KU Football: Speak of the Blue Devils

Duke has one of my favorite football teams around, even if they are practically my least favorite college in America.  They are an overachieving, defense-first type of football team, and they don't make many mental errors either.

Sure, Duke and KU are two teams I would rather see clash on the hardwood, but their outing this Saturday in Memorial Stadium should not be completely devoid of excitement.

The KU running game hasn't put up numbers that will blow anyone away, but the depth and consistency of KU's ground personnel give them a solid advantage against Duke's sub-par rushing defense.  I personally believe that Vince Oghobaase and Vincent Rey's big numbers are a little inflated due to a lack of talent otherwise on this defense.

Next, maybe I'm making too much of Army and Richmond, but I think that the Duke pass-defense may have a step up on that of Kansas.  The deep men for the Blue Devils bring a lot of experience and, after Leon Wright's stunning performance last weekend, a lot of momentum.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, though, the Jayhawk secondary won't have to guard Kerry Meier, Dezmon Briscoe, Jonathan Wilson, and Bradley McDougald.  Any advantage Duke has in that area will likely go unnoticed.

Finally, KU fans looking for good quarterback play will have plenty to keep them occupied when the Hawks take on the Blue Devils.

First of all, Thaddeus Lewis is still projected to start the game in memorial stadium this week.  Lewis, like several other Blue Devils, had symptoms of the flu last weekend, but the coaching staff has declared that it will not cost the consistently-successful Lewis his starting job.

This doesn't mean that KU fans can forget about Sean Renfree either.  The highly touted red-shirt freshman has several things going for him, in case you haven't heard, and will likely find his way on to the field more and more as the season progresses.

Secondly, I don't want to hear any more KU fans over-speculating Todd Reesing's  uncharacteristically average performance last week.  The last time he performed poorly on the road in a non-conference game (last season against USF), he proceeded to torch Sam Houston State's unfortunate secondary for 356 yards and two touchdowns in Lawrence the following weekend.

All I'm saying is I would not worry much about Todd Reesing.  He can take care of himself.

Ultimately, I give KU a significant edge thanks to being in front of what should be another Memorial Stadium sellout crowd and a huge mismatch between the run games. 

Our offensive line has done nothing but improve over the past two games, while Duke on the other hand may run into some big problems in the forms of Jeff Wheeler, Maxwell Onyegbule and Jake Laptad.

If our defensive line and running game can be similarly productive to last week at UTEP, the Blue will have a 'devil' of a time keeping up with the Hawks for 30 minutes, let alone a whole game.

However, any ground game at all for the Blue Devils is a bonus, so if they can establish any consistency there while getting Thaddeus Lewis back into a rhythm, look for the two teams to 'duke' it out, toe-to-toe, until the very end.