They don’t make days like Wednesday in August in Kansas very often and the Kansas University football team benefited from the beautiful conditions big time.
Just over the midway point of preseason camp, KU on Wednesday ran through its 12th day of camp and 14th practice at the turf fields next to Memorial Stadium.
A crew of referees was on hand to officiate the scrimmage that closed practice (we weren’t able to stick around for that) and things were particularly spirited in the fast-start offense-versus-defense period that followed the special teams work.
The first-team offense outdid the defense in the first series, with Montell Cozart hitting Ke’aun Kinner out of the backfield for a short pass to convert a first down.
And the defense, which stopped the offense on four out of five plays, got the better of the battle when the second unit was out there.
Here’s a quick look at what else caught my eye:
**• It’s cool to see all of the coaches walking through the line high-fiving players** and getting them mentally ready for practice during stretching and warm-ups. This isn’t entirely uncommon, as both of the previous staffs had guys do this every day. But this staff has every coach doing it and that seems a little rare.
**• Offensive coordinator Rob Likens outed himself as a Montell Jordan fan,** as he broke into a hip little dance while scribbling down practice notes when Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” came on the loud speaker. If we’re doing a Dancing with the Coaches theme here, I’d give Likens a solid 7 for the moves which he cut short to focus on the notes.
**• Here’s a quick sign of progress:** During the punt return drill this spring, the coaches constantly had to remind the up men both before and during the live reps to yell to the blockers in front of them “caught it, caught it, caught it.” Today, they didn’t have to do that once. Not only were the guys yelling — loudly — but they didn’t have to be reminded to do it once. It’s a little detail, but those things can add up big time and are at least an indication that things are being taught and retained.
**• No real shake up with the two-deep at offensive line,** though there was one new name in the group. The first string remained the same and went like this (from left to right): Jordan Shelley-Smith, Bryan Peters, Keyon Haughton, D’Andre Banks and Larry Mazyck. The second team (from left to right): Clyde McCaulley, Jacob Bragg, Joe Gibson, Jayson Rhodes and Larry Hughes. Rhodes moved from tackle to guard and Hughes, the other “Big Larry” was a new addition to the two-deep. Who knows if that was just a one-time thing to try him out or if he’s earned that spot but it’s worth noting.
**• South Carolina transfer Marcquis Roberts,** who came to KU with injury concerns, looked good again on Wednesday and really showed his leadership skills. He’s loud, intense and does not seem to care that he’s been in Lawrence for just a handful of weeks. It looks as if he understands that the KU defense needs a strong presence in the middle and he’s willing to be that presence.
**• During the offense-defense fast start period,** it was very evident that KU’s defensive front is going to fly to the football in running situations. All six guys really chased the play and tried to stretch things out. It worked a handful of times and they were also gashed once by Ke’aun Kinner, who looked impressive running inside because of his quick footwork and barely noticeable change of direction.
**• We’ll try to find out how today’s scrimmage went** during our interviews tomorrow. The Jayhawks jump back out there Thursday afternoon for practice No. 15 and then we’re welcome to watch the entire 10 a.m. practice on Friday. For those who might have been wondering, media access to practice on Tuesday was cancelled during the day. That’s why there was no What Caught My Eye report from yesterday and also why we’re getting extended time on Friday. I’ll take it.
