If Kansas University’s spring scrimmages are any indication, wide receiver Harrison Hill could be in for a long senior season.
Hill, the Jayhawks’ top returning receiver with 47 catches for 591 yards and a touchdown last season, has been blanked during KU’s two intrasquad scrimmages this spring.
“I had a bad scrimmage last scrimmage,” Hill said of Saturday’s trip to Shawnee Heights. “I really feel like I had one of my worst days I’ve ever had here. I ran some real bad routes and it was nobody’s fault, but my fault last scrimmage. I’m just going to forget about it and get better because I just wasn’t myself out there Saturday.”
Hill was targeted three times during Saturday’s scrimmage at Wetter Field, but didn’t have a reception. A week earlier, Hill had just one ball thrown his way, but was a foot out of bounds when he made the grab.
“We tried to get the ball to him,” KU coach Terry Allen said. “They’re no dummies over there defensively. They doubled him about every snap. We’ll just keep trying to get ways to get the ball to him.”
Hill, who was double- and triple-teamed on Saturday, isn’t concerned about being draped by defensive backs this fall.
“We’re going to have so many receivers on the field at certain times that I don’t think they’re going to be able to double-team me, but who knows,” Hill said. “If they do, that’s fine with me. I’ve just got to keep trying to get better and put that out of my mind.”
The Jayhawks certainly are drenched with depth. In addition to Hill, KU has seven returning letter-winning wideouts in seniors Termaine Fulton and Roger Ross; juniors Byron Gasaway, Marcellus Jones and Barry Goodrich; and sophomores Derick Mills and J.T. Thompson.
“I think it’s the biggest asset by far of this team,” Hill said of the position. “I think we’re the deepest and most experienced on the whole team. We have guys that have been around for a long time me and Termaine and Gasaway and then we’ve got Ross and those guys. I think we have the ability to make a lot of plays for this team and move the ball up and down the field.
“But we’ve been talking about that for a long time, how good our receivers are, and we haven’t really ever put together a huge year with them yet. Hopefully, this year we can.”
The deep pool of receivers certainly will be an added bonus for the starting quarterback, whoever that might be.
“They know what it takes to go ahead and get open and fight for the ball, everything like that,” KU sophomore QB Zach Dyer said. “So it helps all across the board. Those guys all have experience and have quite a few games and catches. That definitely helps, especially for a young quarterback, having receivers that really know what they’re doing.
“It makes it much easier for a quarterback.”
Red-shirt freshman safety Leo Bookman took a handful of snaps at tailback on Monday, something Allen said he would continue to experiment with this week.
“He was out there at running back today, just kind of a trial basis because he was competing very well in the secondary for a starting position over there at a safety,” Allen said. “But there’s something about a 6-foot-1, 220-pound running back who runs a 4.4 (second 40-yard dash) that gets your attention.”
Junior offensive right guard Tony Damiani has returned to practice after missing time with a shoulder injury. Also back Monday was red-shirt freshman running back Tony Stubbs (ankle sprain). Senior center Jason Stevenson (high ankle sprain) also might be back by Saturday.
KU completed the padless portion of the spring on Monday. The Jayhawks will practice today and Thursday in preparation for Saturday night’s annual spring game at Memorial Stadium.
