Keegan: ‘Sparky’ similar to Flutie

By Tom Keegan     Oct 29, 2006

Kansas University officials didn’t let a physical appearance different from the prototype for a Division I head coach keep them from hiring Mark Mangino.

Returning the favor, Mangino didn’t allow vertically challenged Todd “Sparky” Reesing’s appearance prevent him from offering the fleet, strong-armed freshman from Austin, Texas, a scholarship.

Reesing is listed at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds. He must have been standing on his high school press clippings when he was measured.

“I don’t care if he’s 5-3,” Mangino said. “I like him. I think he can play. Just goes to show you you just can’t put limitations on people. He’s only played half a game here, so I’m not going to go running off and making any crazy assertions or anything.”

Speak for yourself.

What Reesing did in the second half of Kansas University’s season-saving 20-15 victory over Colorado at Memorial Stadium killed any notion of a quarterback controversy. The job is his until someone can steal it from him. Period.

Replacing Adam Barmann at the half, Reesing rushed for 90 yards and one touchdown, and he completed seven of 11 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

At this point, you would have to be crazy not to want to make crazy assertions about him.

Reesing’s numbers for a half projected over 12 games are a completion percentage of 64, 48 touchdown passes, 24 interceptions, 2,544 passing yards, 2,160 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.

It doesn’t work that way or anything even close to that way, but the numbers do illustrate just how insane a half Reesing had in leading the same offense that went scoreless and totaled 90 yards with a senior under center in the first half.

Even if red-shirt freshman Kerry Meier can get his shoulder back into playing shape, he’ll spend the rest of the season one hit away from being forced out of a game again, so there is no QB controversy.

As is Meier, Reesing is a playmaker, and it appears as if he won’t leave himself as open to injury, because while Meier takes off and runs for big gains, Reesing more often scrambles to pass.

Since the day he stepped on campus for the spring semester not quite a year ago, Reesing has drawn comparisons to former KU quarterback and current assistant coach Bill Whittemore. Given that Reesing has a stronger arm and a little more speed, why stop there? One day there will be another Doug Flutie. Why not dream it could be Reesing until he proves otherwise? It’s more fun that way.

If the so-called experts – NFL talent evaluators – had looked past Flutie’s height long enough to see the quarterback, he would have been appreciated by bigger audiences for so much longer.

“I am,” Mangino said when asked if he was a Flutie fan. “He’s overcome a lot of odds. He did it at B.C. He did it in the CFL. He did it in the NFL. And I’m not hung up on height and stuff like that. I think you look at the qualities a player has. : A lot of people overlooked Todd because they thought he wasn’t tall enough. That’s our benefit. That’s our gain. We don’t care what kids look like or how tall they are. We care if they can play.”

Reesing can play. He sparks the offense, the crowd, even the defense, to perform at louder levels.

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