Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Monday. November 22. 1999
Seniors go out with ceremony, victory
Changes dominate their Kansas careers
By Michael Rigg sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Most of Kansas' seniors finished their last season of Jayhawk football the same way they wrapped up their first — with a win.
In 1995, when many in the Jayhawks' departing senior class were sitting on the sidelines as redshirts, Kansas closed the season with a 51-30 victory against UCLA in the Aloha Bowl. On Saturday, the remaining members of that team helped Kansas beat Iowa State 31-28.
"We came in strong with a winning season," said senior offensive lineman Chris Enneking about the Aloha Bowl. "To be able to finish out like that — with a victory — was great."
Granted, the atmosphere was different at the Aloha Bowl than it was on Saturday at a half-empty Memorial Stadium, but the differences in the magnitudes of both games are indicative of the changes this senior class has witnessed.
The five-year members of the Jayhawks have been through two coaches, Glen Mason and Terry Allen, and five starting quarterbacks, Mark Williams, Ben Rutz, Matt Johner, Zac Wegner and Dylen Smith. The seniors have seen two different running tracks, scoreboards, press boxes, concourses at Memorial Stadium — and winning and losing seasons.
Despite the changes, seniors such as fullback Tyrus Fontenot can look back on their Kansas careers and remember them fondly.
"I don't have anything but good memories," said Fontenot, who is one term paper away from receiving his degree.
The 18 Jayhawk seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony Saturday
in which they were each introduced to the crowd and ran onto the field to present a rose to their parents. The ceremony left many seniors overwhelmed and many parents in tears.
"I was all right until I got up close to my parents, then I kind of got teared up," senior quarterback Zac Wegner said. "My dad had his sunglasses on and I couldn't see his eyes, but I saw my mom crying, and I was like, 'Wow. It's over.'"
Fontenot said the ceremony made it hard for him to concentrate on the game at hand.
"I was trying to think about the game, and trying to focus my attention on my parents, too," Fontenot said. "I really can't explain the feeling, but it felt real good having them out on the field. I think my mother was really happy to be able to see my last game."
For senior wide receiver Michael Chandler, seeing his family on the field was only one of Saturday's high points. He said that Wegner's appearance in the game was also a thrill.
"I respect Zac more than anyone else on the team," said Chandler, who was shot in the groin when three assailants forced their way into his Lawrence apartment last February and who delivered the eulogy at his mother's funeral in September. "I think I was more excited to see him play than he was."
Wegner was excited to see game action on Saturday, but he also wished it wasn't because of an injury. Wegner entered the game because Smith had the wind knocked out of him by Cyclone Ryan Sloth in the third quarter. Wegner led the Jayhawks to the Iowa State 22-yard line, but was sacked on the third down, and Kansas was forced to punt.
"I really don't think it's set in yet that it's my last game. It's definitely sad," Wegner said. "Five years. Has it really been that long?"
— Edited by Mike Loader
Running back Mitch Bowles leaps over Iowa State defensive back Atif Austin but gets caught between Iowa State defensive back Dustin Avey and Kansas wide receiver Harrison Hill. Bowles gained 23 yards on the run to the Iowa State 12 yardline. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
Jayhawks' comfortable lead almost vanishes late in game
Continued from page 1B
been having success forcing his man back off the line. So the coaching staff had Nesmith stand behind Dwyer for the first time all game, and it paid off handsomely.
"Nate did a good job pushing his man back," Nesmith said. "I just got a good jump with some space to get up in the zone it hit off my fingertips and then it hit off the top of my helmet."
Kansas benefited from not only the blocked field goal attempt and four Cyclone turnovers but also from a favorable ruling on a touchdown by Smith. With 17 seconds left in the third quarter, Smith scrambled for a 17-yard touchdown but fumbled the ball when he entered the end zone. Officials ruled that Smith fumbled after he scored, but video replays and photographs indicated that he might have lost control of the ball before he crossed the goal line.
Kansas would score another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a Moran Norris 1-yard run, but Iowa State would answer, making the score 28-21. The 'Hawks drove again, and Joe Garcia kicked a 29-yard field goal, giving them a 31-21 lead
with just under five minutes to play.
