Kansas’ Mangino: Pass defense passable

By Ryan Wood     Sep 11, 2006

Richard Gwin
Kansas coach Mark Mangino watches the final seconds of the Jayhawks' 21-19 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. Though KU won Saturday at Memorial Stadium, its defense was torched for 377 passing yards.

Anybody could see that Kansas University’s pass defense had some serious problems in its 21-19 football victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

KU football coach Mark Mangino saw them, too. But when it came down to dissecting the deficiencies on film Sunday, the fifth-year coach actually felt a little better about the whole situation than before.

“I like what we’re doing,” Mangino said. “We’re structurally sound.”

Mangino, though, cited two major problems contributing to ULM’s passing for 377 yards and two touchdowns on the night.

“Number one, we were in position to make a lot of plays and knock some balls down, and that’s fundamentals,” Mangino said. “We didn’t get to the ball at its highest point.”

As a result, the Warhawks came down with several jump balls downfield, giving ULM quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster big passing numbers in just his second career start. Three ULM pass plays exceeded 40 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown and a 55-yard completion despite Blake Bueltel’s getting flagged for interference.

That was one of the problems in regards to the big plays. But that wasn’t the only struggle Saturday.

“I think the second issue is communication,” Mangino said. “We certainly had some communication issues in terms of with the linebackers and the secondary.

“I think when you have some young kids, they don’t understand the importance of communication. That’s something we’re addressing, and I think we’ll be better at.”

Mangino also said the secondary failed to stick with the coaching staff’s instructions on some calls. Often, members of the secondary thought they saw something and changed the original plan.

“You let coach (Bill) Young decide what call we’re supposed to be in,” Mangino said of his defensive coordinator. “You execute what he says, and about 99.9 percent of the time, he’s going to have you in the right place doing that.

“Those are things that in some cases, young kids, when things get a little bit tough, revert back to what they’re used to doing or what they’ve done in the past. You’ve got to keep your poise and just execute the call, and we’ll be absolutely fine.”

Fortunately for the Jayhawks, they now are able to study film on what not to do while keeping their win-loss record unblemished. Only two other times in school history have the Jayhawks given up so many passing yards yet still managed to win – against Missouri in 1989 and against TCU in 1995.

“This game here tested our secondary,” Mangino said. “I think those young kids really understand, and the light came on.”

KU likely will get a small boost personnel-wise for Friday’s game at Toledo. Though free safety Darrell Stuckey will not play because of an ankle injury, sophomore cornerback Aqib Talib is expected to return after serving a two-game suspension for disciplinary reasons.

But even at full strength, the Jayhawks will need every member of the secondary that played extensively Saturday. Louisiana-Monroe may have just provided a tough but necessary lesson for them.

“I think because some of these young kids are very intelligent guys, they understand that this game was a good learning tool for them,” Mangino said. “They understand now why they’re put in a certain situation and have a certain responsibility on a certain call.”

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