The Greene Room Live: KU-Central Michigan

By Staff     Sep 1, 2007

**9:10 p.m.**: Well, that’s pretty much it for this one, as KU gets set to punt with three minutes to go. I certainly didn’t expect to see that flat of an offensive showing from Central Michigan, but when the opposing quarterback controls the game the way Todd Reesing did, it’s hard to do anything about it.Reesing not only was precise in practically everything he did, but he apparently got any nerves he had out of the way on his first throw, which was nearly picked off _twice_. Obviously, to expect KU to play offensive football at this rate every week is unreasonable, but against Southeastern Louisiana, Florida International and Toledo over the next three weeks? Well, sure. KU will definitely have some inflated offensive numbers going into the Oct. 6 Big 12 opener at K-State.It’s been fun chatting with you all, see you next Saturday before kickoff.**9:01 p.m.**: Poor Patrick Resby. The junior safety gave us one last bit to chuckle about. While applying a late hit to a Central Michigan receiver on the sideline who had seen a pass flutter over his head, he led with his shoulder, spun, didn’t knock down the receiver, but instead put his own butt on the turf. He got a 15-yard penalty for doing no damage.**8:57 p.m.**: While waiting for this fourth quarter to drain out following Kerry Meier’s 21-yard touchdown toss to Raimond Pendleton, it’s worth pointing out one of the funny new quirks to KU’s spread offense.With the audibles coming from the sideline, there are three people giving signals, meaning two are decoys and one is for real. One is redshirt freshman Tyler Lawrence, the team’s third-string quarterback. Something tells me he’s one of the decoys 90 percent of the time. What a fun job for a 19-year-old kid, huh? I can only imagine some of the stuff I’d make up while flailing my arms about. I’d probably throw in some sophomoric facial expressions, too.**8:39 p.m.**: More unintentional comedy – after the third quarter concluded, the PA announcer was promoting the Border Showdown in Arrowhead Stadium this November, which drew a cascade of boos from the KU faithful still left in the stands. Good stuff.**8:12 p.m.**: Now the Jayhawks are in pour-it-on mode, as they just drove 76 yards on eight plays, culminating in Jake Sharp’s first career touchdown on a three-yard run. The only question left is really how long will the starters play, isn’t it? Gotta say, certainly didn’t expect anything this wide on the scoreboard.**7:53 p.m.**: Todd Reesing is definitely the buzz upstairs on the eighth floor. In the first half, it wassn’t just his numbers (15-of-21, 217 yards, 4 TDs) that impressed, but rather the way he compiled them. He slithers around in the pocket well, readying himself to throw. How throws have pop, and he plays with a certain cool and confidence which is a great sign with 11 games left in the season. Also, it’s a good bet Kerry Meier will play at least one quarter in the second half.**7:28 p.m.**: OK, so this Reesing guy? Yeah, he’s good. He just found Aqib Talib for his fourth touchdown throw of the game, and it was legit. It went in the books as a 49-yard score, but it was much more impressive than that reads. He threw the ball from his own 46-yard line, and it was caught by Talib at the CMU three-yard line. On the line. An absolute bullet. That LeFevour guy seems to be the furthest name from anyone’s mind at this point, as Keegan is now practically planning what he’ll send out to media members to garner votes for Reesing in the Heisman race. I’d something related to his nickname, ‘Sparky,’ would be a nice touch. Maybe Fourth of July sparklers with his likeness on the packaging. OK, I’m rambling now…**7:18 p.m.**: Oh man, what a series of 30 seconds both on the field and on the sideline. Raimond Pendleton showed SEC-class speed on a 77-yard touchdown on a punt return. He milked it some, taking two HUGE strides at about the five-yard line and diving head-first into paydirt. It obviously drew a 15-yard celebration flag, and a complete verbal chewing from Mark Mangino on the sideline.As the touchdown was scored, Mangino ripped off his headset and ran towards Pendleton, grabbed him by the collar of the jersey, and chewed him out for nearly 20 seconds. No idea what he said, but he probably learned his lesson. On Pendleton’s next punt return, which went for just a couple of yards, he earned a pat on the fanny upon his return to the sideline.**7:04 p.m.**: Now this is where you want to see soccer skills translate into American football. So on fourth down, Central Michigan’s Tony Mikulec saw a punt snap sail waaaaay over his head back to about his own 10-yard line. He scooped it up and got off as good a kick as he could with three Jayhawks quickly converging on his helpless pulse. He kicked a ball that rolled and flopped about 50 yards, but could have easily been blocked by someone’s, um, lower body. Sometimes you’ve gotta take one for the team. Instead, KU has the ball at its own 39. **6:45 p.m.**: As the first quarter comes to a close, Tom Keegan already has the Todd Reesing Heisman campaign on wheels. Though he had a great first quarter, going 11-of-15 for 104 yards and two touchdowns. The new offense seems to have caught on well, as its been run so far without many hitches…if any. Marcus Henry closed out the quarter with an incredible catch off a deflection from the shoulder pads of Eric Fraser. While collapsed to his knees, Henry leaned forward and caught it for a 21-yard gain and a first down.**6:34 p.m.**: Dezmon Briscoe is the year’s first nominee for the Tough Guy Award, though such award doesn’t exist. I simply made it up just to give props to the freshman from Dallas. On a 16-yard touchdown catch from Todd Reesing, he was absolutely decleated, but held on to the ball, got a foot in bounds, and had enough equilibrium left to celebrate in midair after he got up. Someone please sponsor this award.**6:24 p.m.**: The new offense looks like it’ll take some getting used to for the casual viewer. No huddles, audibles coming in from the sidelines, and a lot of dink-and-dunk. But it’s effective, as KU mixed the run and pass nicely on its first scoring drive. Plus, credit to Ryan Wood for calling the touchdown in the corner of the end zone. 7-0, Jayhawks.**5:46 p.m.**: Surprise No. 1 of the night – redshirt freshman receiver Tertavian Ingram, who was not even seen on the last released depth chart, was just announced as the starting No. 3 receiver for the Jayhawks.**5:13 p.m.** – Welcome to Memorial Stadium for the opening of the 2007 season. The Greene Room will be coming to you live from every KU football and men’s basketball this season, so I guess this is a historical moment, huh?Well, probably not.Anyway, I’m done crying in my Cheerios over [today’s Michigan game][1], and we’ll just leave it at that. Besides, it’s time to get my head in KU-mode.A couple of early observations.**1) Dan LeFevour has a gun**. At least he does in warmups. He looks solid, but appearance isn’t everything, so we’ll see what he can actually do in the next few hours.**2) The new uniforms look good**. So quit crying about it. Next topic.**3) Kudos to the KU student section at Memorial Stadium** for doing something the student section fails to do in Allen Fieldhouse – have everyone wear blue. Funny, I’m pretty sure it’s mostly the same students. Maybe it’s just a Fall thing.Talk to you in a little while. [1]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap;_ylt=Ap4HYcAi7CmR_zWTal7qyqocvrYF?gid=200709010029

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