6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
teams.
Three games remain on LSU's regular season slate. The Tigers play host to Louisiana Tech, visit Mississippi and play Arkansas at home before presumably playing in the SEC Championship game. Louisiana Tech should be a cinch at home, Mississippi is winless in conference play and Arkansas is not a top-tier opponent by any measure. If LSU advances to the SEC Championship, it will most likely face Georgia or Tennessee, two good teams that could knock the Tigers out of BCS contention.
Oregon faces Arizona and UCLA on the road before finishing the season at home against Oregon State. Arizona and UCLA have been inconsistent all season, but in-state rival Oregon State could give the Ducks some trouble.
In the circumstance that Ohio State, LSU and Oregon win the rest of their games, Kansas still could jump into second place in the BCS Standings, according to analysts. The Jayhawks would obviously need to win all of their remaining games — at Oklahoma State, vs. Iowa State, vs. Missouri, Big 12 Championship — in convincing fashion.
Also, Kansas' strength-of-schede would have to stay respectable
for the team to leapfrog LSU and Oregon. That means Kansas fans should shamelessly cheer the teams Kansas trounced early in the season. Central Michigan and Toledo have put together decent seasons but Southeastern Louisiana and Florida International have dragged the Jayhawks' strength-of-schedule down with a horrific 2-16 combined record. Late-season victories by Baylor, Kansas State, Colorado and Texas A&M could also give Kansas a boost in the eyes of the pollsters, whose votes count in the BCS formula.
So remember: If you're a Kansas football fan, don't bounce when you see Missouri beating Texas A&M this Saturday.
Kansas fans should also hop on the Missouri and Oklahoma bandwagons — at least for the time being. A Kansas victory against Missouri on Nov. 24 and a subsequent triumph against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship one week later would probably catapult the Jayhawks into the National Championship game, but only if Missouri and Oklahoma win all of their games leading up to their match-ups against Kansas.
BIG 12 FOOTBALI
Tight end tandem
strong but forgotten
Edited by Luke Morris
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel has a lot of targets in the spread offense, so it isn't uncommon for some receivers to occasionally get lost in the shuffle.
It happened to wide receiver Will Franklin when he caught just one pass over two games last month. And despite the fact that the Tigers have what many consider to be the best tight end dandem in the nation in Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman, it's happened to both of them.
Not that they mind. Both say they're happy to share the load.
"I think him (Rucker) being here the same time as me is great," Coffman said. "It helps us both out, and it takes some of the pressure off the both of us."
Rucker was the All-Big 12 tight end last season and has often been one of the go-to players for No.7 Missouri (8-1, 4-1 Big 12), which hosts Texas A&M (6-4, 3-3) on Saturday. He has 60 catches for 617 yards and five touchdowns.
At times, Coffman has seemed to be the forgotten man. If there was any doubt about his importance to the team, that was erased in Saturday's 55-10 win at Colorado.
Associated Press
football notebook
Coach Mark Mangino named the players of the week Tuesday. Sophomore quarterback Todd Reseing earned the offensive player of the week award for his 30-of-41, 354 passing yard, six touchdown.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
performance.
Reesing set both the
Kansas single-
game and
single-season
passing down records
last Saturday.
Junior wide
Reesing
receiver Marcus Herford won special teams player of the week for his Kansas single-game record of 203 kick return yards. Herford re
turned two kicks for 49 yards each. Mangino did not name a defensive player of the week. The scout team players of the week were senior guard Rameses Arceo and freshman defensives back Eric Tyler.
DEFENSE WILL BE OK
Despite the fact that the Kansas defense allowed 484 yards of total offense last week, Mangino said he had no concerns about the state of the unit. The coach said communication breakdowns between Kansas players and several unexpected play-calls by Nebraska resulted in big plays. Mangino said he was pleased with the way his team reacted to Nebraska's 24-point first half. Kansas pulled away from Nebraska by forcing
four second-half turnovers and allowing only two touchdowns after halftime.
EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF MANGING
A spot in the nation's top five tends to earn plenty of attention. Mangino said that trying to balance numerous media requests with the day-to-day duties of coaching the team was difficult but a natural byproduct of the Jayhawks' strong play. "It's great when you're having a lot of people interested in your program because that means everybody is doing something right," Mangino said. "But we are not going to be taken off track. We have a smart bunch of kids here that see what's
taking place and are enjoying it but are not caught up in it."
TALIB A SEMIFINALIST FOR THORPE AWARD
Junior cornerback Aqib Talib is
among 12 semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to college football's best defensive back. On Nov. 19, three finalists
three finalists
Talib
will be announced and on Dec. 6, the winner will be decided.
VOLLEYBALL
Kansas continues to be strong on the net. The Jayhawk hitters have increased blocks and kills this season.
'Hawks counter 'Horns with skilled hitters
— Asher Fusco
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
What a difference a month makes.
On Oct. 3, freshman outside hitter Jenna Kaiser had just finished off her first six Big 12 conference matches of her career. Kaiser, a Wichita native, hit for 49 kills during that six-match stretch.
A month later on Nov. 3, Kaiser was on the court hitting for 18 kills during Kansas' 3-2 upset win against No. 18 Oklahoma. The match concluded a six-game stretch where Kaiser had posted 75 kills. So that's 49 kills in her first six conference matches and 75 in her last six. A sign of a freshman getting a little more comfortable, perhaps?
Kansas will need Kaiser to continue her hot offensive pace if it wants to hang with No. 3 Texas tonight at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The
"Oh man," Kaiser said, when asked about how she's developed during the last month. "You learn a lot."
Jayhawks comes into tone's match with a 11-14 record and a 4-11 Big 12 conference mark. Texas is 18-3 and 13-1 in the Big 12.
injury.
Texas defeated Kansas 3-0 in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 13, and then the Longhorns did the unthinkable. They defeated the then-No. 1 team in the country, the undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Kansas will counter with Kaiser, who was not as highly touted out of high school, but continues to improve every game. The freshman has led Kansas in kills eight times.
"The coaches they tell you every single second, 'you need to this or you need to do that,' " Kaiser said. "So they help out a lot. And just experience from the games"
Texas has two All-American caliber outside hitters. Sophomore Destinee Hooker averages 4.71 kills per game and freshman Juliann Fauctee is averaging 4.80 kills per game. PrepVolleyball.com ranked Fauctee, a San Diego native, the second best volleyball recruit in the country out of high school. She had 22 kills against Kansas the first time the teams met this season while Hooker didn't play because of an
A victory would give Kansas its first against Texas since Nov. 8, 2003. Texas has won the last seven matches. Kansas can also play the spoiler role tonight. Texas is tied with Nebraska for first in the Big 12 conference at 13-1. Both teams gave each other its lone defeat, so if both teams win out, Nebraska and Texas would share the Big 12 volleyball title.
Edited by Rachael Grav
match preview
Kansas vs. No. 3 Texas
7:00 p.m.
Horejsi Family Athletics
Center
WHAT'S AT STAKE
If Kansas wins, it will be the team's second straight victory against a ranked opponent. Kansas defeated No. 18 Oklahoma 3-2 on Saturday.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Michelle Moriarty, senior, setter
natalie Uhart, junior middle blocker
Hooker and Fauccette get all the attention, but Moriarty quietly leads the Big 12 in assists per game with 14. She is also a big reason Texas leads the conference in hitting percentage at .338.
TEXAS
Uhart, a Lansing native, has three straight matches with double-digit kills. She had 19 against Missouri on Oct. 27, 11 against Baylor on Oct. 31, and 14 against Oklahoma on Saturday.
KANSAS
WEDNESDAY IS COLLEGE NIGHT!
841-5000 Open until 3am or later