Mark, please stop whining. TR is good and all but he hasn't beat anybody and his stats are behind even the second tier guys.
L AWRENCE | Kansas coach Mark Mangino must really love Todd Reesing. The past few days, Mangino has done all sorts of things that he never does, all in Reesing’s name.
Mangino has said that Reesing should be in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy, even though he does not promote players for such honors.
“Obviously,” Reesing said, “for Coach Mangino to mention an individual award is pretty out of character.”
Love will make a man do some pretty out-of-character things. Mangino also talked about what it would mean for a player from his program to win the Heisman, even though he does not usually address hypotheticals.
“It’d be great, it’d be awesome,” Mangino said. “It would be awesome because we never have (had a winner), and we have had some great players here like Gale Sayers and John Riggins and John Hadl. There’s others I’m missing. I think it’d be a great shot in the arm for the program. If it happens, we’ll be some happy dogs.”
For anyone who has listened to Mangino talk about his players over the years, these revelations are eye-opening. It is five games into the season, the Jayhawks haven’t beaten a team that currently has a winning record, they face a desperate Colorado team in Boulder on Saturday, and Mangino is game to talk Reesing for Heisman.
Thing is, Reesing is barely on the fringe of the national discussion, despite Mangino’s early-week efforts. Reesing finds himself among a second tier of quarterbacks — Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, Miami’s Jacory Harris, Cincinnati’s Tony Pike and Houston’s Case Keenum — who are vying to usurp last year’s finalists, Florida’s Tim Tebow, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas’ Colt McCoy.
To this point, each second-tier candidate has better numbers than the top three due to various circumstances. Tebow sustained a concussion against Kentucky and hasn’t had to put up gaudy statistics to keep the Gators at No. 1. Bradford missed most of Oklahoma’s first four games because of an injured right shoulder. McCoy simply hasn’t played up to his reputation, throwing six interceptions.
But for Reesing or any of the other second-tier guys to jump into the top three, they will need more than statistics. Mangino is well aware of what it will take.
“For Todd to make a true run at it, we’ve got to win,” Mangino said. “We’ve got to win a lot of games. It’s all on us as a team as much as it is in his hands, to tell you the truth.”
Just winning won’t be enough. ku will have to beat Oklahoma or Texas for Reesing to have a real shot, and the Jayhawks would need to win the Big 12 North at the very least.
“Reesing must be phenomenal in a home defeat of Oklahoma,” said ESPN’s Joe Schad, a Heisman voter. “That’s just to get on the legitimate national radar. And the reason is, he started so far behind Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy.”
Schad said that Reesing just making it to New York as a finalist — as Missouri’s Chase Daniel did in 2007 — would be a great underdog story.
“Especially considering how he was perceived when he began his career,” Schad said. “Every year, Heisman voters look for one player who emerges from the shadows we can grab onto as a darkhorse candidate in a manner very similar to the way that we embrace non-BCS teams (in the national championship race). There’s no doubt that, in the Heisman race, Todd Reesing might as well be Boise State, BYU or tcu.”
Mangino’s contention is that Reesing should no longer be an underdog, that his numbers and the foundation he has built over three years say he belongs. Mangino said he spoke with a ku official on Sunday night about getting the word out on Reesing.
