Blue Squad Takes Spring Football Game, 34-7
April 13, 2013
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Photo Gallery | Video Highlights Postgame Video: Coach Weis | Players All-Access Replay ($) LAWRENCE, Kan. – Jake Heaps racked up 257 yards on 20-for-28 passing, earning co-offensive MVP honors as he led the Blue squad to a 34-7 victory in the Blue-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium Saturday.
Heaps, who will be a junior for Kansas in the fall after sitting out last season following a transfer from BYU, finished the game with four touchdowns in his second spring game with the program. He more than doubled his output from last year’s contest where he went 7-for-10 for 106 yards and a single score.
Junior wide receiver Justin McCay was Heaps favorite target and tied the Blue team’s signal caller in offensive MVP voting by the media. McCay, another transfer who will be eligible for KU in the fall, finished the day with eight catches for 99 yards and one touchdown.
McCay scored on a leaping grab from five yards out with 2:33 left in the game, but perhaps his biggest play of the day came in the third quarter when he made a crafty one-handed catch on a deep ball down the left sideline for a 47-yard gain. That completion from Heaps set up a 33-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Matthew Wyman–the first of his two converted attempts, which made the score 24-7 with 1:17 left in the third quarter.
Junior linebacker Ben Heeney earned the day’s defensive MVP honors, as he finished with five tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage for the Blue squad. Junior quarterback Nasir Moore finished with a game-high nine tackles for the White team.
Senior tight end Jimmay Mundine scored touchdowns on both of his receptions for the Blue team, while junior running back Tony Pierson added another receiving touchdown in addition to his five catches for 62 yards. Senior running back James Sims had a game-high 74 rushing yards on 16 carries, also for the Blue team.
The Blue squad ended the day with 352 total yards, while the White team finished with 128 yards and three turnovers. Sophomore quarterback Michael Cummings, who started five games for the Jayhawks last season, totaled 94 yards on 8-for-13 passing for the White squad.
Heaps marched the Blue team down the field on the game’s opening drive, completing six of his seven attempts capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass to Pierson. A pair of second quarter touchdown passes to Mundine extended the Blue squad’s lead to 21-0 with less than three minutes left in the half.
The highlight of the game for the White team was Cummings’ 25-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Josh Ford, which cut the Blue squad’s lead to 21-7 with 40 seconds remaining in the first half. Two plays earlier, Cummings hit Ford for a 41-yard strike down to the Blue team’s 22-yard line.
Cummings finished the half with 72 yards on 5-for-8 passing, while Heaps went 15-for-19 for 156 yards and three touchdowns before the break.
The day began with the `Train Like A Jayhawk’ clinic for kids grades 1-6 on the football practice fields adjacent to the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium. The clinic, which featured stations directed by KU football players, went from 10-11 a.m. and had nearly 500 participants.
The spring game caps spring football practice for the Jayhawks and Kansas will begin the 2013 season on Sept. 7 vs. South Dakota. The Jayhawks will also host non-conference opponent Louisiana Tech (Sept. 21) before Big 12 foes Texas Tech (Oct. 5/Homecoming, K-Club Weekend), Oklahoma (Oct. 19), Baylor (Oct. 26) and Kansas State (Nov. 30) visit Lawrence.
