Not that James McClinton doesn’t love football. But Kansas University’s All-Big 12 defensive tackle had some other priorities the last couple of weeks.
So putting the pads away for a while wasn’t a bad thing at all.
“I had some assignments and speeches to give,” McClinton said Friday. “I had about three papers. I’m still writing papers.”
Ahh, yes. Lost in the shuffle of an 11-1 season on the field – which was rewarded with an invitation to the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3 against Virginia Tech – was the constant reminder that these guys really are in college for an education.
That’s an advantage to having one of the latest games on the bowl schedule. Kansas had a real practice on Friday for only the second time since losing to Missouri on Nov. 24.
Academics surely benefited from that free time. Classes now are done at KU and finals start Monday.
But there’s another edge to the 39-day layoff between games: Remember how dinged up the Jayhawks were against the Tigers?
McClinton, lineman Anthony Collins and defensive backs Kendrick Harper and Patrick Resby all were seriously hindered by injury. Several more gutted it out, as well.
Now, a lot of those aches and pains are going to be gone when KU starts to really get after it next week.
“I think at this point in the season, every team needs some time off,” KU quarterback Todd Reesing said. “Going into the last two games, we had a lot of guys banged up – a lot more than at any point in the season. That’s just the product of going through a long, arduous season.
“Having some time off and being able to relax, rest and get your legs back is real big. We want to go into bowl practices and the bowl game fresh and feeling good so we can attack it with our best foot forward.”
Granted, the Jayhawks weren’t allowed to be complete couch potatoes the last two weeks. The players lifted weights as they do regularly, and conditioning drills were set up for most mornings before class.
“Just staying in shape,” receiver Marcus Henry said. “But pretty much, I’ve been resting my body.”
Kansas gradually will get back in the groove. The plan early on is to have some “developmental” practice days, with younger players getting the bulk of the work. Then, the first- and second-teamers slowly will start picking up repetitions before an all-out preparation for Virginia Tech gets going.
Even though the Orange Bowl is four weeks away, the relaxing time is about up at Kansas. The players seemed both fortunate for the opportunity and eager to move on from it.
“We needed some guys to get some rest,” kicker Scott Webb said. “It’ll be beneficial to have this time off. We had some guys banged up. We’ll get them all healthy and be ready to go.
“It’s been nice ,” he added, “to have some time off and be regular students for a couple of days.”