Nick KrugThey said it was coming and they did not lie.
All offseason, the Kansas University football program’s offensive coaches said the team’s new Air Raid offense would be one that employed as many as eight or nine wide receivers in a single game on a regular basis.
And through the first two games of the 2015 season — home losses to South Dakota State and Memphis — offensive coordinator Rob Likens and the rest of his staff have come close to matching that total.
In the opener, seven different KU receivers caught passes. Three wideouts (Tre’ Parmalee, Bobby Hartzog and Steven Sims Jr.) caught three balls. Three others (Darious Crawley, Joshua Stanford and Shakiem Barbel) finished with two receptions. And one other, sophomore Derrick Neal, finished with one catch. Even that, however, was crucial, as Neal’s lone reception a 20-yard gain late in the fourth quarter, came on the last pass of the game, which set up the Jayhawks with a first down inside SDSU territory and put junior quarterback Montell Cozart in position to attempt a spike that would’ve stopped the clock and could’ve led to a game-tying field goal.
A week later, six different Kansas receivers caught passes in the Jayhawks’ loss to Memphis.
The distribution was a little more top-heavy in Week 2, but the most interesting thing about it was the fact that the man who led the Jayhawks with six receptions and 38 yards against the Tigers (sophomore Tyler Patrick) did not catch a pass in Week 1.
Five other players listed as wide receivers on the KU roster hit the field during the first two weeks of the season, though most of the playing time dished out to Seth Conway, Matt Hentges, Emmanuel Moore and Eric Rivers was limited to special teams.
Still, that makes for a total of 13 wideouts who have been put into the game during the first two weeks of the season, which speaks both to the “earn it” mentality that head coach David Beaty has made the team’s mantra, as well as the readily available opportunities for players to make an impact regardless of where they sit on the depth chart at any given point in time.
“You know what, we just need those guys to play the role that they are asked to play on a day-to-day basis,” Beaty said after the opener. “We don’t care who does it. That’s why, I mean, we were rolling guys in and out of that game. It looked like a circus, I’m pretty sure, guys coming in and out, and that’s all part of what we do philosophy-wise.”
While several Jayhawks have received their chance to impress the coaches, Beaty said the group was still not where he wanted it to be in one area.
“We have to be more physical out there,” he said. “There’s a high standard out there to put body blows on those DBs throughout the game so that when the fourth quarter gets here those body blows add up. We don’t want a DB to go five, six plays without getting touched. He needs to get hands laid on him every play from the first quarter to the fourth.”
As he continued, Beaty explained the reason behind the premium put on contact.
“We talk about stealing his concentration late in the game,” he added. “Because if you’re putting your hands on him all game, there’s going to be a time where he’s going to fit wrong because he’s trying to avoid you and we need that to start talking hold.”
Bourbon rolling
Former KU running back Brandon Bourbon, now a senior playing out his eligibility at nearby Washburn University in Topeka, needs just 42 yards to match his entire season rushing output during any one of his years with the Jayhawks.
The oft-injured Bourbon, who explored getting a sixth year of eligibility at Kansas before transferring to Washburn, leads the Ichabods in rushing through two games with 149 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries.
Bourbon’s best single-season rushing total at KU came in 2013, when he ran for 191 yards and 3 TDs on 41 carries during the only season in which he played in all 12 games.
Washburn plays at perennial powerhouse Pitt State this weekend.
