The hype around Corione Harris has been building since February when the four-star recruit officially signed with KU. On Saturday night, we got our first look at the true freshman.

Harris didn’t get the start but acted as the first reserve at the corner spot. He played on 25 of Nicholls State’s 74 offensive plays and appeared on five different drives.

Going into the game, I was curious to see what coverages Clint Bowen would use Harris in. Being a true freshman, Harris doesn’t know the entire defensive playbook yet, so I assumed Bowen would use Harris in fairly simple coverages.

Bowen did, just with a few twists. But we’ll get to that later.

Playing alongside Harris for 12 of the 25 snaps, more than any other safety, was Mike Lee. Lee, who played as a true freshman, was eager to give his thoughts on how Harris played.

“The plays that went his way, I felt like he was there, he made plays, and he didn't have any balls caught on him,” Lee said. “So I feel like he started his freshman year off pretty good.”

Despite Lee’s glowing review, David Beaty had a more indifferent opinion.

“Some good, some not so good,” Beaty said of Harris’ performance. “But once again, the thing I liked about him is he has a don't-blink attitude. I mean he wanted to get in there and was excited about getting up in their face and playing some press coverage and really attacking those guys. Did some good things. I thought he was physical at times on the edge, which was good. But you know, he's still a young guy, but he's got a bright future. I think he's going to be a really good player.”

Looking at the film, you can see why Beaty took away both positives and negatives.

Against the run...

Of Harris’ 25 plays, 17 of them were Nicholls State rushes. (Editor's note: Nicholls State logged 24 pass attempts to 50 rush attempts on the day.)

Most of those rushes were either up the middle or never got close enough to Harris for him to have to make a play. He was, however, forced to make a play on two occasions in the run game.

"I feel like he did what he was supposed to do, he did his job," Lee said of Harris' performance against the run. "When the plays came to his side, he kept the running back on the inside and not let him get outside to get a big run. I feel like he did a good job setting the edge. He stuck his head in there a few plays and got himself a few assisted tackles."

3rd and 6, ball on Nicholls 16. Third play of Nicholls' 10th drive.



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This play resulted in Harris’ first recorded stat as a Jayhawk, as he picked up an assisted tackle.

The entire defense dropped back in zone coverage when the ball was snapped. When Kendall Bussey received the ball, Joe Dineen and Harris broke toward the ball.

Dineen got the first hit but Harris made a good play to help Dineen wrap up Bussey.

Harris isn’t going to be an explosive hitter as a freshman like Lee, but as long as Harris continues to follow the fundamentals and not go for SportsCenter Top 10 hits, he’ll be fine tackling Big 12 running backs.

2nd and 11, ball on Nicholls 38. Second play of Nicholls' 11th drive.



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Harris got a little over-eager on this play and actually over-ran the running back. Dineen made contact with Bussey that forced him to try and bounce it outside. Harris recovered well and came from behind to make the tackle.

Harris was credited with a tackle for loss.

Brian Lipscomb, the defensive end lined up in wide-nine technique, thought Harris made a good play.

“He didn’t quit on the play, you love to see that,” Lipscomb said, “but he’ll learn to be more patient on those runs with more experience.”

Against the pass...

Of Harris’ 25 plays, eight of them were passes. Of the eight, Harris was asked to drop into zone coverage on two of them — an intriguing twist.

When Harris was on the field, he played on the short side of the field for the majority of plays. It also just so happens to be the same side as Lee.

According to Lee, when he played as a true freshman, defenses would do specific things to try and confuse him in the pass game.

“In my freshman year, offenses would switch their formations to make it hard for me to know what was coming,” Lee said. “I feel like as the games went by, we started using more and more types of coverages.”

Let’s take a look at those plays...

2nd and 9, ball on Nicholls 21. Second play of Nicholls' 4th drive.



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In his first time dropping into coverage, Harris dropped into zone coverage and the KU defense almost got a pick.

Harris did a good job reading the play as it developed. He didn’t drop down towards the line of scrimmage as the tight end ran a check-down. Instead, he recognized that Dineen had the tight end covered so he could stay back.

