With a few glances – and subsequent winces – at the game film Sunday, Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino was able to put his finger on what exactly plagued the punt unit against Colorado.
Make that three fingers.
“One problem was a bad snap, then it was one protection problem, and then it was a coverage problem,” Mangino said. “It was three different facets of that unit.”
Those three hiccups led directly to 16 points and helped bury KU, 44-13, Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
KU’s offense showed signs of life, and the trusty run defense allowed very little movement for the fourth straight week, but the Jayhawks on Saturday were plagued by special teams, and the letdowns were varied.
“To have a protection mistake and have a coverage mistake in one game like that is highly unusual for us,” Mangino said.
As for the bad snap – which punter Kyle Tucker finally picked up in the end zone and threw out the back for a safety – Mangino seemed a little less upset, particularly because of the situation in which true freshman deep snapper Russell Brorsen found himself.
“I can live with that,” Mangino said. “Russell Brorsen was pressed into that position because of Kevin Kane not being able to do that duty this week.”
Mangino said Kane was nicked up, but the injury wasn’t serious and didn’t appear to hinder his play at linebacker.
As for the rest of the game, Mangino was more optimistic than in past weeks after viewing the film, keying on several points:
¢ As expected, Mangino lauded Jason Swanson’s play at quarterback after the senior came in near the end of the first quarter. Swanson completed 26 of 50 pass attempts, and five of the incompletions were dropped passes.
¢ Despite the drops, Mangino said he thought wide-receiver play was improved from the Oklahoma and Kansas State contests.
¢ Mangino spent several minutes talking about how impressed he was with freshmen linemen Ryan Cantrell and Anthony Collins, who played most of the game at right guard and right tackle.
“They were part of the reason we could run the ball effectively,” he said.
And so the book closes on the 31-point Buffalo stampede. KU returns to Memorial Stadium this weekend for the first time since Sept. 17 to play the Border War game against Missouri.
A Mizzou shellacking of Nebraska on Saturday might have given the Tigers momentum, but a rivalry game rarely goes by any such edge.
“They’ll probably have a bounce in their step,” Mangino said, “and so will we.”
