You can’t accuse Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino of sitting on his hands during a crisis.
With offensive futility reaching scary depths in the past two weeks – painfully proven by a combined six points scored against Kansas State and Oklahoma – Mangino has embedded himself in the problem area, desperately seeking a solution.
“I’ve abandoned most of my head-coaching duties this week,” Mangino said, “and have been working with the offensive staff.”
The fourth-year coach usually is spread thin enough in his duties to where he’s simply a contributor to the offensive game plan. But he might be considered a co-author of it this week, when Kansas travels to play Colorado at 6 p.m. Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
“I keep my hand in it, but I’m not the day-to-day manager of (the offense),” Mangino said. “I’ve gotten a little more involved this week. Just another mind sitting in all the meetings with all the coaches, and another perspective. It doesn’t hurt any.”
Mangino has hinted at possible personnel changes at offensive line and quarterback, though he didn’t announce any Tuesday. That means Brian Luke still is the quarterback for now, although it’s safe to speculate that Jason Swanson isn’t far behind and possibly could win the starting job before Saturday.
“The status of the quarterbacks has not changed,” Mangino said. “As coaches, we reserve the right to make the changes, but right now we haven’t.”
Therefore, the look and approach of the offense might be a game-day surprise. Wide receiver Mark Simmons said the offense “went back to the basics” this week.
That’s the first step, and maybe the most crucial.
“We can’t get rattled when things go wrong,” Simmons said. “We’ve got to handle the adversity. That’s what we need to work on the most, and that stuff you can’t practice.”
¢ Got Gordon? Kansas University football coaches again are spending a fair amount of time figuring out the best way to utilize Charles Gordon, KU’s explosive playmaker.
The junior played wide receiver and cornerback and returned punts against OU after playing only sparingly on offense in KU’s first five games.
Playing both corner and wideout would be no problem, KU coach Mark Mangino said, but Gordon’s too good for his own good at returning punts. So the problem continues.
“You see him running around and trying to make people miss? That’s taxing,” Mangino said. “We would really be comfortable with him playing more both ways if he wasn’t our very best punt-return guy. We can’t take him out of there. You can see he gives us opportunities with field position.”
¢ Mizzou time set: Nobody outside of Memorial Stadium will see KU’s first game in Lawrence in 42 days. The Kansas-Missouri Border War battle will start at noon Oct. 29 and not be televised live – the second straight year the rivalry game won’t be televised. Sunflower Broadband channel 6 will have a tape-delayed telecast at 11 a.m. Oct. 30.
¢ Players of the week: Though not citing anybody for strong play on offense against OU would have been understandable, the KU coaching staff found someone to name player of the week: tight end Derek Fine, who had two catches for 24 yards against the Sooners. Defensive honors went to Gordon, who intercepted two passes. Jon Cornish was cited for special teams.