But Iowa State quarterback Sage Rosenthal — who torched the Kansas secondary, throwing for a career-high 332 yards and three touchdowns — tried his best John Elway impression. He drove the Cyclones 60 yards in 11 plays, completing pass after pass against Kansas' soft zone defense.
An 11-yard touchdown pass pulled Iowa State to within three points, and then the Cyclones lined up for an onside kick.
Enter Nesmith and his newfound use of his hands. He recovered the onside kick, which may have sealed the win, but when running back Norris fumbled one play later, Iowa State had a shot.
Suddenly Kansas was on the verge of blowing a game it never trailed.
"We were a little worried, but I thought OK. OK, Clint, thank you."
"be OK," center Chris Ennekeing said. Iowa Drive to the Kansas 17-yard line and then lined up for a 35-yard field goal that would have tied the game and send it into overtime, but the outstretched arms of Nesmith kept that from happening.
"I came in and made a play on the hands team," Nesmisht said. "I figured the game was over after that but they didn't quit."
Seminoles' opponent undetermined
By Richard Rosenblatt AP Football Writer
AP Football Writer
The ride to the national championship still has three stops before it winds up in New Orleans: Blacksburg, Va., Boulder, Colo., and San Antonio.
Top-ranked Florida State punched its ticket to the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4 with Saturday's 30-23 victory against Florida in The Swamp and solved half of the national title puzzle.
"I really don't know and really don't care who we play." Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said after his team survived the Gators and a record crowd of 85,747 at the Swamp. "We'll sit back and wait and see."
If Bowden doesn't know who he has to prepare for, he's not alone. Right now, No. 2 Virginia Tech looks like the opponent if it can beat No. 22 Boston College in Blacksburg on Friday.
The Hokies, 10-0, crushed Temple 62-7 on Saturday, but even a win against the surprising Eagles, 8-2, won't guarantee a title showdown against Florida State, 11-0.
Whv?
The Bowl Championship Series standings, that's why.
Commentary
Expect Florida State and Virginia Tech to be ranked No. 1 and No. 2 again when the BCS standings are released Monday, with Nebraska, 9-1, third and inching closer to the Hokies after advancing to No. 3 in the AP media poll and the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll.
Should the Cornhuskers defeat Colorado, 6-4, on Friday in Boulder, then avenge their only loss by beating No. 7 Texas, 9-2, in the Big 12 Conference title game in San Antonio on Dec. 4, it'll be up to the computer to decide whether the Hokies or 'Huskers get the ticket to New Orleans.
"I'm not sure we can control our own destiny," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "You check those computers lately? We can't worry about the BCS. We just go out and play."
And what if Virginia Tech and Nebraska both lose? Then Florida State's opponent is anybody's guess, with the Southeastern Conference champ — either Alabama or Florida — Tennessee, Texas and even Wisconsin all in the running.
In last year's inaugural season using the BCS standings, a combination of
polls, computers and strength-of-schedule, a once-beaten Florida State sneaked into the title game against unbeaten Tennessee when two other unbeaten teams — UCLA and Kansas State — lost on the final day of the regular-season.
This time, Florida State can relax and let everyone else fight it out: The Seminoles have already earned another chance to add a second national title to the one they won in 1993.
If the Sugar Bowl ends up Seminoles vs. Hokies, the other BCS bowls could look like this:
Orange: Michigan vs. SEC champion (Florida-Alabama winner).
Rose: Stanford vs. Wisconsin
Fiesta: Tennessee vs. Big 12 Conference champion (Nebraska-Texas winner).
Other New Year's Day match-ups could feature Michigan State vs. Alabama-Florida loser in the Citrus; Arkansas vs. Kansas State or Texas in the Cotton; Penn State vs. Mississippi-Mississippi State winner in the Outback; and Miami vs. Georgia Tech in the Gator.
In bowl chatter, look for Hawaii and Oregon State in the O'ahu Bowl, a matchup of two new coaches who turned their teams around — June Jones at Hawaii vs. Dennis Erickson at Oregon State.
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