Kansas junior quarterback Todd Reesing is moving around better in and outside the pocket than last season, Jayhawks coach Mark Mangino said today on the Big 12 teleconference.
That can’t be good news for Colorado (3-2, 0-1 Big 12), which faces Kansas (4-1, 1-0) on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Reesing has hurt CU the past two years as much with his legs as his throwing arm.
In 2006 at Lawrence, Kansas trailed 9-0 at halftime and Mangino pulled the redshirt off Reesing during the break. Reesing responded with 106 yards and two touchdowns through the air and 90 yards on the ground to spark a 20-15 comeback victory over the visiting Buffaloes.
Last year in a 19-14 Jawhawks win at Boulder, Reesing threw for 153 yards and ran for 84.
“I think Todd is running, moving better this year,” Mangino said. “He’s lighter than he was a year ago. He worked at his game in the offseason.
“He has continued to develop as a player. I think he does a really good job of seeing receivers downfield and of being patient. If he has to step up in the pocket or evade the pocket, he still keeps his eyes downfield. He only runs when he absolutely has to. He’s waiting for the routes to develop.”
Colorado coach Dan Hawkins admires Reesing’s talent and decision making. Reesing ranks second among Big 12 players in passing yards per game (344.8). He also has added two rushing touchdowns, despite not carrying the ball as much this season.
“Where (Reesing) is at his best (as a runner) is when it is not necessarily a designed run,” Hawkins said on the teleconference. “That’s where he can really gouge you. He really killed us last year when he broke containment and took off running on pass plays.”
Cody Hawkins’ slump
Mangino said he can relate to the struggles of Colorado’s Cody Hawkins the past two games against Florida State and Texas.
“There are some issues in (Colorado’s) offensive line, they’ve lost some people,” Mangino said. “That’s put a little pressure on Cody. We’ve gone through that, having to start two redshirt-freshman offensive tackles this year. We understand how it changes the whole dynamic of your offense.
“But he hung in there. He took some competitive, vicious shots last week (against Texas). He jumped right back up and was ready to go. You like competitive, hard-nosed guys like that.”
Longhorn nabs honor
For his efforts in the Texas’ 38-14 victory over Colorado on Saturday in Boulder, Longhorns senior defensive tackle Roy Miller was named co-defensive player of the week.
Miller recorded eight tackles, including one for a loss, and had a fumble recovery. He shared the weekly honor with Oklahoma junior linebacker Keenan Clayton.
Huskers case closed
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said the school has investigated allegations by Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel and that it is “a dead issue.”
Daniel called Nebraska a “dirty team” and said a Cornhusker player spit on him prior to the Tigers’ 52-17 victory at Lincoln on Saturday. Daniel also said Nebraska players threw footballs at Missouri players during pre-game warm-ups.
“We communicated with Missouri and we investigated it and addressed the allegations (with the team),” Pelini said on the teleconference. “At this point, it’s a moot issue, it’s over. It’s a lot of, ‘He said, she said.” I don’t think either coaching staff was aware of it.”
Footnotes
Dan Hawkins gave CU sophomore place-kicker Aric Goodman a vote of support on the teleconference. Goodman has missed all four field-goal tries since he was awarded a scholarship after kicking the winning field goal against West Virginia. “He’ll be all right,” the coach said of Goodman. “He’s not spraying it all over the place. He’s great in practice. We just have to get him calmed down and he’ll be fine.”
…CU redshirt-freshman quarterback Matt Ballenger drew his first minutes as a college player Saturday in mop-up duty. Ballenger threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Williams that he set up with an 11-yard scramble on third-and-8. “We wanted to get him some snaps and get him going a little bit,” Dan Hawkins said. “At that point the game was a little out of hand. We actually wanted to get Matt in there earlier than that. We wanted to have him get a feel for it.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
