Injuries rare for KU

By Ryan Wood     Nov 14, 2005

The question was so scary, Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino excused himself, put down the phone and knocked on something wooden in the room.

He then summed up the Jayhawks’ injury situation to date.

“We haven’t had many serious injuries,” Mangino said. “… Overall, I think we’ve been fortunate.”

To the point where, until Sunday, no one has bothered to bring it up with Mangino during the course of the season. Until safety Jerome Kemp limped off the field during the second quarter of KU’s 66-14 loss Saturday to Texas, the questioners almost forgot that injuries were a part of football.

It has been a fortunate season on the injury front for KU. Consider that this time a year ago, the Jayhawks were heading into their season finale with their top running back and top three quarterbacks all dinged up to the point of no use.

That’s not the case this year. Kemp’s limp was pretty ugly coming off the field, but Mangino said he was told the hard-hitting junior should healthy in time for the Nov. 26 game against Iowa State. Brandon Perkins, who was dinged up on the same play, won’t miss any time, either.

Mangino could think of only two serious injuries during the 2005 season — Todd Haselhorst’s unspecified arm injury that required surgery, and a knee injury that sidelined quarterback Jason Swanson for the first half of the season.

Wide receiver and holder Jonathan Lamb also missed time, when an undisclosed ailment suffered in practice knocked him out of five games.

Otherwise, it has been a relatively healthy season for the Jayhawks. But keep the chatter about it to the minimum — there’s only so much wood on which Mangino can knock.

¢ Show postponed: Kansas Unviersity football coach Mark Mangino’s weekly television show, scheduled to be taped and aired Sunday, was postponed because of a burglary.

Thieves broke into the studio — located on the third floor of Memorial Stadium — and took off with essential equipment Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said Sunday the athletic department was in the process of figuring out what all was stolen.

¢ Rankings hit: As expected, KU no longer has a top-five defense, nor can it say it has the No. 1 defense against the run in Division I-A.

UT clobbered the Jayhawks to the tune of 336 rushing yards and 617 yards of total offense Saturday, a huge blow to what statistically was one of the toughest D’s in college football.

Now, KU is sixth in the nation against the run, allowing just 91.3 rushing yards per game. Colorado is the new No. 1 in the country.

As for total defense, KU dropped to 20th with 308.2 yards per game. The top five are Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech, Alabama, West Virginia and Ohio State. Texas is sixth.

¢ Small break: The Jayhawks practiced Sunday, as they have for the last month, and will take today and Tuesday off before getting back to work Wednesday.

“We wanted to some work in (Sunday) and get into preparation (Sunday night),” Mangino said.

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