Oklahoma’s football team probably doesn’t know much about Matt Jordan.
But he figured the Sooners would know enough to make him a prime target when they play host to Kansas on Saturday at OU’s Memorial Stadium.
Then along came veteran Andrew Davison to serve as lightning rod.
“I’m was pretty sure they’d look at me since I haven’t played much and I’m from the other side of the ball,” Jordan, KU’s sophomore running back-turned-cornerback, said. “But now I think Andrew’s taken care of that.”
Davison, KU’s supremely confident junior cornerback, long has held that he’s one of if not the best cornerbacks in the Big 12, an assertion he made again last week and it, no doubt, will make its way to the Sooners’ locker room.
As will any clucking the Jayhawks do between now and then about having the best pass defense in the country after having surrendered just 84 yards per game.
Of course, Kansas hasn’t played anyone like Oklahoma yet, and even Davison makes that concession.
“A lot of people say that we’re ranked No. 1 but we haven’t played anybody yet,” Davison said. “It’ll be a test this week.”
Enter Jordan, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound third-year sophomore from Junction City.
With Davison and fellow junior Quincy Roe entrenched at the starting cornerback spots, Jordan has barely sniffed the field except on special teams this season.
Saturday’s game at OU could be the exception. A second-stringer at corner, Jordan is KU’s first-string nickel back. So, whenever Kansas wants to get five defensive backs on the field, Jordan should be the first one off the bench. And Kansas well could want five or more defensive backs often against the Sooners.
“We’ve been practicing the nickel since the SMU game,” Jordan said, “and I’m anxious to get out there and see what I can do. We’ve had it ready, but everybody’s run on us instead.”
Nobody least of all Kansas expects Oklahoma to scrap its pass-happy ways in favor of a ground game, however, and perhaps no one is more excited about the challenge than Jordan.
“It’s been frustrating moving around,” said the former backup running back who had 23 carries last season before going over to the other side in spring drills. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to get on the field and start getting comfortable. I’m getting better at it. I’m just waiting for my chance to see what I can do.”
The same can be said for the rest of the Jayhawks, who are eager to put their pass defense, maligned all of last season when it ranked dead last in the Big 12 and 102nd nationally, to the OU challenge.
“We’re confident. Whatever was said was said,” Roe said, alluding to Davison’s self promotion. “We’ll leave it at that. Whatever was said, now we have to back it up.”
The Jayhawks hope their nickel and new dime packages help back it up. Roe, for one, thinks KU has a chance to nickel and dime OU to death.
“They’ve worked out real good,” he said. “They’ll be something that’s needed, because (OU) comes out with three, four receivers all the time. That’s one of their main formations. We’re just trying to eliminate mismatches, you know?”
Injury update: Offensive lineman Kyle Grady, out with a knee injury since the SMU game, returned to practice on Tuesday and is “possible” for Oklahoma. QB Mario Kinsey and defensive back Santana Lane skipped practices Tuesday with bronchitis.
