THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
DANCING NACHOS
PAGE 10A
MICHAEL PHILLIPS
MPHILLIPS@KANSAN.COM
Mangino outdoes Pinkel
It was the best of coaching, it was the worst of coaching.
Yes, the Kansas defensive unit put on its best performance of the season in shuting down Missouri, but that was not the sole reason the Jayhawks kept the Tigers out of the end zone.
The Missouri coaches also helped by making senior quarterback Brad Smith look like not once or twice, but three times a lady in his meetings with the Jayhawks.
After the Missouri offense was held to just 75 total yards in the first half, some strategic changes would be expected in the second half. Not only did that not happen, but freshman quarterback Chase Daniel saw only three plays of action, negating the appealing option of using Smith as a wide receiver.
Kansas football coach Mark Mangino, alongside defensive coordinator Bill Young, had the perfect answer to the Tigers' game plan: contain Smith and fight the instinct to suck him.
"I thought on several occasions they probably could have jumped the ball and beaten the tackle," Mangino said. "But then you run the risk of him stepping up out of the pocket and running." It turned out to be Smith's worst nightmare. Left on his own inside the pocket Smith completed only 14 of his 37 passes with an interception.
Don't heap all the blame on Smith's shoulders, though. Pinkel is the coach who managed to turn an early-season Heisman candidate in 2004 into a remarkably average Big 12 player.
The fact that Missouri fans still blindly follow Pinkel is proof that New Zealand isn't the only place with more sheep than people.
Missouri will back its way into a bowl game by winning one of its final three games against Colorado, Baylor or Kansas State.
Pinkel will likely be allowed to stay after once again recruiting one of the nation's top quarterback prospects in Daniel. At some point, the Missouri fans are going to have to start demanding more than just average results from these terrific athletes.
Across the border, on the non-potholed side of I-70, Kansas fans should realize what a great game coach they have in Mangino.
After the game, senior quarterback Jason Swanson said that the initial gameplan called for more passing, but the plan was adjusted after the rushing game proved successful. That's something that would not have been seen on the other sideline.
Mangino consistently brings his teams into games prepared to exploit the opponents' weaknesses. Last year, he almost finished the season with a victory against Texas and its mobile quarterback, Vince Young.
I said three weeks ago that this Kansas team was still capable of making a bowl game, and it still is. The offense has found out it doesn't need to win games, just run large chunks of clock off and wait for its chance to score.
With so much on the line, in addition to a 37-year losing streak to Nebraska, expect the Memorial Stadium crowd to outnumber the 48,000 in attendance on Saturday. The Jayhawk defense should beast against a weak Nebraska offense giving Kansas an opportunity to reestablish itself in the bowl hunt.
If nothing else, fans can remind themselves that they are lucky to be on the winning side of the "Tale of Two Coaches."
- Phillips is a Wichita junior in journalism.
FOOTBALL
Proving the doubters wrong
Justin O'Neal/KANSAN
Senior defensive end Charlton Keith舍脱 in on Missouri senior quarterback Brad Smith for one of his two sacks during Saturday's victory. Keith is second on the team with seven total sacks. Keith's speed makes him a prospect as an NFL lineman or linebacker.
Lineman's size not a problem
BY RYAN COLAIANNI
rcolaiani@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Charlton Keith is auditioning for the National Football League.
The Kansas Jayhawks only sacked Missouri quarterback Brad Smith twice during last Saturday's 13-3 victory, but both of those sacks came from Keith, a senior defensive end.
The sacks were from a player who only had three all of last season. This season, Keith has had an immediate impact and has more than doubled his sack total with seven. It's enough to place him second on the team and fourth in the Big 12 Conference. Keith also has 37 tackles and 15 tackles for loss, which ties him with Kansas linebacker Nick Reid for the Big 12 lead.
Keith has been the anchor on a Kansas defensive line that has been successful getting pressure on the quarterback all season, but it wasn't the pressure on Saturday that helped the Jayhawks stop Smith. Kansas was able to stop Smith by forcing him to run outside of the offensive line and into the hands of the Kansas linebackers.
SEE WRONG ON PAGE 8A
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Colorado comes out at top of division
Kansas State, Nebraska fight for chances in postseason
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITTER
The Big 12 North has a good idea what team will walk into Houston for this year's conference championship.
