Fall Camp Preview: How much will offense change?
When A.J. Ricker showed up in the spring he made it known he wanted his offensive linemen to play more physical and with a “helmet-on-helmet” approach.
Since that time others in the program have given their thoughts on playing more physical and the importance of running the football.
At the Big 12 media days head coach David Beaty said although the conference is known for putting up big numbers, many do it with success in the ground game.
“I've always said you have to run the football well,” Beaty said. “The teams that win in this league run the ball well. They talk about throwing it, but they get you to look over here and they're running it down your throat.”
Steven Sims, who has led KU in receiving the last three seasons, is only 1,191 yards shy of becoming the all-time leading receiver in school history. Sims talked about the team coming in on Saturdays all summer for extra conditioning and touched briefly on the school record. But it was the running game part that stood out the most.
“We are putting in a lot of work this offseason and coming in on optional Saturday,” he said. “It is just forcing all of the guys to come up there and get some extra work in and that's a team led thing on Saturday. We are excited for the season. This year we're going to rely heavily on the run game and that's going to open up things for me and my fellow receivers.”
Beaty didn’t want to go into a lot of details of the plans to run the ball. With most of fall practice closed off in August the coaches will be able to tweak the offense and show the changes in week one against Nicholls State.
“We’ve got to create a run game,” Beaty said. “I can say that without giving away any strategy. I've always wanted to do that we just need to make sure that we are putting them in good position and they feel good about what they are doing.”
Beaty has watched other teams successfully develop a run game in the conference. It helps control clock, keeps your defense offense of the field, and can break down a defense over time. Now the question is- how much will KU’s offense change and what will the changes be?
“We don't think there is anything more demoralizing than a team who can run the ball,” he said. “That doesn't mean we aren't going to throw the ball because you can't be one-dimensional. There are some things we've had to look at to make sure we are giving ourselves a chance. We have looked deeply at what the trends are.”