SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 4.1994
SECTION B
Everything to gain,so much to lose
Kansas freshman defensive lineman Brett McGraw and junior linebacker Keith Rodgers combine on a tackle that forced Oklahoma State tailback David Thompson to fumble.The Jayhawks defeated the Cowboys 24-14 last week.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
'Huskers guarding against a letdown
Nebraska still mindful of 21-20 scare last year
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
The Cornhuskers enter the game coming off their biggest victory of the season, a 24-7 stomping of No. 7 Colorado.
Few people give the Kansas football team much of a chance to defeat the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers when they meet at tomorrow in Lincoln, except for the participants themselves.
"I think their looking past us," Kansas sophomore tailback Mark Sanders said. "They think they have the Big Eight all wrapped up."
Some Kansas players say an emotional letdown after that game could be a weakness of the top-ranked Cornhuskers.
Nebraska cornerback Barron Miles sounds nothing like what Sanders expects.
"We can't have a aletown," Miles said.
"If we let our guard down, we can easily get upset. We didn't take them lightly last year."
Miles was speaking of the Cornhuskers 21-20 victory last season in Lawrence. Kansas sophomore tailback June Henley scored on a three-yard
touchdown run with 52 seconds remaining, but Kansas failed to convert the two-point conversion and lost.
Kansas senior quarterback Asheiki Preston said that Kansas would seek inspiration from that loss.
"We're just going to play our game," Preston said. "Whether you're the lowest walk-on to the highest senior, you have to have confidence that whoever we put on the field is going to get the job done.
"I think last year we had confidence. We believed in ourselves."
Kansas coach Glen Mason said that his team would have the confidence to defeat Nebraska.
"I've been standing in front of these guys for four or five years," Mason said. "And sometimes, when you start to try to sell to them that they have a chance, then they think that maybe they don't have a chance."
Jayhawk Football Listed are the starters for Kansas' offense and defense
"If I was at the University of Nebraska, there would be no way that I would overlook the University of Kansas team that played us to one point last year," McBurrows said.
Kansas senior strong safety Gerald McBurrows said that last season's game would keep Nebraska from letting its guard down against Kansas
"And, with Kansas returning so many players that had an impact on that game last year, it is hard to just say.
Micah Laaker/KANSAN
"We're just going to play University of Kansas."
Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said that the Cornhuskers have practiced well since their victory against Colorado.
"You've got to guard against a letdown," McBride said. "That's the thing you have to be concerned about as a coach.
"They've worked very hard. It's the mental
aspect you're not sure about. The players realize the Colorado game is not the end of the season."
Miles said the intensity of each game had increased after each victory.
"If we lose one game, there goes the Big Eight Championship," Miles said. "Right now we're doing what we do every week to prepare. It's up to us to carry out practice with great intensity."
Jayhawks to face No.1 Nebraska
By Matt Irwin Kansas sportswrite
Kansan sportswrite
The Kansas football team will look its No. 1 problem right in the face at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Lincoln, Neb., when it lines up against Nebraska.
The Jayhawks are next in line to take on the Cornhuskers - a team that ranks first in the nation in rushing offense, fifth in total offense, fifth in rushing defense and 11th in total defense. The Cornhuskers also have won nine consecutive games.
The Cornhuskers are a fairly one-dimensional team on offense. They rank first in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 369.2 yards a game. However, Nebraska is last in the Big Eight Conference and 100th in the nation in passing offense, averaging only 114.2 yards a game.
Despite what seems like a limited offensive structure, teams still can't stop the Cornhuskers' running attack.
"To rush for 370 yards a game when everyone knows you're going to run it, and they're stacking a lot of people against you. you know you've darn good." Mason said.
Nebraska tailback Lawrence Phillips is fourth in the nation in rushing, averaging 146.6 yards a game, but most people give the 'Huskers' offensive line credit for the rushing success.
"I'm always amazed when I think Tom said this might be the best line he's ever had," Mason said about Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, who has been coaching 22 years in Lincoln. "I've always been impressed by the offensive lines that Nebraska has had.
"They're all big. They're all well coached. They don't have any missed assignments."
Osborne said the thing that made Nebraska so good was that they played as a unit.
While Kansas must deal with the best rushing attack in the nation, the Nebraska defense also must deal with a potent rushing offense. The Jayhawks are third in the Big Eight and eighth in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 261.9 yards a game.
