Kansas getting big lift from freshman Duncan

By Andrew Hartsock     Nov 8, 2000

Journal-World File Photo
Red-shirt freshman Reggie Duncan gained 96 yards on 11 carries in Kansas' loss to Nebraska.

Saturday is the Kansas University football team’s Senior Sendoff day.

Last Saturday was KU’s freshman arrival day.

Freshmen red-shirt and true accounted for 185 of the Jayhawks’ 266 total yards in a 56-17 loss to Nebraska.

“What do I make of that? Probably not a lot,” KU coach Terry Allen said. “But those guys are good players. It’s a great situation for them from a confidence standpoint. To be able to execute like that against Nebraska in Lincoln it’s not going to hurt them two or three years down the road.”

Actually, the darling yearlings hope it helps them in the more immediate future.

Injuries to senior running backs Moran Norris and David Winbush forced red-shirt freshman Reggie Duncan to carry the load against the Huskers. He responded with a career day: 11 carries, 96 yards, zero lost yards and a touchdown. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry and had the best rushing day by a KU freshman since June Henley had 118 against Missouri in 1993.

“I got into a rhythm,” said Duncan, who had 30 carries on the season before the NU game. “I got the ball a little more. I usually get a carry, then I’m out of the game. I got in a rhythm.”

And don’t think Duncan ran over the Huskers’ second- and third-strings.

“I don’t pay much attention to that,” Duncan said. “But I remember I broke that first run against the twos, then they put the ones back in. That makes me feel pretty good.”

Duncan, a powerful 5-foot-9, 220-pounder from Killeen, Texas, who bench presses 410 pounds and squats 675, felt the opposite last season.

“It was frustrating,” Duncan said of his red-shirt year. “I thought about not playing football. That’s stupid. I was ready to go home. I was so homesick, I thought about going home and getting a job. What the hell was wrong with me? I’m at school, getting to do something that thousands of guys would like to do.”

J.T. Thompson never had to go through that sort of introspection. Thompson, a 5-10, 175-pound speedster from Kilgore, Texas, is the only true freshman to have played this season.

His red shirt was yanked early. In the opener at Southern Methodist, Thompson had one catch for three yards. Though he played in all but two games in the interim, he didn’t have another catch until he caught three for 70 yards against the Huskers.

“Harrison Hill was a little banged up,” Thompson said. “He had been playing at a high level, but he said he wasn’t helping the team and said I needed to step up.”

It was an injury to Hill that cost Thompson his red shirt in the first place. Hill was sidelined with chronic dehydration throughout the preseason and into the opener at SMU, forcing Allen’s hand.

“At first, we didn’t know about Harrison, whether he’d be able to play,” Thompson said.

Hill recovered quickly, but Thompson, the fastest of KU’s wideouts, doesn’t lament the loss of his red shirt.

“I’m not a complainer,” said Thompson, who didn’t play against Oklahoma and who sat out the Texas Tech game because he had to attend a funeral. “I just try to go with the flow. I look at it like it’s helpful, as in maturing and traveling. I look at it as a positive I’m the only true freshman playing.”

Will his big day at Nebraska translate to more catches the rest of the way?

“I think it gave the coaches a little more confidence in me, knowing I could step up in a tight situation,” Thompson said.

Other freshmen who contributed against Nebraska were QB Zach Dyer, who completed all two passes for 40 yards and had a rush for seven yards, and Adrian Jones, who made his first career catch for 10 yards.

Kansas practiced for the first time this week on Tuesday, and all the players who suffered minor injuries against NU practiced at least part-time.

Norris, who skipped the past two games with a sprained ankle, dressed out but didn’t practice.

“Everybody at least did something,” Allen said. “It’s day-by-day with Moran. If there’s any chance at all, he’ll try to go.”

Kansas will play host to Texas on Saturday, the Jayhawks’ home finale. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

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