With about five minutes left in the first half, the Kansas defense lumbered off of the field to the sidelines. Heads down in silence, looking as dejected as I recall feeling on prom night.
Southwest Missouri State or “SMS” as they’ll have you call them, had just tied up the score at 14-all. The only time a Big 12 team should be tied with a visiting Division I-AA opponent would be 0-0 as the two sides prepare for the opening kickoff.
Above the disheveled din, there was one voice. You could be physically outside of Memorial Stadium and his urgings would rise above whatever crowd noise there was (which wasn’t much). Mammoth defensive tackle Travis Watkins was yelling, he was pleading, he was maniacally screaming “Dammit!!!,” his helmet bouncing four feet off of the turf. “Come on, y’all!!! It’s one-freaking-double-A!!!”
His line mates took their seats and readied themselves for a verbal salvo from an assistant coach. But the first shot had been fired, loud and to the point by a sophomore — yes, a sophomore defensive tackle. It’s not surprising that Watkins would serve as the voice of frustration, having fought double teams nearly each and every down, occupying multiple blockers, hoping his teammates would take advantage of his presence in the middle and make some plays.
Now, with Watkins on the shelf for the next six to eight weeks with a broken right foot, it’s time for one of his newest teammates to take advantage of Watkins’ absence.
Phil Tuihalamaka certainly looks the part. Towering above the fray at 6-foot-3 and built to be right in the thick of it at 320 pounds, Big Phil was genetically designed to play defensive tackle in the Big 12 conference. Phil had never played football prior to attending Norte Vista High School in Riverside, California. Born on the Tongan Islands, his last name (pronounced Too-ee-holla-ma-ka) means “King Road Rock”. How strong is that for D lineman?
It’s time for Phil’s understanding of the defense and his football conditioning to catch up with his physical prowess and the rather fitting meaning of his last name. While he was still relatively new to the game at San Bernadino Community College, Big Phil wreaked enough havoc to earn all-conference and all-California Junior College first-team honors. And that’s a very notable accomplishment, but those accolades alone won’t win you a battle in the trenches against corn-fed beasts that have cut their teeth on Big 12 lineman.
Before Watkins succumbed to injury and fellow tackle Tim Allen was spotted hobbling on crutches last Thursday at practice, the defensive line was shaping up to finally truthfully boast of the type of depth needed to at least compete in this league. That depth has been temporarily relegated to the sidelines. Not good news for a defensive unit which is trying to atone for a season which saw just two teams, Northwestern (313) and Eastern Michigan (294) give up more rushing yardage per game than KU’s matador-like 256.3.
Adjustments have been made, although head coach Mark Mangino hasn’t publicly gone into detail about personnel moves and shifts that will be undertaken. At Thursday’s practice, junior college transfer Chuck Jones slid over to tackle from his end position, Cory Kipp had bulked up in the offseason with his move to tackle from end already determined before the Watkins injury. But one player was brought to campus with the express purpose of manning the middle of the line, providing push up front. The only defensive tackle in the much-heralded junior college class, King Road Rock.
For at least the first six games of the season Travis Watkins, co-captain, will be on the sidelines to provide his trademark vocal leadership. But Watkins needs his line-mates — he needs Tui — to stand strong in his absence and make the return trips to the sidelines more a scene of celebration and less of a re-enactment of my prom night.