McCay set to face his former team
Head coach Charlie Weis announced on Tuesday that he'd be reassigning some of the offensive coaching duties this week with Ron Powlus controlling the passing game and Jeff Blasko handling the run game. The new arrangement leaves Weis in more of an observation role.
Although the changes may sound dramatic, quarterback Jake Heaps said they haven't been noticeable.
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"As players we won't really notice the difference," Heaps said. "In practice so far, Coach Weis has been very involved in the wide receiver and quarterback meetings and has been very on top of that."
Part of the idea behind the switch was to make Weis more involved in the position groups as well as open the floor for more ideas from the assistant coaches. Wide receiver Justin McCay saw that as a big advantage.
"You need eyes on it because everyone sees something different and the criticism makes you better," McCay said.
McCay set to face the Sooner for the first time as an opponent
After a long-awaited, but lackluster debut at Kansas, Justin McCay is back atop the depth chart at the "X" position in time to face his former team.
"Football is a marathon and not a sprint," McCay said. "I've got a couple more games left and a lot to improve on."
McCay redshirted his freshman year at Oklahoma and played in three games the next season but did not record any statistics. He sat out last season after the transfer.
After nearly three years off the field, McCay said the hardest thing to adjust to was the speed.and being able to read defenders, but film study has been a big help. Through five games, McCay has just two receptions for 12 yards and a touchdown.
Bell happy to see his cousin's success at Oklahoma
Blake Bell has emerged as Oklahoma's starting quarterback completing 65 percent of his passes for 968 yards with six touchdowns and just two interceptions.
One Kansas player isn't surprised by his success.
"Just growing up and seeing how much better he was than everyone else around him, you knew that he was going to be someday," Blake's cousin and Kansas linebacker Beau Bell said. "Once he got to his junior year in high school everyone knew where he was going and what he was going to do with his life."
Though they're both far removed from being teammates at Wichita's Bishop Carroll High School, Beau still admires how his cousin plays.
I like how hard he runs," Bell said. "He is a big guy who can move. He's 260, 6-foot-6 and he if he is coming in the hole, he is coming hard."
Shepherd starting to get comfortable at corner
JaCorey Shepherd never played defense in high school so when he made the switch from wide receiver to corner last season it wasn't easy for him.
Weis described him as a "wide receiver playing corner" last season which contributed to his trouble.
"At times I would watch and think more about what the receiver was doing rather than what I would need to be doing as far as on the defensive side," Shepherd said. "Now I do a lot better than that."
Now that he's starting to hit his stride he has a touchdown and an interception with 26 tackles.