Quarterback selection expected today
Kansas University football coach Turner Gill said Thursday, on his “Hawk Talk” radio show, that he and offensive coordinator Chuck Long still had not decided which quarterback would start Saturday’s game — 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium — against Colorado.
The only real indication that Gill has given came after KU’s loss to Iowa State last week, when he said Jordan Webb would start if he was healthy. Junior Quinn Mecham, last week’s starter, also is in the mix, along with sophomore Kale Pick.
Webb missed the Iowa State game because of a shoulder injury and Pick was out with a concussion.
“We’ll probably make that decision (today),” Gill said. “We’ll evaluate it and try to make sure we’ve got the best guy out there who gives us the best chance to win the football game. We gotta look at it a little more here as we look at the practice tape and see if we really believe that all three could play. And we gotta check with the medical people, also.”
Spoiler alert
With just four games left on this year’s schedule, the KU football team needs to win all of them to become bowl eligible.
Stranger things certainly have happened, but in addition to trying to crack the win column again, the Jayhawks are focusing on other things down the stretch.
“It’s a whole third of the season,” senior lineman Brad Thorson said. “And I love this opportunity that we’ve got ahead of ourselves. We’ve got the opportunity to ruin some people’s seasons.”
If the Jayhawks (2-6 overall, 0-4 Big 12) can win Saturday, they would put Colorado (3-5, 0-4) in the position of needing to win out to become bowl eligible.
After that, the Jayhawks will go hunting for some big game, as matchups with nationally-ranked Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Missouri close out the season.
Colorado receiver questionable for game
Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said wide receiver Travon Patterson, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior who is fourth on the team in receptions with 20, was questionable for Saturday’s game at Kansas.
Patterson sprained an ankle in last week’s loss to Oklahoma.
Seniors Dudley, Thorson honored
On Thursday, KU seniors Drew Dudley and Brad Thorson were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 Team, which makes both players eligible for Academic All-America honors this season.
Dudley, tied for third with 43 tackles, has a 3.73 grade-point average in civil engineering and was named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team in both 2008 and 2009.
Thorson, who earned a bachelor’s degree at Wisconsin before transferring to KU, owns a 3.58 grade-point average while working on a master’s in economics. He was an Academic All-Big 12 selection in 2009.
KU-Nebraska to kick off at 6 p.m., Nov. 13
KU’s Nov. 13 contest at Nebraska is scheduled to kickoff at 6 p.m. and will only be televised on a pay-per-view basis, the two schools announced Thursday.
The telecast will be in HD and will be available on participating cable systems throughout Kansas and Nebraska for $39.95.
It will be the third straight KU football game not available on cable television.
