Be wary. Be plenty wary.

As Nebraska's football team floats into that final bend in the Big 12 river, it is, to borrow a Bo Pelini phrase, pretty obvious that just about anything can happen to the Huskers – that anything can happen to any team in the North division, for that matter.

It's the kind of league, right now, where Colorado, that collection of sunshine boys, has an outside chance at heading to Dallas (er, sorry Nat Geo types – Arlington) for the league title game.

We use the phrase “happen to” because, until a four-quarter defensive masterpiece vs. Oklahoma, NU hadn't fully seized its own destiny in the conference season. The offensive gameplan was geared toward a chess match with the opposing defense – not helping the Blackshirts. Running back Roy Helu either wasn't fully committed to playing hard or was sending mixed messages to the coaching staff about his relative health. Suddenly, of Helu's own volition, he toughened up and turned it around last week with a terrific performance vs. OU.

It seems now, finally, the Cornhuskers have found an identity for the whole, instead of the individual parts. Run big sets. Hope Helu busts a few. Throw playaction to offset the run. Let the defense do its thing.

And so – Kansas.

KU has the worst offensive line the Big 12. That's two years now, and that's on Kansas Coach Mark Mangino. Its defense is better, but still overmatched against stronger teams. But the Jayhawks have three skill players – quarterback Todd Reesing, wide receiver Dez Briscoe and wide receiver Kerry Meier – who can make plays off the board. The kind of guys who can take advantage of NU's momentary lapses in concentration.

It's senior day for Reesing and Meier, and it is might as well be for Briscoe, a junior who's gone, baby, gone to the NFL after this year, considering KU needed glue and chicken wire, so to speak, just to keep the kid academically eligible this year. They're going to put up a fight. As much as defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh would like to run over their collective dog, don't be surrprised if, entering the fourth quarter, you're wary. Plenty wary. On to the keys:

QB Shuffle: No easy answers for Nebraska's signal-caller, but we think the starter is Zac Lee, sprinkled with a dose of zone read from Cody Green. Bo Pelini hinted strongly that both quarterbacks might play in Lawrence. To what advantage? We've no beef with quarterbacks sharing time, so long as they're not out there doing the same thing. Use Green to run the spread game. Keep Lee in hand-off and playaction mode.

Reesing's Last Run: You get the sense that, despite a high degree of competitiveness, Reesing is about ready to move on with life. He's an international business guy, he's been running around behind an awful offensive line for two years, the crowds on Mt. Oread are indifferent, his coach is suddenly benching him for fumbles. Reesing has his magical year in 2007, he has win memorable win over Missouri, he has his place in the KU record book. Expect a loose, exciting effort from him on Saturday. Kansas has lost four in a row. There's not much else to lose.

Short Stuffed: Nebraska's secondary has been consistently excellent against the short pass. Bubble and tunnel screens, quick slants, rub-off routes, stops, curls, you name it. NU's cornerbacks are aggressive and confident 15 yards in. Kansas won't be immune to this treatment. So the Jayhawks have to gamble, and send their talented receivers deep. Reesing has to hit them. If they can't make plays downfield, the short-to-intermediate game will be closed for business, and KU is in for a lot of punts and potential interceptions.

Vengeance: Don't kid yourself. That 76-39 score from two years ago is in the hearts and minds of a lot of Husker players who lived through it – especially guys like Ndamukong Suh, Barry Turner, Roy Helu, Phillip Dillard, Larry Asante and Jacob Hickman. You think they've forgotten? Not a chance. You will see an emotional, hungry team Saturday. They won't give KU an inch. This is intended, after the OU win, as a statement game.

Keep It Together: NU's offensive line needs a half without penalties. Just a itty-bitty half of clean football. No false starts. No 15-yard hi-lo blocks. No personal fouls. No holding. No failing to place one's head at Hickman's torso. No illegal men downfield. A clean half. It would do wonders.

The Beck Advantage: Former Kansas assistant – now current NU assistant – Tim Beck knows the Jayhawks well. He recruited Reesing. He coached the wide receivers. He helped incorporate a spread running game at Nebraska. His knowledge of KU's scheme and personnel was invaluable last year – and it will be again this year. Kansas hasn't changed much since 2007, and the personnel is still similar.

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Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 8

Coach:Mark Mangino
2008 Record: 8-5

What’s Changed Since 2008: KU lost its three starting linebackers. None of them were great, per see, but all of them were experienced, solid tacklers and skilled blitzers – 14 sacks among the three of them. The Jayhawks also lost three starters off an offensive line that wasn’t terrific in the first place.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: Tougher – much tougher – than it seems at first blush. Kansas must host Southern Mississippi and travel to UTEP. Two Conference USA teams, sure – they’re also the best two teams in Conference USA. Throw in an improved Duke squad, and we see the potential for a loss in the non-conference slate.

