Let's not be stupid. Break it down and see if we can figure it out. No way no how does ku have a better offense than the one we just faced ON THE ROAD in front of 85K. Sure, maybe ku executes a little better(I doubt it) or has some more chemistry(although UT's kids have played together more) but here you go.
QB - McCoy is a proven BCS conference level performer. He's in his 3rd year in the program and 2nd as a starter. Look at his stats last year if you question his accuracy. Oh, and he's 6-1 to 6-3(depending on who you believe).
Reesing is starting for the first year and in his 2nd year w/ the Jayhawk program. Unlike McCoy'ps gawdy 65%-plus completion pct last year w/ UT the Jayhawk "gunslinger" is pitching at a mid-50's completion pct vs. horrifying competition. And he's 5-10, not 6-1 to 6-3. Forget what you hear about talltales of GREAT accuracy from this 3A-4A Texas HS QB...or whatever the hell you hear..McCoy is every bit accurate and then some in Drew Brees like fashion.
Advantage: UT, and it's not close.
RB - Jamaal Charles is a 3rd year starter. Played on a national championship team and rushed for 1K yards as a freshman. Placed top 5 at NCAA in 100 meters. Oh, and they have other talented RB's like Chris Ogbayanna at 6-1 225 w/ excellent athleticism.
Jake Sharp. White. 1st year starter. Played on a state champion in high school...or something like that. Finished 2nd in state 100(not NCAA by any stretch like Charles). And they have some toad named McAnderson who gives tough lip in the media.
Advantage: UT, and it's not close.
TE - Jermichael Finley is a 6-5 240lb "BIG wide receiver" w/ long arms and tremendous athleticism. He's in his 2nd year as a starter and nearly identical in athleticism and skill to Florida's Cornelius Ingram who is tearing up the SEC.
Derek Fine. A 6-3 250lb 4th year starter. A gritty player. Good blocker and sure handed performer. But he's not going to scare you w/ a ball in his hands.
Advantage: Depends on what you want but I can tell you EVERY coach would give their manhood sac to have a specimen/athlete like Finley.
Wide Receiver - Where do I begin w/ superlatives to talk about UT's terrific display of experience and talent at receiver? Sweed is 6-5 w/ a glorious build. He was also a state championship caliber hurdler in Texas. He's a PROVEN playmaker, 3rd year starter, 5th year in the program, BCS championship level performer at Texas. Then there is Billy Pittman...3 year starter and went for over 1K yards as a soph in '05. Big game performer if you saw him against Ohio State under the lights in Columbus a few years ago. Jordan Shipley's in his 4th year. Nate Jones is in his 4th year. Quan Cosby is in his 3rd year. All of these players have logged significant minutes and proven theirselves in a signifcant manner in significant games during their careers in Austin.
Between Marcus Henry(Sr), Fields(Jr), and Hereford(Jr) they combined for their longest catch heading into this season of 31 yards. Combined they had just a few more catches than Jordy in his career...less yards, and just one more career TD. Again, that is just combined.
Advantage: are you f'ng joking?
OL
LT - Tony Hills is starting for his 2nd season. Anthony Collins is in his 2nd year as a starter. Depending on who you talk to who knows who is better? Hills is a converted TE and held in higher regard by NFL scouts than Collins, at least before the season he was. I think Collins is the better player. Either way both have experience and are thought to be good players in the 6-6 310 range.
RT - Cesar Rodriquez is a 4th year starter for Kansas. Came into his own last season. Played LT the first 3 years. Adam Ulatoski is in his 2nd year as a starter. Starting as a freshman, which Ulatoski did a year ago, is usually a good indicator of ability in a program like Texas.
Guards - Chet Hartley is in his first year in the ku program. Cedric Dockery is in his 4th year on the 40 acres. Dockery saw significant action in mop up duty in '05(9 games) and started the first 6 games of '06 when he went down w/ a season ending ACL tear. He was believed to be UT's best run blocker last season and is the reason UT's 3 year mainstay at RT had to slide down to guard for the remainder of '06. Who would you take?
The other guards are former walk-on Adrian Mayes for ku and Charlie Tanner for UT. Tanner is a redshirt Soph who played in 7 games last year while Mayes is a redshirt Junior who played in just one career game prior to 2007. Neither has much in the way of experience heading into this season.
Center - Cantrell for ku and Griffin for UT. Cantrell did start 3 or 4 games two years ago but was limited by injury last season. Griffin is a redshirt senior who has been the 2nd string center for 3 years at UT and played in 22 games.
Advantage: Looking for anyway I can to favor ku I can say it's a push based on more experience at RT but UT's interior OL has both more experience on the playing field and in their program.
