The Running Game Is Crawful

Let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Ryan and I've been a Jayhawk football fan my entire life. First game I ever attended was the 1984 upset of the Troy Aikman -led Sooners. Anyone familiar with my posts on various KU message boards knows I'm the definition of a diehard fan. I've seen some really bad football (Valesente and Booger Allen) and some decent to great football (Mason and Mangenius) and I've been there in the stands through thick and thin and nothing will change that. However this doesn't mean I'm not highly critical of the team or individual players when I feel it is needed and Jocque Crawford definitely needs it.

I was excited as anyone when we landed the number one offensive juco player in the nation but I wasn't excited about him dismissing other backs on the squad when he declared he was a shoe-in for the starting job. Jake Sharp holds the national high school record for touchdowns and had over 800 yards on the ground in 07 as a backup.

Funny thing is, once he got on campus for the summer workouts and saw that "the white boy" wasn't just going to hand it over to him and he quit the team briefly. Now it's not uncommon for college athletes to quit during summer workouts and two-a-days so I didn't really sweat it when that tidbit came out. The first few games though definitely has me questioning his drive and heart.

I'm not sure that Crawful has what it takes to compete. When he has a hole and limited resistance he looks like an NFL back but when the hole isn't really big he stops moving his legs and goes down like a well-paid porn star. This usually results in anything from no gain to 2 yards. His lack of drive often puts us in a 3rd and 7 or 8 because he refuses to push forward for the extra yard or two.

I won't put it all on Crawford though. The OL is young and not producing as well as they should, especially against a stacked box but in the game against Sam Houston State the run-blocking was looking better. Angus Quigley took over the starting spot and had almost 50 yards in the first quarter but for some reason, Mangino turned over most of the snaps to Crawful and the running game once again became 2 feet and a cloud fieldturf granules.

On pass plays the outside rusher only had to jump over Crawford to get a largely unimpeded shot at Reesing. I'm not asking him to go toe to toe with a 300 lb lineman and be able to hold his block but jesus christ,man, at least attempt to slow him down. I'd say he looks like a deer in headlights but at least the deer will stop a car from going forward and give the other deer a chance to do their thing.

Perusing the depth chart for this week it appears my prayers have been answered and Quigley will get the nod against the 'Clones. We've had 2 weeks to prepare for the conference opener and hopefully we'll see some marked improvement from the offensive line and the Lightning & Lightning tandem of Crawford and Sharp. Most importantly though I hope to see Crawford reach deep inside and find it in himself to step up. We all know he can talk the talk but it's high time for him to walk the walk.