An early look at the Big 12-Part 2

An early look at the Big 12-Part 2

Sean Baca takes an early look at some of the teams in the Big 12 in Part Two of his analysis of the Conference. In this installment, he breaks down Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Colorado.

Kansas State: The Wildcats are going through a complete overhaul this spring and are expecting an influx of 19 JUCO transfers to join the team this summer. Head coach Ron Prince has completely overhauled the coaching staff and has in fact closed all practices to the public. QB Josh Freeman enters his third year as the Wildcats signal caller and after throwing for over 3,300 yards in year two, the bar and expectations are set very high. He may struggle a bit early due to the very thin receiving corp. that will need someone to step up and replace Jordy Nelson. Deon Murphy, Lemark Brown and Cedric Wilson were the leaders out of the gate but the academic troubles have forced Murphy out of all spring practices, thinning the current squad even more. The offensive line is looking good early and the unit returns 4 starters from ’07. Tackles Alesana Alesana, Ben Lui will likely protect the edges for Freeman as guard Gerard Spexarth holds down the middle. The offense does not, at least early, seem to be a problem area for coach Prince but the defense cannot say the same. State’s pass defense ranked 99th overall and if that wasn’t bad enough they need to replace both corners and a free safety this summer. CB Josh Moore returns after his year suspension and will hope to compete for one of the starting spots up for grabs. The linebacker position has drawn plenty of attention this spring as the battle looks to be intense for the starting nod. Junior tailback Leon Patton is a proven commodity but walk on transfer Keithen Valentine has been a great surprise for the offense. The defensive unit as a whole has looked good according to Prince and no area has played better than the D-line. Brandon Balkcom, Gabriel Crews and Xzavier Stewart have all looked very strong up front. Ian Campbell, the All-American defensive end has missed practice due losses in his family. Kansas State needed to forget the 2007 season all together and focus on the job at hand. Cleaning house and closing practice can only mean one thing, that head coach Ron Prince has dedicated himself and his team to putting some serious bite back into the Wildcats roar.
 
 
 
Oklahoma State: Head coach Mike Gundy has a brand spanking new offensive coaching staff on board for the ’08 season and has said that he wants some leadership out of his veteran players this year. QB Zac Robinson had a break out season in 2007 (2,824 yds: 23td’s) and with a leader like Zac running the show the expectations are high, and rightfully so. Brandon Weeden and Alex Cote are battling it out for the back-up position this spring and the battle could last all summer. The offensive line should be very good this season as they return 4 starters including both tackles Russell Okung and Brady Bond center Andrew Lewis and guard Steve Denning. This is no small fact for the Cowboys because the offense will be as good as Robinson is, and he will need some protection. Keep an eye on TE Brandon Pettigrew as he could have a big season as a 6-6 receiver he should cause plenty of match-up problems. Like the offensive line, the secondary has 4 returning starters as well, the problem is that State’s pass defense ranked 113th last season so there is definitely going to be some competition this summer. Four star recruit Markelle Martin should be at the top of the list to improve the secondary but the rush defense needs a boost as well. Marcus Richardson and Jared Glover will both be key from the linebacker position if the defense is going to be more stout versus the rush in ’08. The skill positions are in very good hands this year and Robinson should have plenty of support on the offense. WR Dez White should have a super season and will be a favorite target for Robinson. Kendall Hunter on the other hand will hope to keep the ground game as productive as ever as he replaces Dantrell Savage at tailback. With his playmaking ability he should be a great threat from the running back position and take a lot of heat off of Robinson. The defense has been very poor for a while now but if the Orange & White game is any indication, things may not be as offensive on the defensive side of the ball this season. The defensive line was able to get some pressure in the passing game and that pressure will be key if there is going to be champagne flowing in Stillwater this fall.
 

Colorado: The buffs got through spring ball without too many injuries but they hardly went unscathed. Losing Terrence Wheatley to the draft left a hole at corner that the Buffs hoped would be filled by Gardner McKay and Ben Burney. McKay has looked good but Burney needs knee and shoulder surgery and may have to use his available red-shirt season in’08, leaving the secondary in disarray. It would seem obvious that Cody Hawkins would be the Buffs starter at QB but the team has yet to announced the starter and backup Nick Nelson has made an a number of standout plays this spring. RB Demetrius Sumler has proven the better back this spring and is the number one guy ahead of Kevin Moyd but the buzz in Boulder was for recruit Darrell Scott who attended their spring finale on Saturday. OLB Brad Jones has been seriously pushed by B J Beatty this spring who has been running with the first team in practice. Speaking of the defense, the Buffs know they have talent at the linebacker position and in an effort to get the best 11 players on the field, D-coordinator Ron Collins has been running a 3-4 defense. WR’s Cody Crawford and Markques Simas have looked good in scrimmage and with the plans to simplify the offense and the packages, the passing game should be able to get into more of a groove in ’08, or at least that’s the plan. TE Patrick Devenny looked very good in the finale and led all receivers, he could have a very good season as Hawkins go-to-guy near the goal line. Junior linebacker Marcus Burton has also caught the eye of coaches and has been in the right place almost every time, making a number of plays on defense. DT George Hypolite was hoping for a better showing from his defensive mates in the finale but with NT Brandon Nicols (shoulder) missing the game and possibly the pre-season camp, the defense is not quite what it will be in the fall. Safety Joel Adams was also missing from the last scrimmage due to a shoulder injury that requires surgery. The offense looked good last Saturday and put up 536 total yards against a defense that is far from healthy and far from ready. There is still much work to do in Boulder but a quicker defense and a possible 3-4 scheme to utilize the speed may have the Buffaloes running roughshod in the Big 12 this season.