November 7, 2009
Some thoughts popped into my head immediately following the dismal display today in Manhattan. At first it seemed the responsible thing to do would be to sleep on those thoughts and reassess tomorrow before spouting off an angry blog. As is the case with most things you are passionate about, when it frustrates you it is often better to walk away and cool down before saying something you will regret.
Then a funny thing happened: I realized what I was thinking wasn’t frustration talking. It was simply logical and relevant. So here we are.
Now let me get immediately to the point.
Nebraska is a must win for the University of Kansas Football team’s season and for Mark Mangino’s career as head coach of the Jayhawks.
Sounds a little reactionary doesn’t it?
Well, it isn’t. Let me explain.
First, the season. Currently, as we all know, KU is 5-4 and a game away from even being bowl eligible. They successfully kissed the Big 12 North title goodbye with the pathetic play today and now can only hope to barely squeeze themselves into their 3rd straight bowl appearance, 5th of the Mark Mangino era. Not what we all had hoped for at the start the season, but, nevertheless, not the worst thing in the world.
The problem now, however, is getting to that game.
One more win simply will not do it. And making the far from bold prediction that this squad will drop another one in the grossly overmatched game down in Austin, the team is left with only two games in which the Jayhawks can eek out two more wins: Nebraska and Missouri.
If KU loses at home next week, then wins in Arrowhead, they will have dropped 6 games in a row in conference play (in a rather weak North division that no one seems capable of taking from the untalented, overachieving dudes in purple). What bowl selection committee gets excited about that? Conversely, if they win at home then drop the game in Arrowhead, they will have lost 6 of their last 7 including their last two (and a good chance at a blow out versus Texas). Plus, of those 6 wins on KU’s schedule, UTEP would be the only W away from Memorial Stadium.
Can’t you just see the committee salivating already?
So, logically, we are left with one path toward the 3rd straight bowl appearance: beating both Nebraska & Mizzou.
Now, on to Coach Mangino.
Under Coach’s tenure, KU has certainly seen some success. We all know what they accomplished in 2007, and we are all very proud of it. Mangino has also been able to get us to more bowl games than any other coach including back to back appearances for the first time in school history… during a time when there are far more bowl games and many more chances to reach said games than most previous coaches had. Honestly, with the current allotment of bowl games it is a pretty disappointing season when you don’t even get an invite.
And this year that disappointment would be stratospheric.
But that’s not why Nebraska is a must win for Mangino. That’s just the cherry on top.
It has become much less clear to many of us die-hard KU Football fans how good of a coach Mark Mangino truly is. We have watched a team almost completely lacking in fundamentals (across the board… how many missed tackles, missed assignments, dropped passes, misread plays, bad snaps and penalties can we see in one season??) alternate between predictable play calling and absolutely insane formations (Pick at halfback?!?! Reesing at wide receiver?!?!) while lacking any motivation or intensity.
And, yet, that’s not why Nebraska is a must win for Mangino.
The reason he must win that game is because it looks like this team quit. It looks like they’ve stopped truly playing the game. And the point in which that happened seems to be rather clear: it's the same exact time the coaching staff did.
This team had problems since the start of the year, but regardless of those issues, they found a way to win games. Then came Colorado. They made mistakes. Gave up points. But they didn’t give up. They made a strong comeback and almost pulled it out (some might argue that they did, but the zebras took it away). It was disappointing, but at least some of us saw some positives in that comeback. They tried.
Then OU rolled into town.
For 2 and a half quarters – despite giving up points again – we hung with them. Then – for reasons beyond me – the coaching staff decided to disrupt a possession in which we were moving the ball to throw in Pick and run two draw plays.
Possession over.
The coaching staff effectively threw in the towel at that point and the players followed. We got hammered for the rest of the game.
And for the rest of the season.
Against Tech we went through the motions and kept ourselves in the game for 3 quarters. Then give in and gave up 28 points in the 4th. Against K-State – a rivlery game with enormous “must win” implications for the conference title – we simply weren’t there.
So now Mark Mangino must win against Nebraska, or he can start ordering his moving boxes now. He may not get fired at the end of this season if we don’t make a bowl game (in fact, I would be rather surprised if he did), but his career in Lawrence would be effectively over. He has to find a way to turn everything around and show that he can actually motivate his guys. He must show that he didn’t allow his talented team to quit. Hang it up. There is still a chance to show that the last four games were just a bad stretch and not a sign of worse things. Not a sign of what it seems to be: poor leadership.
If he can’t, then this team gave up on this year when it wasn’t even half over.
And, no, that is not sawing wood.