Colorado put itself in first place in the North division after defeating Kansas State in Manhattan last week with a 50-yard field goal at the end of regulation play from place-kicker Mason Crosby. Colorado defeated Kansas State 23-20.
The Buffaloes are 4-1 in conference play with a big game this weekend at home against the Missouri Tigers who are 3-2 in conference. The winner of that game will have the upper hand in the division.
Besides Missouri, Colorado still has games at Iowa State and at home against Nebraska.
On the other hand, it was only two seasons ago when Kansas State defeated Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship and played in the Fiesta Bowl. Now, for the second season in a row, Kansas State is on the verge of not qualifying for a bowl game.
Kansas State now finds itself at 4-4 on the season and 1-4 in
conference play with two of its final three games on the road. Kansas State must win two of those games to qualify for postseason play.
The loss against Colorado marked the second close loss in a row for Kansas State. Last week, against Texas A&M, Kansas State lost 30-28 after scoring a late touchdown in the fourth quarter. But the Wildcats couldn't find a way to pull the game out from under the Aggies.
Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder said that he realized the difficult task that lies ahead for his team but that the team would continue working hard and prepare for this week's opponent, Iowa State.
"The game was very disappointing for our fans, players and coaches," Snyder said. "It was a repeat performance from a week ago. We had three turnovers, a lot of penalties and a number of missed opportunities and you just can't do that when you are trying to win a ballgame."
Nebraska's chances of winning the North division also took a hit last weekend when it lost a crucial home game against Oklahoma. It marked the first
"We started
"We started strong and jumped out on top early, and the rest of the guys on offense rallied around Adrian."
Bob Stoops Oklahoma football coach
Oklahoma got a lift in the game with the return of running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson had missed or seen extremely limited playing time in the team's previous four games. Peterson showed no signs of the ankle injury that kept him out, as he rushed the ball 28 times for 146 vards and two touchdowns.
time since 1968 that Nebraska had lost back-to-back home games.
"It made such a big difference to have Adrian back at full strength," Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops said. "We started strong and jumped out on top early, and the rest of the guys on offense rallied around Adrian."
SEE COLORADO ON PAGE 8A
Charlie Rindel/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado kicker Mason Crosby (16) celebrates with Tyler Polumbus, left, and Gregory Pace (59) after kicking the game-winning field goal against Kansas State on Saturday in Manhattan. Crosby's 50-yard kick with six seconds left gave Colorado sole possession of the Big 12 North lead at 6-2 and 4-1 in the conference.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Nothing scary about Hawks high-speed practice
Still, players didn't go without Halloween treats. Kansas players walked out of practice with smiles on their faces and plentiful bags of candy prepared for them by coach Bill Self's wife. Cindy.
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWITHER
The Jayhawks didn't have time to go trick-or-treating Monday night. A three-hour practice kept them in Allen Fieldhouse well after dark.
The Jayhawks practiced twice
Monday, a short round in the morning followed by an intense three-hour session in the afternoon. In the afternoon practice, they worked on footwork, shooting drills and various offenses — the primary and secondary breaks and the high-low offense — before moving into a full-court scrimmage that lasted more than an hour.
The scrimmage was fast-paced and intense. Self said that for the first time in the past couple of weeks he was not concerned about his team's conditioning.
The Jayhawks frequently ran the primary and secondary breaks, which led to some inconsistent play at times, but Self said that was because there were so many young players.
"I thought today was one of our better practices." Self said. "I think we got everyone competing pretty hard."
"I don't think any of those guys have been pressured like that before," Self said of the way the freshmen were being defended by the veteran players. "But if they can handle this,
they should be able to handle anything. I thought they did pretty good today, even though it was a little bit sloppy."
"Right now, I don't know who our starters are," Self said. "I don't know who our best team is going to be, but I think eventually our best team will be with young guys involved but right
During the scrimmage, Self had the players switch teams four times. He said he was trying to determine what groups of players worked the best together.
.
now our best players right now are our returning guys."
Of the freshmen, Micah Downs was impressive shooting the ball, and Brandon Rush showed that he could make some highlights as well. On one possession, Rush drove the ball down the lane, past all of the defenders and threw the ball down for a jam. On another, he turned the ball over to Robinson who drove down and scored on the other end.
SEE SCARY ON PAGE 8A
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