Who’s ready to run?

By Eric Sorrentino     Mar 17, 2007

Mike Yoder
KANSAS UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL COACH MARK MANGINO watches a drill during spring practice. Mangino opened Friday's workout to the public.

It’s safe to say the Kansas University football team will look a bit different offensively without Jon Cornish, who broke the Jayhawks’ single-season rushing record with 1,457 yards last season.

Tough shoes to fill.

His replacement likely will be one of three options – Angus Quigley, Jake Sharp or Gary Green. All three took part in KU’s open spring practice Friday on the practice fields by Hoglund Ballpark. Roughly 50 fans showed up for the workout, which started at 3:45 p.m. and ended a few minutes after 6.

KU coaches have limited Quigley early in spring practices since he’s recovering from a torn muscle in his thigh.

“He’s looked pretty decent,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “He’s rusty and needs a lot of work fundamentally. He’s behind on assignments and things of that sort. But he’s giving great effort. He’s happy to be back, and we’re glad to have him back. We’ll just have to take him through it slow.”

The departure of Cornish, who led the Big 12 Conference in rushing last season, might open more opportunities for fullback Brandon McAnderson out of the backfield as well.

“The opportunity’s knocking, so I have to answer,” McAnderson said. “For your senior season, all you can ask for are opportunities, so you have to make the most of them.”

McAnderson’s involvement in the offense likely won’t be as a primary ball-carrier, as it would be for Quigley, Sharp or Green. But as a senior next season, McAnderson’s leadership will be crucial in the new-look schemes of first-year offensive coordinator Ed Warinner.

“I can be a voice out there that’s been playing for several years and help guys through tough times,” McAnderson said.

Warinner returns to Kansas after two years at Illinois as offensive-line coach. Before his experience with the Fighting Illini, Warinner was the KU offensive-line coach in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

The Jayhawks have only held two spring practices, but it’s already noticeable there is more of a commitment to throwing the deep ball than last year. Several Jayhawks rejoiced after quarterback Todd Reesing found tight end Marc Jones on a 50-yard deep pass. The ball was tipped, but Jones’ concentration enabled him to come up with the ball and lead to a modest end-zone celebration after he crossed the goal line.

“It’s an offense that’s going to create a lot of opportunities for us and put some stress on the defense,” Mangino said. “We like to be able to attack the entire field in a variety of ways. You have your short stuff, you have your intermediate stuff, and we certainly would like to develop a little bit more of a vertical game perhaps than we’ve had in the past couple of years.”

Earlier in the week, Mangino said Kerry Meier was the “incumbent” quarterback heading into the spring. Meier, Reesing and Tyler Lawrence took reps under center Friday. Reesing is expected to compete with Meier for the starting job next fall.

“They’re both intense competitors and they both have a lot of pride,” Mangino said. “They both had great winter workout seasons and you can see it’s carrying over into the spring. They’ve approached spring practice very business-like and focused.”

Players practiced Friday without pads. Today will represent the first day the Jayhawks practice in pads.

“You have to prove yourself every time around – every spring ball and every two-a-days,” middle linebacker Mike Rivera said. “It’s just another chance for everybody to start proving themselves and find out who the real players are.”

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