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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

‘Backer battle between buddies

By Ryan Wood

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Kansas University's two leading tacklers on the football field last year now are competing for one starting job.

Joe Mortensen and Mike Rivera, close friends and juniors out of the same recruiting class, finished the spring season Sunday in an intense battle for the one middle-linebacker starting spot. Mortensen moves inside after starting all 12 games last year as an outside linebacker.

"The reality of it is, they're both Mike (middle) linebackers," KU coach Mark Mangino said. "Joe was forced out of necessity to play outside last year."

Mortensen managed 82 tackles and a forced fumble in 2006, but was able to move back inside -where he's better suited - thanks in part to the development of James Holt and Arist Wright and the position switch of Olaitan Oguntodu from strong safety. Mortensen actually suited with the first-team defense in the spring game Sunday, while Rivera - a team captain who led the Jayhawks with 90 tackles last year - played on second team.

"We like it," Mangino said of the Mike position. "It's kind of like the quarterback position. We like the competition. It only makes us better."

Here's where it gets interesting, though: Both made strong arguments for being the most valuable defender on their teams Sunday. Mortensen led the Blue squad with 10 tackles (three for a loss), while Rivera led the White team with eight.

What's a coaching staff to do should both players earn playing time?

"It's going to be a situation where we're going to play that position by committee," defensive coordinator Bill Young said. "A lot of the positions we have on the defense will be that way. Joe Mortensen has really come on at the end of spring ball and has done a nice job."

Mortensen seemed comfortable with the battle. Since moving back inside, Mortensen spent the whole spring getting readjusted and soaking in the wisdom of new linebackers coach Steve Tovar. It has made a huge difference.

"Coach Tovar himself was a Mike linebacker," Mortensen said. "He's got so much knowledge coming from the NFL and Ohio State. He's teaching all of us technique and just made us all a lot better football players.

"We'll be a lot more aggressive, a lot more physical. Which I like."

Now it's a matter of figuring who will get plugged in. Sunday's spring game had Mortensen playing first-team middle, with Holt and Wright starting outside. Rivera, Oguntodu and Jake Schermer worked second team.

Considering Rivera's athleticism and potential, though, the starting three might change before the Sept. 1 opener. It's now up to Mortensen, like any other projected starter, to keep a strong grip.

"It's going good," Mortensen said. "Me and Mike are best friends, and that's how we've been.

"We don't know what's going to happen. It's definitely a battle. He's a great football player, and he's also my best friend. It makes it fun."

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Comments

blogthis (anonymous) says...

Why is it called a "Mike" linebacker?

April 17, 2007 at 9:38 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

greatabu (anonymous) says...

It is called "Mike" because of the M in middle linebacker or MLB. The strong-side (lines up on the side of the offensive formation that the tight end is on, this is typically the left side for the defense) and weak-side linebackers are usually called the "Sam" and the "Will" backers, respectively.

April 17, 2007 at 10:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

hometownhawk (anonymous) says...

M for middle (Mike), R for right, L for left... or W for weak side and S for strong side.

April 17, 2007 at 10:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

Now that we have more depth on the outside linebacker position we could run an incredible 3-4 defense when we need it. Imagine Rivera and Mortensen covering the run in the middle with Wright and Holt (backed up by Oguntodu and Duncan) free to cover the runs to the outside, drop back in pass coverage, or blitz.

It could be extremely useful against teams like Baylor and Missouri that are good at the quick, short pass. It would also cover a slight weak point in our team, namely the lack of depth at the defensive tackle position. We don't ask our defensive tackles to pass rush very often but when we do we could have a man with fresh legs to do it.

It's not something you want to do every game as it takes away a bit of your size in the middle against power running teams, but it's nice to know we have the option.

P.S. I couldn't read the article on phog.net, but I read a headline that said that Aaron Mack was going to enroll this summer. He's a great pass rushing D-end that we signed out of a Juco in our last recruiting class, but he didn't come at semester like most Juco transfers do. His coach said it was probably a grades or eligability issue that kept him from coming in and I was disappointed because I had been really excited about picking him up. It's good to hear that whatever issue there was has been resolved because he could make a huge difference in our defense this year. We should have a more talented defensive backfield already and with a good pass rush from Mack and Brorsen this defense could be back to the good old days of '04 and '05.

April 18, 2007 at 2:04 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

Phog.net's stats

DE JC Aaron Mack
Phoenix, AZ 6-3/250/4.70 Verbal Committed to Kansas

Rivals.com's stats

Aaron Mack 6-4/245/4.6 Phoenix, AZ

April 18, 2007 at 2:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

Nice looking out on Mack, JBurtin, sounds like this guy is just what we need along the lines of the pass rush. Brorsen will be a beast this year, and with Mack added we should have a vastly improved D line for the '07 campaign. Can't wait!

April 18, 2007 at 11:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )