Monday, Dec. 31, 10:13 p.m., Jacksonville, Fla. -- Happy New Year, everybody. Both teams practiced today in Fort Lauderdale, and I attended both press conferences this morning before heading up to Jacksonville for Tuesday's Gator Bowl.
Junior cornerback Macho Harris said he hasn't received his NFL paperwork yet but didn't sound like a man who's about to play his final game.
“I was just trying to see where I stand," he said. "Other than that, I look forward to playing at Virginia Tech next year.”
That's good news for junior defensive end Orion Martin, who said he'd rather not think about the mass exodus that will ensue after this season.
“I’ve thought about it a little bit," he said. "I don’t really want to think about that right now. Just play this game and think about that when it comes.
"It's going to be an emotional game for a lot of people," he added.
Kansas defensive end Russell Brorsen confirmed that a Jayhawk -- the bird -- doesn't really exist.
“I would think not," he said, smiling. "I don’t think there’s any fossilized records of it.”
When somebody pointed out that a lot of people don't really know what a Hokie is, either, he gave it a shot.
“We had a discussion about the Hokie," he said. "I know this isn’t right…but isn’t it like a turkey? It’s a word their fans made up in the 1920s. But it’s a type of turkey. They have a turkey on the sidelines. Isn’t that like their mascot?”
Not a bad attempt there, really.
Quarterback Todd Reesing kind of personifies this Kansas team. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound sophomore talked about how difficult it was for him to get recruited despite the fact that he was the Class 4A player of the year in Texas as a junior at Lake Travis High School.
The only other teams that offered him were Kansas State (an offer that later fell apart when coach Bill Snyder retired in 2005) and Duke. The Jayhawks probably wouldn't have offered him if he hadn't sent a highlight tape to coach Mark Mangino. He spent the summer before his senior year barnstorming tryout camps at a slew of big schools, most of which dismissed him quickly.
"They all said, 'He may throw the ball good, but he’s too short.'" Reesing said. "Or 'he’s not fast enough.' It always came down to those two things. It kind of got old. I was like, 'OK, if you don’t like it, tell me to leave. Don’t waste my time; I won’t waste yours.'”
Reesing earned the starting job this season and attempted 119 passes before throwing an interception. He's thrown for 3,259 yards and 32 touchdowns to make second-team All-Big 12.
“Well, I’m not trying to go out to say, ‘hey, I told you so’ to people," he said. "But there’s a certain level of satisfaction to say 'hey, [stinks] for y’all.”
As you might have heard, Bill Parcells stopped by Tech's practice today and spoke to the Hokies. Beat writer Randy King was there and will have more on that in Wednesday's newspaper.
Bud Foster, as you might have gathered from the transcript posted here earlier, answered a lot of questions this morning. It was by far the most lengthy interview of any of the four coordinators who have taken the podium. The full transcript was posted here earlier -- a lot of it you've heard before, but since somebody with the Orange Bowl took the time to type it all up for the media, I figured I'd pass it along. There is some good stuff in there, particularly his thoughts on linebackers Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi.
You get the feeling this is one of those games where the Foster's group will be fine if it can just minimize the damage. It will be hard to keep Kansas off the scoreboard, but if the Hokies can turn potential touchdowns into field goals, they'll be in excellent shape.
“When they get in the red zone, you know you’ve got to lock down a lot harder," Martin said. "That’s what we’ve been good at.”
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