Perhaps more relieving than anything for Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino is that this year’s spring workouts produced no major injuries.
“We’ve got some guys that are banged up that won’t play (today),” Mangino said. “But if the spring game was in two more weeks, they’d all be out there. We don’t have anyone that won’t participate in voluntary summer workouts.”
Mangino wouldn’t name names, but two or three players will be held out of today’s 3 p.m. spring game because of minor injuries. Still, fans who flock to Memorial Stadium will see the Jayhawks in relatively good shape, as many of them fight for starting spots one last time before summer.
“The kids are anxious and looking forward to it,” Mangino said.
The most high-profile competition — the one most fans will be critiquing — is between Adam Barmann and Jason Swanson for the starting-quarterback spot.
Barmann started the first eight games in 2004 before a season-ending injury against Iowa State. Swanson started the next week, but suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter against Colorado. Brian Luke took most of the snaps after Swanson’s injury, performing well against Texas and Missouri. But Mangino said it was a two-pony race, with Luke a length behind.
Both Barmann and Swanson are fully healed, but neither has emerged as a favorite, according to Mangino. That makes today’s game an important test in consistency for both — even if a verdict is not rendered right away.
“The quarterback situation will carry into August,” Mangino said. “No question about it.”
Marcus Herford started the spring as a candidate for the QB position, but he since has moved to receiver and will line up out wide during today’s scrimmage. Herford, Mark Simmons and Brian Murph have risen to the top of the receiver fleet, with Marcus Henry and Dexton Fields also impressing the coaching staff.
| Who: Current and former KU players.When: Alumni game at 1 p.m. today; spring game to follow at 3 p.m.Where: Memorial Stadium.Admission: Entry is free and open to the public; doors open at noon. |
The receiver position was a question mark after the Jayhawks lost Brandon Rideau and Gary Heaggans to graduation. But now, Mangino sees it as a plus.
“That position is way ahead of where it was from the beginning of the spring,” Mangino said. “I think the wide-receiver position will be strong.”
The area that needed the most spring work was offensive line, which dealt with position changes, a new coach and the loss of captain Joe Vaughn to graduation.
As it stands now, Todd Haselhorst will be at center after playing defensive line last year. Matt Thompson has moved from left tackle to right tackle, Cesar Rodriguez is slated at left tackle, and David Ochoa and Bob Whitaker have been playing with the first team at guard.
But with the offensive-line loads deeper than last year — Travis Dambach, Jake Cox, Marcus Anderson and Scott Haverkamp will see the field, among others — different combinations of rotations are likely today.
Haselhorst was a tackle in high school and still must adapt to the center position before September. Most notably, Mangino said Haselhorst needed to become comfortable with snapping the ball in the shotgun, a formation Kansas likes to use.
Along with Haselhorst’s adjustments, there are many other questions and kinks to work out, and today’s scrimmage won’t be the end of the progress. After finals in May, voluntary summer workouts will begin with strength coach Chris Dawson, and two-a-days will begin in August.
But today is a chance for the Jayhawks to show what the last month has done for them — and give the fans something to be excited about for the upcoming season, which starts Sept. 3 against Florida Atlantic.
“When we look at spring, you have to look at the whole picture,” Mangino said. “I feel like we’ve made progress in just about every area. We’re better in just about every area of our team.”
Fambrough eager to lace ’em up again