2009 Conference Schedule: It’s brutal. No other word for it. Oklahoma, Nebraska at home, with Texas, Texas Tech, Colorado and Kansas State on the road. We see four losses in that bunch, maybe five, and there’s still a rival in Missouri to play in Kansas City at the end of the season.

Offense: Spread
Coordinator:Mangino and Ed Warinner run this together, it’s fair to say, and though the offense changes a bit from year to year, it’s was heavy on the zone read game in 2008 with a lot of downfield passing. KU made a killing on screen passes in 2007, but we didn’t see nearly as many of those last year. Kansas lacks a Jeremy Maclin type to effectively run a lot of wide receiver sweeps and fancy stuff. Fundamentally – the Jayhawks still aren’t that fast.

Strength: Todd Reesing. The kid’s small, smart, tough, and one amazing football player. Why? Because he improvises when plays break down. Where ordinary quarterbacks hit the panic button, Reesing is just getting started. A good portion of KU’s offense – and almost all of the action in that thrilling 40-37 win over Missouri – is because Reesing simply refuses to give up on a play. Kansas had no offensive line last year. Still won eight games. Kansas also has two good receivers in Dez Briscoe and Kerry Meier, but, aside from their chemistry with Reesing, they’re a little overrated. Well, check that – Briscoe, when he runs his route right, uses his height and leaping ability quite well.

Weakness:Reesing was sacked 31 times last year, and who knows how many sacks his scrambling ability saved. KU’s offensive line struggled to open holes for running back Jake Sharp, and KU only averaged 3.7 yards per rush. We don’t expect the line to be any better this year.

Defense: 4-3
Coordinator: Clint Bowen will run it with journeyman Bill Miller, who joins the staff in 2009. Expect KU to lean on its experienced secondary and get daring with its front seven.

Strength: The secondary is probably good enough in 2009 for KU to rely on them in man-to-man coverage at least some of the time. Strong safety Darrell Stuckey is a particularly good player in run and pass support. The pass defense was indeed fairly torched last year, but part of that was a so-so defensive line that didn’t get much pressure, and part of that was the teams KU played. Of course, the Jayhawks play those teams again this year.

Weakness:No linebacker experience, which Kansas fans brush off by pretending the departing three seniors weren’t very good. Well, poppycock. KU had to move one potential starter, Angus Quigley, from running back in order to cover the position. Much like Nebraska last year – do not expect excellence out of this group, especially when there isn’t a Cody Glenn-type athlete in the bunch.

Special Teams Jacob Bransetter made 9-of-12 field goal attempts last year, but the longest was only 34 yards. Kansas had the nation’s worst kickoff return unit last year, and we’re not sure Mark Mangino will risk using Dez Briscoe on it. Alonso Rojas was a fair punter in his year as a sophomore with a 40.7 overall average.

Intangibles: Kansas gets two key benefits from most pundits going into 2009 – beating Missouri in its wild regular-season finish, and drawing an easy assignment in the bowl game with Minnesota, which lost its last five games last year. Beware of the small sample size! KU is a team that was lucky to beat Iowa State, still the team that was badly outplayed by Nebraska in the second half, aside from a couple turnovers, still the team that was stoned by Texas Tech and Texas at home.

Best-Case Scenario: Kansas wins the Big 12 North by sweeping all five opponents in its division. That’s what it’ll take, too.

Worst-Case Scenario: A seven-loss season – which could happen. Two non-conference losses and five inside the Big 12.

Our Take: KU finishes 7-5 and 4-4 in the Big 12, losing the tiebreaker to Kansas State.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech

Agree? Disagree?Tell us about it.

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Grim and a little frustrated, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel hustled up to the podium Tuesday at the Big 12 Media Days and immediately apologized for a delay at the Dallas airport that left him tardy for his appointed engagement.

Not long after Pinkel settled in, he was quickly peppered with queries about the immense talent – especially on offense – that he lost in the offseason to the NFL. Chase Daniel. Chase Coffman. Jeremy Maclin.

First, replacing Daniel, that love him/hate him quarterback that put Mizzou in the national spotlight and won two straight Big 12 North titles.

Pinkel shot straight: Former prep phenom (and Nebraska commit) Blaine Gabbert is the guy.

“Any time you have a transition quarterback,” Pinkel said, “everybody sits back and goes, ‘Wow, what's going to happen?’ When you lose a high level guy like that, hopefully, we can replace him with a high-level guy.”

Pinkel said he’ll bring along Gabbert, a sophomore, much as he did Daniel in his corresponding season. Daniel was inconsistent in 2006, alternating between excellent and average. He made “the leap” in 2007. Pinkel’s hoping the same for Gabbert.

He’s not so sure Maclin, the receiving and return whiz, can be replaced. But, he added, this version of the Tigers was his fastest.

