6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
B1
TUESDAY.OCTOBER 23.2007
FOOTBALL
---
Team silences critics with perfect start
Jayhawks answer questions about preseason schedule, suspect defense
Sophomore running back jake Sharp takes the ball down the field during the game against Colorado Saturday evening at Folsom Field in Boulder, Kolass won the game 19-14 and has 7-0 record for the season. This is the first time the Jawahrens have 7-0 since 1995.
Anna Fattermeier/KANSAN
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
Since the start of the 2007 season, the Kansas football team has had its schedule second-guessed by skeptical sportswriters and its toughness questioned by the talking heads on television. During their first seven games, the Jayhawks seem to have taken the doubts as a challenge, leaving nothing to chance and no question unanswered. Here are some of the questions and answers from the first seven games of the '07 campaign:
Q: WILL the Kansas pass defense be able to stop anyone?
A: The Kansas pass defense has stopped everyone Central Michigan brought All-MAC quarterback Dan LeFevour to Lawrence and left with only seven points. In the final three nonconference games, the Jayhawks opponents averaged just 105.3 passing yards per game.
Kansas State's Josh Freeman threw three interceptions against Kansas, and Colorado's Cody Hawkins threw two. Baylor arrived at Memorial Stadium with a young quarterback on the rise in Blake Szymanski and headed back to Waco with the spot up for grills after the lajwahks bullied three of the Bears' quarterbacks.
After finishing dead last (119th) in the nation in pass defense last year, the Jayhawks are fourth in 2007. Junior cornerback Aqib Talib is playing as expected — at an All-American level, junior safety Patrick Resby and junior cornerback Kendrick Harper have been reliable additions, sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey is phenomenal now that he is finally healthy and freshman cornerback Chris Harris has surprised with his consistency.
"We're just more comfortable and more confident when we're out there," Talib said. "We're getting more comfortable in the game and
getting our timing down."
Q: When will the jayhawks play
and beat a decem opponent?
A: The last three weeks. True, Southeastern Louisiana, Florida International and Toledo were duds and Central Michigan played like a team in disarray under its new coach, but Kansas provided a resounding answer to this question over the past three Saturdays.
Kansas State had just defeated Texas in Austin, held home field advantage and Freeman seemed to have found his groove. That was all before Kansas arrived in Manhattan. The Jayhawk defense disrupted Freeman and the Wildcat offense enough to force three turnovers and pull off a 30-24 road victory against then-No. 24 Kansas State.
Winless in Big 12 Conference play, Baylor is obviously not the class of the conference. Despite the Bears' many weaknesses, the 58-10 victory against a conference opponent was impressive. In fact, the 58 points marked the most in conference play by any Kansas team.
Last weekend, Kansas did what even No. 4 Oklahoma could not — win in Boulder, Colo. The Jayhawks solved a tough Colorado defense and tamed the thin Rocky Mountain air to survive a 19-14 thriller at Folsom Field. Junior linebackers James Holt and Joe Mortensen covered the entire field, combining for 26 tackles. Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing burned the Buffaloes with his legs, rushing for 84 vards.
"We didn't think we could just roll
Colorado over in Boulder," sophomore running back Jake Sharp said. "They have a great team and they play great at home. It's not an easy place to play and we feel happy with our turnout."
Q: Sure, the team is 7-0, but this is Kansas football. Are the Jayhawks for real?
A: A reporter posed a similar question to Kansas coach Mark Mangino after Kansas defeated Colorado last weekend. The coach provided a clear answer: "I'm not going to say whether we're for real or not." Mangino said. "You watch a game and see if we're for real."
— Edited by Jeff Briscoe
football notebook
KICKER EARNS
WEEKLY AWARD
Kickers aren't usually awarded any extra points for degree-of-difficulty on field goal attempts, but Scott Webb earned an award in part because of some extra effort last Saturday. Webb earned the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week award for making two field goals against Colorado. Webb's first field goal was a bit of an adventure: A high snap and the resulting clumsy hold forced the kicker to hesitate before booting the ball 48 yards and through the uprights. Later in the game, Webb added a more routine 35-yard field goal. The 48-yard was the second-longest of Webb's career,
DOMINANT DEFENSE
Colorado fooled the Kansas defense several times last weekend, and the Jayhawks made stops when they needed them most. Kansas coach Mark Mangino said during a conference call Monday that sophomore safety Justin Thornton and junior linebacker James Holt were the team's key defensive players. Thornton, who did not start but played extensively in the second half against Colorado made seven tackles and had an interception. Holt dominated from the outside linebacker position, recording a career-high 15 tackles.
'SPARKY'EXPLAINED
Mangino revealed the origin of sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing's nickname, Sparky, during a teleconference Monday. Reesing routinely caught the coaches' attention during practices last season because of his tendency to make exciting plays, both positive and negative Mangino said. Mangino initially described the quarterback as a sparkplug, a description he later shortened to Sparky.
Asher Fusco
>> NFL
BY R.B. FALLSTROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
Injuries holding back Rams on offensive, defensive lines
Little played sparingly in a 33-6 loss in Seattle on Sunday, a backset that dropped the Rams' record to 0-7. He has one sack this season after getting 13 last year, and he didn't practice at all last week.
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little has been hampered in recent weeks by a torn ligament in his left big toe, an injury that will require surgery eventually.
"He's going to have to have surgery on it," defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. "Whether it's soon or at the end of the year, it depends on how well it holds up."
Haslett said Little likely would not practice much, if at all, this week. He's having trouble pushing off on the rush.
"I don't know the whole ramifications of a toe, but he's not real effective out there," Haslet said. "We tried to give him as much rest as he could get. To be honest with you, he just played OK."
"I would say that's leaving him fairly questionable for at least the next game," coach Scott Linehan said.
Center Brett Romberg was all but ruled out for Sunday's game against the Browns after spraining his right ankle. Romberg started that game with a sprained left ankle.
Dante Hall, a return man and wide receiver, was ruled out for a third straight game with a high left ankle sprain. Linehan said Hall had an "outside chance" of returning after the Rams' bye week following Sunday's game.
"I just think it was a real serious high ankle sprain," Linehan said. "He tested it a little bit today and it's not ready."