Kansas QB battle still an unsolved mystery
Kansas University coach Turner Gill said Wednesday that the race to replace three-year starter Todd Reesing at quarterback could last the entire preseason.
This spring, Gill pared the QB battle down from six to two, and the Jayhawks emerged from spring drills with red-shirt sophomore Kale Pick and red-shirt freshman Jordan Webb as co-No. 1’s at the top of the depth chart. Gill has said all along that he and his staff will take time to make a final decision. He reinforced that point Wednesday.
“As far who’s the starter, there’s no timeline,” Gill said. “It could be after the first week (of fall practice), it could be all the way up to the day before our first game.
Thorson jokes about wearing boot
KU senior Brad Thorson joked about showing up to Wednesday’s final day of Big 12 media days in Irving, Texas, wearing a walking boot.
“I figured all of the Texas people wear boots, so I just wanted to fit in,” Thorson said.
Thorson broke his right foot in July but said he wore the boot on his right foot simply “as a precautionary measure.” He expects to be out of it in time for practice, which opens Aug. 4.
“I’m good. I’m running right now. Give me a pair of running shoes and I’ll run around here,” Thorson said.
Stoops hopes bad luck has run its course
Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma University football team weren’t particularly lucky during last year’s 8-5 season.
Of the Sooners’ five losses, four were by a combined 12 points. Two were one-point losses. Their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Sam Bradford, only played two games, and he didn’t finish either of them because of an injury to his throwing shoulder.
“I didn’t go to Vegas last year after the season, I know that,” Stoops said. “It was tough to deal with. But, you know, don’t cry over spilled milk. We didn’t whine about it when it happened. It happened. You move on.”
OU finished last year strong, with a 27-0 victory against rival Oklahoma State, and a 31-27 triumph against Stanford in the Sun Bowl.
“You can say redemption or whatever you want to say, but we know we’re not used to going out the way we did last year,” OU running back DeMarco Murray said. “No disrespect to the Sun Bowl. It was a great game, great facility, and they treated us great. But we’re not used to playing in those types of games. We’re used to playing in the big games, the BCS games and the Big 12 Championship. We’re definitely looking to get back to that stature.”
Brown reflects on Gilbert’s BCS experience
Texas coach Mack Brown vividly recalled when quarterback Colt McCoy was forced to sit out the final three quarters of last season’s BCS Championship game after hurting his throwing shoulder against Alabama. True freshman Garrett Gilbert replaced McCoy and went 15-for-40 with 186 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions in UT’s 37-21 loss.
“It was funny. When Colt got hurt and we turned to Garrett, and I said, ‘Garrett, get your helmet,’ his eyes were as big as silver dollars,” Brown said. “He looked at me like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ And he couldn’t find his helmet, and it’s got No. 7 on it. So he wasn’t planning on playing.
“I saw him in pregame. He ate all of his steak, so he wasn’t nervous. You can always tell the guys that say, ‘Can I get some of your steak’ aren’t going to play.”
Gilbert will take over the reins at quarterback for a Longhorns team that went 13-1 and 8-0 in the Big 12 last season.