On replacing two coordinators, Pinkel referenced the “Bill Belichick approach” of training and promoting from within. Pinkel the admitted he hasn’t lost two coaches, much less coordinators, in nine years at Mizzou.

***

Baylor’s Art Briles delighted the media with clever lines and quick answers. Briles kept referring to “turning hope into happen” throughout his interviews, because, at this point, that the Bears’ next step.

Briles talked a lot of about his quarterback, Robert Griffin, the fast, gifted sophomore quarterback. Griffin has helped with TV exposure, with recruiting, with fan recognition, with everything.

But Griffin, and his Bear teammates, won’t be sneaking up on anyone in 2008. Teams that narrowly escaped with wins – like Missouri, Nebraska and Texas Tech – learned their lesson.

“People are going to approach us differently on the other side, in other staff rooms and on other practice fields because they're going to come into Baylor with a different mindset than they did a year ago,” Briles said. “We understand that. We understand we're going to have to rise up and be better in all facets
of the game, not only physically, to deal with the charges that are going to come our way.”


Briles drew laughs for his stories about accompanying Jason Smith to the NFL Draft, and his comments on the wardrobe of some of his questioners. Briles is going to make an interesting push in the Big 12 South. He’s the first with the raw charm to recruit head-to-head with Mack Brown. His program doesn’t have the facilities, it doesn’t have the tradition, and it doesn’t have any recent success. But Baylor does have Briles.


***


There’s a curious, gentlemanly quality to the way Kansas Coach Mark Mangino handles himself in front of media. You tend to see a lot of different sides of the guy. You see the pride, the attention to detail, the self-made aspect. Just about every coach brings that to the table. But with Mangino it’s something a little more – a vulnerability, perhaps? A love for the little guy?


The coach talked with great care about recruiting quarterback Todd Reesing to KU several years ago, about how Reesing, tiny as he was, just had a confidence, a style, a belief that belied his looks. You could see why that might impress a guy like Mangino, who gets more comments about his appearance than he did his coaching.


Yes, Reesing runs around a little too much – and sometimes gets himself in trouble for doing it.


“But that's what makes him unique, you know, the idea that he believes in himself and that
he can make plays when there's not one,” Mangino said. “Kind of really reflects his personality; that he always thinks he can overcome. He always wants to prove the opposition wrong. Those traits have served him well.”


Good coaches tend to know – what’s best for each player is to fulfill their potential…through their own personality.


Also appreciated that Mangino admitted he likes to recruit “tough” players – read, guys a little rough around the edges – and that “sometimes we fail in that area, but we like kids that love to play this
game.”


***


Mr. Heisman and Big Game Bob was last to appear Tuesday, as Oklahoma took the podium.


The big questions for OU, of course, revolved around its offensive line. Everything else about the Sooners – QB Sam Bradford, the running backs, the extraordinary defense – is in place. But the line, which must replace three starters, remains a weakness.


“Mistakes they were making on day one, day two, they weren’t making on day 14 and day 15,” Bradford said. “I think we still need that progress once we’re in camp.”


Bradford also touched upon the “frustration” of never having won a bowl game. Especially when reporters, who have to find something negative about the kid, ask so often.


“It’s not something we like to do – “oh, we had a good season, let’s lose the last game,’” he said. “It’s starting to really to get to everyone.”



At one time, Bradford didn’t much care for the no-huddle offense, either.


“When we first switched to it, I didn’t it like it,” Bradford said. “It just seemed like chaos, it seemed like no one was on the same page. It sucked. If you would have seen us trying to run it the first couple days, you would have thought it was just a disaster.


“But the more time we spent on it, and the better we got, the more I fell love with it.”

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This time, it's Kansas City Star's Missouri beat writer Mike DeArmond, who declares, in his first official blog:

"Those people picking Nebraska to win the Big 12 North are abso-tooting-lutely nuts."

and

"The only reason I can see anyone picking Nebraska to win the North over either Kansas or Missouri this fall is they think Tom Osborne is recruiting and coaching the Cornhuskers instead of recruiting and being the athletic director and boss to Bo Pelini."

and

Here’s where I shake my head in wonder at anyone picking Nebraska over Missouri but over Kansas as well.

The Cornhuskers have an inexperienced quarterback, lost just as much as Missouri on offense, don’t have a running back of the caliber of MU’s Derrick Washington. Shouting The Blackshirts Are Back! seems based more on t he hope that Bo Pelini is a defensive genius rather than a first-year college head coach that was simply better than Bill Callahan.

He goes on to make fun of some Nebraska from London.

His rationale for picking Kansas tends to be the same rationale used by many: The return of Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier and Dez Briscoe.

Reesing we get. Great QB. Better leader.

