Todd Reesing, Meet Cade McNown

First of all, let me begin by saying I admire Todd Reesing and what he's been able to do as quarterback for the Kansas Jayhawks.

After the 2006 season, there was no certainty as to who would be the starting quarterback for KU for 2007, and most neutral observers would have guessed Kerry Meier, who started much of the 2006 season, and whose brother Dylan Meier was for a time the starting QB for KU's hated rivals, Kansas State.

However, Reesing got the nod from coach Mark Mangino before the season started. The rest you probably know.

At one point during last season, while watching Reesing lead the Jayhawks to a midseason road win over Oklahoma State, I commented to someone else there in the bar with me that Reesing had "Favre-itis."

That is, he has a certain competitive spirit that can be just as important as pure physical talent—and sometimes more so—in leading a team, especially when faced with a challenge such as coming from behind.

However, when I was asked this week to submit an article about Reesing, I answered that what I had to say wouldn't be applicable to the game this weekend, nor as positive as Kansas fans might expect, since Reesing reminds me of Cade McNown, the quarterback at UCLA from 1995-1998.

A glance at my profile will show that I have an interest in following both UCLA and Kansas, and I see distinct parallels between the UCLA of 1997-98 and the Kansas of 2007-08, specifically in their quarterbacks.

Both are shorter than the ideal height for a major college quarterback, both have a knack for scrambling on broken plays and "making something out of nothing," and both have the kind of fierce competitive spirit that can more than compensate for physical shortcomings (at least at the college level).

Both were given a chance to play about midway through their freshman years and proved themselves worthy of becoming starters by their sophomore years.

However, the Bruins never quite reached the heights KU has, losing out on a berth in the first BCS title game in McNown's senior year, 1998, after losing to Miami in the last game of the regular season. For Reesing, the harsh lesson in 2007 came in the Missouri game, the last game of the regular season.

In both cases, it was the defense that let the team down more than the quarterback.

But until Reesing shows he can overcome that *hump* at the end of the regular season—whether it be Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, or all three—he will fall short of "Doug Flutie level" (beat Miami, won the Heisman, had a durable pro career) and be closer to "Cade McNown level" (lost to Miami, came in third for the Heisman, had a short fiasco of a pro career).

Reesing is the proverbial "gutty little QB" who is fun to watch at college level, but based on what I've seen so far, he won't quite cut it against the biggest boys on the block, whether that be keeping up with Missouri's Chase Daniel this year or facing NFL defenses in 2010.

There's still time, of course. Todd, you have the rest of 2008 and all of 2009 (assuming you don't leave early) to prove me wrong. I, and many Jayhawks, would be quite happy should you do so. Of course, you'll need the help of your teammates, too.

But until things change in the truly big game—the one that determines a conference championship or a place in the title game—you'll be reminding me of another short and feisty field general who never quite won it all.

And I don't mean Napoleon. ;-)