IN THE TRENCHES: WEEKLY Q&A WITH FORMER KANSAS DT KEVIN KOPP

[Jay Thompson]

IN THE TRENCHES is an in-depth look from a former Jayhawk player’s perspective into key questions specific to each week’s Kansas matchup. Kevin Kopp was a defensive tackle for Glen Masons’s Jayhawks from ’93-’96. Kopp’s smart, blue collar style anchored the 1995 Jayhawk defensive line, one of the most popular KU teams of all time. Kopp is a Kansas City native, graduating from Rockhurst Jesuit high school in ’93 as a defensive end All-American. Coming out of Rockhurst, Kopp was one of the most highly recruited defensive ends in the country with offers from Tennessee, Boston College, Michigan St., Iowa and Kansas. Kopp currently lives in Phoenix, AZ and is a commercial real estate investment professional for National Commercial Investors Group. He’s married to the former Brooke Thompson (KU ’96) and has two children (Annie, 5 and Anderson, 3).


Do you think the benching of Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing against Texas Tech will have a positive or negative effect on the offense against K-State?

I don’t think the benching of Reesing during the Tech game will play a big role in how our offense performs this week at K-State. I don’t think there was ever a question in Mangino’s (or anyone on the offense) mind who will be the starting qb this week. The Tech game simply got out of reach and with the day Reesing was having, sometimes you just have to hang it up and not let the stats get worse for your starting qb.

With that being said though, Reesing is a fierce competitor; his years at the KU helm have proven that, I would bet HE is extremely motivated this week to come out on silence the critics. As a player you try to ignore it, but when media is writing stories about your performance, questioning whether you should be starting or not, it becomes a personal challenge.

It happened to me when I was playing and it happens to players every day at every school. As a competitor, you take that information, use it as motivation and go out the next week and play your tail off. There is no time for “feeling sorry” for yourself at this level of play.

Todd Reesing will be motivated this week and I see him playing a very effective game against K-State and bringing KU a much needed win.


Surprisingly, in the three consecutive losses to Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas Tech the common denominator has been the lack of an offensive rhythm. What must the Kansas offense do to get back on track and have a big day against the Wildcats?

RUN! RUN! RUN! We put so much pressure on Todd Reesing to be our offensive star to produce big yardage and score a ton of points. When I say we, it is almost like the offensive coaches are also putting all of that pressure on Reesing and our passing game.

All of our opponents are acutely prepared for this passing attack and scheme around it. Early in the season I thought Opurum was used very effectively to establish our run game. Anytime you can establish a run game early, it will definitely loosen things up for your passing attack.

Through those first 5 games, our offense seemed pretty balanced with our passing game feeding off the success of the run. We have clearly gotten away from Opurum running the ball, and really any sense of a running game, giving our opposing defenses the ability to tee off against the pass which has created too many turnovers.

I will mention, though, last year Jake Sharp had a career day against K-State. He is a product from the state of Kansas, so I know this is a big game for him personally. He could very easily have a break out game this Saturday. I am hoping to see a Kansas offense that comes out against K-State, establishes a running game to open up our passing attack and lay it on K-State.


What are your memories of the K-State rivalry?

This is one of those nightmarish questions I get asked a lot and try to avoid, but you asked it so I will work through it. I despise K-State, I don’t own anything purple in my life or allow purple to be worn by my family. When it comes to the likes of K-State (and Missouri), my blood boils.

While I played we owned Missouri, but the reason this is a nightmarish question for me is that we went 0-4 against K-State. I realize though, that as an overall record, KU is 65-36-5, but those 4 loses haunt me to this day.

I respect the legacy of Bill Snyder and how he turned that program around, but there is nothing about Manhattan, KS I like.


How do you see the game playing out in Manhattan?

This team is due for a win.

Our defense has continued to improve and I see that continuing into this week’s game as they maintain some consistency. The defense has done their part the past several weeks to put this team in a position to win.

Every part of the offense took a lot of heat after the Tech loss last week, so I see those guys coming out extremely motivated and fired up. I am of the belief there is too much experience on our offense for this trend to continue. Let’s not forget there is a lot riding on this game for the Big 12 North crown. With a win on Saturday the Jayhawks have a shot to put themselves in the running for the Big 12 North, and the guys in the locker know that.

Two off the wall stats for the team this year: KU is 2-0 playing on the Versus Network and 3-0 playing games that kickoff before noon. Just in case you don’t know, KU kicks off at 11:30 AM on the Versus Network this Saturday. My gut is telling me the Jayhawks win big in Manhattan!