hands at the helm we probably would have gone for a QB sneak. With Barmann we had to call a power running play from the I with a lead blocker. The problem is that this kind of play takes too long to develop and gives the defense a chance to plug the holes. Also some of the times when Barmann would roll out away from the pass rush and throw it away Meier would have put his shoulders down and taken it for a few yards. It's possible that some freshman mistakes still may have cost us the game, but he gives us a dimension that Barmann is physically unable to give.

October 9, 2006 at 5:50 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

IceManMK (anonymous) says...

I think he is just saying that all these games are winnable, but we could lose each one... therefore, each game has potential to be close.

Oh and just my 2 cents...

3rd & short = Brandon McAnderson (kinda like 1+1=2)

Running with Cornish takes too long to develop (and then he wants to dance behind the line before hitting the hole) and running with Barmann is a joke.

October 9, 2006 at 2:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Whatever it is - luck, stamina, heart, pride or poise

_____________________________________________________________

He left out the number 1 reason: coaching. I think Mangino is a pretty good coach overall, but neither he nor Quartaro have shown any ability to manage a game in the closing minutes. In fact, they were fairly lucky to even hold on against USF.

October 10, 2006 at 1:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Alum96 (anonymous) says...

A "rough" breakdown of where teams stand. C'mon we're 0-2 and you have us at #7? And a bowl birth is attainable by taking care of our turf? Is their proof we can do that? Beating OSU will be a great start!

We do have a shot, but it's not readily visible that our chances are too high. I hope ADLP knows something we don't about this season.

October 11, 2006 at 4:40 p.m. ( | suggest removal )