The Kansas running game also is led by its offensive line. I still maintain I don't see any guards that are any more
See NO.1.Page 3B.
By Matt Irwin Kansan sportswriter
Cornhuskers intimidate with winning ways
The Kansas football team cannot battle Nebraska football tradition on the field.
But the Jayhawks will have to compete mentally with their own thoughts tomorrow about one of the most tradition-rich college football programs in the nation.
Nebraska tied Alabama's record of 25 consecutive bowl appearances last season and has appeared in 32 bowls in its history. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne has taken his team to a bowl every season of the 21 seasons he has been head coach there. The team has a record of 206-47-3 during that time.
"He is a legend," Kansas coach Glen Mason said. "Obviously, he's a hard worker. He's smart. He's got unquestionable character. He's surrounded by good assistant coaches. He's at a university that's got a total commitment to the program. And he's got good players."
"The thing that makes them a little out of the ordinary is that they don't come from a talent-rich state."
READER OPINION
Letters from readers needed for preview
The Kansan will publish a basketball preview section to tip off the men's and women's seasons. The section will run in the Nov. 17 paper.
Letters must be submitted no later than Nov. 10 with the author's name and phone number included. If that information is left off, the Kansan will not accept the submitted letter.
The sports staff is asking readers to write letters between 100-150 words long predicting the outcome of the college basketball season.
Readers should predict what team will win the NCAA championship. They also can pick the teams they consider overrated or dark horses.
See TRADITION. Page 4B.
Letters should be turned in to the Kansan newsroom, Room 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. A box for entered letters will be provided in the newsroom.
Any questions concerning reader's letters should be directed to Brian James, sports editor, or Gerry Fey, associate sports editor, at the Kansan. 848-4810.
'Hawks to test waters with nation's best
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's and women's swimming and diving team will be facing one of the top programs in the nation, the Michigan Wolverines, tomorrow. The Jayhawks will be traveling to the Southern Illinois Quadrangular in Carbondale, III.
The other competing teams are the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the host team, the Southern Illinois Salukis.
It doesn't get any better than this.
The Wolverines are ranked high in the most recent College Swimming Coaches Association of Americapoll. The women are ranked fourth, while the men are the top team in the nation. Nebraska women were 16th and the men were 23rd in the same poll. Kansas men and women are nationally ranked 20th and 24th respectively.
With these top programs, tomorrow's meet will be Kansas biggest test of the year, said Kansas swimming coach Gary Kempf.
"I'm excited and scared as hell, all wrapped into one," he said. "Reality has its checks,
"If we can't generate a little bit of energy facing that level of competition, we oughtn't be in the pool."
and we'll see how we can stand up against the best.
Senior distance freestyle Franklin Hanson said that she has already seen the energy level rising during this week's practices. Team members are excited to swim against the best.
"It's fun to compete against good people that make you go to the next level," she said.
The men and women both struggled through a lapse before winning last weekend. Hanson said the team needed to stay focused and not take any races for granted.
"If everyone stays focused for two hours, we will do well," Hanson said.
Kansas diving coach Don Fearon said the diving team had to stay focused as well. With several of the country's top divers competing in the meet, the Jayhawks need to be consistent on every dive.
"We're not going to be allowed any misses if we want to do well," Fearon said. "We want to be diving well all the time."
Maintaining a high level of confidence and being comfortable will also be key, said Kris Hoffman, junior diver. If those things are accomplished, Hoffman predicted he would finish in the top three individually.
in the team competition, junior butterflier and in backstroker Rob Putnam said the goal was to beat Nebraska, the Jayhawks' Big Eight Conference rival, Kansas fell just short of the Cornhuskers in last year's conference championships.
"We're always pumped up to swim against Nebraska." Putnam said.
Even though competing with Michigan may not be possible, Hanson said the team would not back down from the challenge.
"I think what we're capable of doing is making them earn everything they get," Kempf said.
However, that doesn't mean the Jayhawks will hand Michigan the title.
Kempf said defeating Michigan was not that realistic. It was not a fact Kempf was ashamed of, but he said that Kansas had not come up to the Wolverines' level.
"Why not go for Michigan?" Hanson said.
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Yuml Chikamori / KANSAN
Michelle Rojahn, the junior jumps high in the air at Robinson NATORATIUM.
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