When the ball was thrown, Harris and the entire defense broke towards the receiver simultaneously. If the ball was thrown just a bit harder, Tyrone Miller would've had the interception.

3rd and 9, ball on Nicholls 21. Third play of Nicholls 4th drive.



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Here, Harris did a good job of keeping a good distance between himself and Dai’Jean Dixon.

Dixon isn’t a huge deep threat and was therefore more likely to cut across the middle than run a streak like Damion Jeanpierre Jr. did on this play.

Because of the man in the slot, Harris could determine Dixon woudln't run a quick slant because he would cut right across Dineen, who dropped into coverage.

Really, it was a good all-around play from Harris despite not getting the ball thrown to his man.

1st and 10, ball on KU 14. Fifth play of Nicholls' 4th drive.



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There's not much to analyze here. It's just straight man coverage and the play went away from Harris, who didn’t have to do much.

2nd and 13, ball on KU 17. Seventh play of Nicholls' 4th drive

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Here is the second zone look with Harris in the game. Even though the play went to the right side, you can tell Harris is in zone coverage just by watching his footwork.

Watch as the slot receiver on the top of the screen turns for an out route. Now watch as Harris recognizes the receiver and hesitates toward him before he sees the ball was thrown.

3rd and 7, ball on KU 11. Eighth play of Nicholls' 4th drive.



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This was Harris’ first mistake of the game and it was almost a costly one. Harris was originally called for pass interference but after some deliberation, the officials decided it was an uncatchable ball (I’ll let you form your own opinion on if it was catchable).

Watch Harris’ head as the play unfolds.

When he hit the five-yard line, Harris’ feet stopped and he looked into the backfield. When he did, Dixon went right past him and was open. Harris made a good recovery but plowed right into Dixon. Dixon did a good job of slowing up, which helped the fake bubble screen look like the first option.

As Harris gets more experience, I’d be shocked if we continue to see plays like this one.

1st and 10, ball on Nicholls 23. Fourth play of Nicholls' 10th drive.



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Here we get our first look at Harris’ speed in coverage.

Despite giving space at the line of scrimmage, Harris still got beat by Dontaze Costly. As Costly sprinted past him, Harris should have at least tried to get into the body of Costly a little, just enough to make him slow down.

See how much space there is between the two of them once Costly passed Harris? A better throw and that would have been a field-flipping play.

I don’t know what to think of Harris’ speed on this play. Beaty has raved about Harris’ athleticism and I left this play just wanting a little more speed-wise.

3rd and 10, ball on Nicholls 23. Sixth play of Nicholls' 10th drive.

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There's not much to analyze here. Harris' man fell down and was never a factor in the play.

1st and 10, ball on Nicholls 21. Fourth play of Nicholls' 12th drive.



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This play says a lot about what Nicholls thought of Harris.

The play before this, Taylor went down injured and Harris was forced to come in for the rest of the drive. On Harris’ first play of the series, Nicholls went right after him.

This is another example of Harris having some loose coverage.

Being the experienced receiver he is, Dixon recognized that Harris’ hips were facing infield. Because of the space between Harris’ back and the sideline, the streak gave Dixon a lot of space to run and Chase Fourcade a lot of space to pass into.

Harris once again did well to recover and break up the pass, even though it wasn’t the best of throws.

A final thought

The fact that Bowen decided to use Harris in multiple zone plays and even some that ended up being passes says a lot. The way I see it, the coaching staff has seen enough development from Harris that they trust him in a few simplified zone looks.

A common trend I saw of Harris in coverage was that he tended to give the receivers more space than he needed to. This is due, in part, to the fact that most of the Nicholls players were juniors and seniors and are very experienced.

I would call this a feel-it-out game for Harris. It’s his first time going against a collegiate opponent and you could tell that Bowen and Beaty didn’t want to throw him into the fire.

As Harris begins to see that he can hang with some of the better wide receivers, I would expect him to be a lot more aggressive in coverage.

From this game, you can also see why Harris isn’t starting. He is still raw in some areas and as of right now, Shakial Taylor and Hasan Defense are better corners.