Demon Football Things to Watch

Just a few things I will be eager to see when the season kicks off Saturday in Lawrence with the temperature in the mid 80s...

The Demon Pups: There is a lot of youth on this Demon team, with just seven seniors. I want to see how the kids play when they face another team for the first time, especially one the caliber of Kansas.

The OL: Perhaps the biggest question mark on the team, but also one with a ton of talent. There is no other unit in football that has to rely on each other so much, and there will be a lot of new starters and new guys leaning on each other. This unit could become very good...hopefully very soon.

QB: After a tremendous spring and fall camp, Roch Charpentier has made this a battle between he and Ricky Joe Meeks. Who will step up and seize control of the game? Head Coach Scott Stoker demands a lot of his QBs, let's see who can best handle those demands.

RB: Who totes the note? There are five guys with great talent back there, it's just a matter of who steps up. Massey, Skidmore, Lawrence, Earl or Etheridge?

Purple Swarm: Clearly the defense will need to help the offense out in the early going. They play a unique brand of defense and have a lot of potential playmakers behind the guys on front.

Ed Queen: Maybe my biggest player to watch. Watching Ed limp around last year trying to play through the sports hernia was painful. Now that he is healthy and ready to go, can he regain the form of two years ago, when he was dominant? And what does his presence do for Tory Collins? Surely they will go a long way in keeping double teams off of each other to make plays in the backfield.

Attitude: Much has been made of this team being very focused on the team concept, burying egos for the good of the team. I will be interested in how they respond to success or adversity. What will they do if they have a big lead, or protecting a small one? What happens when they get down quickly or a couple of bad plays happen in a row? Attitude could mean a lot to this team.

Those are some of the things that I will be keeping my eye on, and hopefully we will be able to give you some indication on how those are going.

Oh, did I mention the mid-80s temperature?

See you on the radio!