But two wide receivers, however talented they might be, have never, not ever won a championship by themselves. They are, after all, receivers. Someone has to throw the ball to them. And that someone, Reesing, has to have enough time to do it.

In other words, pooh-poohing a weak offensive line that gave up 31 sacks as it was last year doesn't reflect well on your analytical abilities.

As for Nebraska v. Missouri, we'll see. But Mizzou has an awful lot to replace on both sides of the ball, plus the best kicker in school history, plus their return guy.

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He has the stature and scrambling skills of a young Fran Tarkenton. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini likened him to a smaller version of Brett Farve. Still others see a dash of Doug Flutie.




Draw whatever comparisons you like. Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing is the business of giving fits to the defense, opposing fans and, when he tries to do too much, his own team.




In the pocket, running the option, flipping a pass sidearm – he’s the straw that stirs the Jayhawks’ potent offensive drink, and a microcosm of the KU team in general. Underestimated. Athletic. Tough.




“He is kind of all over the place,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. “He’s a competitor. He’s a good football player. He’ll try and stick it in the hole. He makes quick decisions and he’ll jam the ball in there.




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“I don’t mean to put too much on the kid by saying Favre, he’s not Brett Favre, nobody is, but he can run and do a lot of different things. He’s a good all-around quarterback, he’s a leader. I have a lot of respect for him.”




Pelini should. Reesing’s thrown for 2,638 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2008, one year after an incredible season in which Reesing’s play took the Big 12 Conference and the nation by surprise. With a year of tape on the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder – measurements that seem generous – the conventional thinking was that defenses would cause Reesing’s numbers to drop.




Other than the interceptions – the junior has 9 this year to only 7 in 2007 – Reesing is firmly on pace to improve upon his yardage and completion percentage, and come close to matching the 33 touchdowns he threw last year, which included six against Nebraska.




Reesing’s also has rushed for 167 yards, mostly on scrambles and option plays, which he executes deftly.




“If he doesn’t like what he sees he’ll take off and run,” Pelini said. “That always presents more stress on you at times.”




And occasionally on KU itself. Because Reesing freelances so often, crisscrossing the field or waiting until the last second to flip a ball just as he’s going out of bounds, he, like Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz, can make some mistakes. He threw two first-half picks against Oklahoma, both inside OU’s 20-yard line. After a brilliant game at South Florida, he nevertheless threw the interception that sealed the Bulls’ win.




His worst performance came in a 63-21 loss to Texas Tech, when he threw three interceptions, including ones on back-to-back possession in the second half.




“I’ve never had that happen to me in a lot of years of football to have back-to-back mistakes like that,” Reesing said after the Tech game. “Sometimes when things go bad they can get real bad. You can’t really sugarcoat that.”




And then there Reesing’s other performances, a perfect brew of creativity and bravado, one threaded needle after another. Trailing 20-0 at Iowa State at halftime, Reesing rallied KU for five second-half touchdowns in a 35-33 win, throwing for 319 yards He converted a crucial third down with an eight-yard scramble and a fourth down with a 6-yard pass. Both of those drives led to scores.




Sounds a little like the thrills and spills of life with Ganz, doesn’t it?




“We’re both short, we both can run well,” Ganz said of the comparison. “I can kind of see it. They run a different offense than we do, so he does different things than I do and I do different things than he does. That’s a good guy to be compared to. He’s a good quarterback. He’s great for that team. He’s a great leader. Coach Beck compares me to him so it’s a great honor.”





NU running backs coach Tim Beck recruited Reesing to KU from Austin, Texas. Although undersized, Reesing possessed the gifts – smarts, poise, playmaking abilities – that good quarterbacks have and KU Coach Mark Mangino is noted for finding. Mangino is known as a strong talent evaluator. Beck confirmed it with his own eyes when he’d watch film with him,




“You look at some of the guys he’s made into marquee players,” Beck said. “Having the ability to spot ‘em and know what their potential could be versus what their potential is on the tape.”




That’s how a guy like KU sophomore Dezmon Briscoe, also recruited by Beck, goes from a decent-but-unheralded recruit to arguably Kansas’ most dangerous receiver in recent memory. Briscoe’s caught 54 passes for 800 yards and ten touchdowns, including a breakout game against Oklahoma, when he set school records with 12 catches and 269 yards.




“He’s not gonna wow you with his speed off the ball,” Pelini said. “But he’s big, he uses his body well, he has big hands. And he catches the ball in a crowd.”




It’s also how backup quarterback Kerry Meier doubles a KU’s leading possession receiver with 66 catches. And how Daymond Patterson goes from the team’s No. 4 receiver to starting cornerback in the matter of a week, and makes it stick.




A combo of kismet and elbow grease.

“They’re hard-nosed kids, a blue-collar group,” NU wide receiver Todd Peterson said. “They’re coached well and they’re going to have that same mindset. They’re going to be hard workers.”

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