Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Kansas quarterbacks Dylen Smith and Tony Lindsay had their ups and downs in Saturday's defeat against Oklahoma State.
Monday
November 15, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Men's basketball
Luke Axtell made his debut as a Jayhawk Saturday night in the first half of Kansas' exhibition win against Australia's Geelong Supercats.
SEE PAGE 3B
SEE PAGE 3B
Big 12 football
Nebraska moved up to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 after crushing Kansas State 41-15 Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.
SEE PAGE 4B
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Same old Jayhawk problems return
Cowboys score 21 points in 5 minutes and win 45-13
Oklahoma State tight end Khary Jackson sheds the tackle of Kansas linebacker Andrew LeClair while making a catch in Saturday's game. The Cowboys defeated the Jayhawks 45-13 in Stillwater, Okla. Photo by Melissa Thornton/KANSAN
By Mike Miller
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
STILLWATER, Okla. — The new- and-improved Jayhawks played like the Jayhawks of old Saturday, at least for a half.
It'll go down as an Oklahoma State victory, but it was no different than the Notre Dame, Colorado, San Diego State and Kansas State losses earlier in the season.
In those games, big plays and mental lapses were problems. The Jayhawks seemed to fix those problems during the last three weeks, when they beat Missouri and Baylor and nearly beat Nebraska.
Well, the old Hawks came back.
Kansas held a 13-10 halftime advantage, but it turned into a 45-13 loss after the Cowboys exploded for 21 third-quarter points and put the game out of reach in a hurry.
In a five-minute span, the Cowboys returned a punt 44 yards, then scored, returned a punt 60 yards, then scored, and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Kansas outgained the Cowboys in total yards, 307 to 273, and the two
Terry Allen
"They were better than we were. No excuses."
Kansas football coach
teams were even in time of possession and first downs — but Kansas still lost by 32 points.
"It was frustrating. The whole second half things weren't going our way," quarterback Dylan Smith said.
The sudden swing in momentum came after Kansas took the lead in the second quarter, playing like it had been playing the last three weeks — running the ball and getting big plays. But when the third quarter came around, so did the Javhawks of old.
Back-to-back long punt returns set up two touchdowns in a span of three minutes. Suddenly, Oklahoma State had all the momentum.
"That was one of my biggest fears coming in here." Coach Terry Allen said.
"We overcame the initial momentum or emotion because after the 52-yard run we forced them to kick a field goal."
The special teams' struggles illustrated Kansas' biggest problem — containing explosive punt returners. Much like when Nebraska punt returner Bobby Newcombe swung the game in Nebraska's favor two weeks ago, Cowboys punt returner Terance Richardson smoked the Jayhawk defense and turned the game around.
"It kind of sucks when you give up those big plays," safety Chad Coelner said. "We just weren't ready, and they took it to us."
The second half overshadowed another solid performance by running back Moran Norris, who rushed for a career-high 118 yards on 20 carries. It was the second 100-yard rushing game of his career, and it gave Kansas its third running back with more than 400 rushing yards in a season for the first time since 1993.
The balance on offense mirrored the balance on defense. An improved defensive secondary — Kansas gave up only 135 passing yards, 36 on one play — and a commitment to stopping the run gave Kansas the edge statistically, but the final score didn't reflect it.
"They were better than we were. No excuses." Allen said.
—Edited by Katrina Hull
Baylor sweeps Kansas' NCAA dreams aside
By Shawn Hutchinson sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Baylor was out for revenge, but the Jayhawks just happened to be standing in the way.
The No. 23 Baylor Bears upended the Kansas volleyball team Saturday night in Waco, Texas, sweeping the Jayhawks 3-0 at the Ferrell Center.
Kansas, 17-10 overall and 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference, dropped
game scores of 15-9, 15-11 and 15-13. The Jayhawks held leads of 6-2 and 13-11 in the third game, but they couldn't finish off the Browns.
"It's disappointed," Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. "It's a matter of us having opportunities, but not finishing them."
Part of the reason Kansas couldn't finish those opportunities was that they couldn't contain Baylor's outside hitter Elisha Polk, who had a match-high 23 kills.
The loss snapped a two-match winning streak for the Jayhawks, and it suddenly darkened their NCAA tournament hopes. In all likelihood, Kansas must win three of its last four matches in to earn an at-large tournament bid.
Kansas will close its season at No. 15 Texas A&M, at home against No. 19 Kansas State, at Iowa State, and at home against No.22 Colorado.
Kansas was out-hit in the match, 250 to 171, and Jayhawks committed 26 hitting errors. Meanwhile, Baylor extended a team record by snapping its 15th sweep of the season, while Polk's 23 kills moved her into 15th place all-time in NCAA history with 2,142 kills.
"We need to make better decisions and compete better in pressure situations," Bechard said. "Baylor, though, played extremely well. You've got to hand it to them."
Kansas will get nearly a week off to prepare for its next match. The Jayhawks will take on Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Friday in College Station, Texas. The Aggies won their first meeting on Oct. 15, sweeping the Jayhawks before Late Night with Roy Williams in Allen FIELDhouse.
'Hawks pummel Supercats
Edited by Jennifer Roush
Kansas forces 33 turnovers in final tune-up
By Matt Tait
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
If Kansas only had counted the points it scored off turnovers, it still would have won.
Kansas' full-court press was the story of the game, just as it was in the first preseason game last Saturday. The Jayhawks forced 33 turnovers with tenacious full-court and three-quarter court traps. In the Jayhawks' first exhibition game, the press was effective at times, but it also allowed the California All-Stars to start fast breaks of its own.
The Jayhawks destroyed Australia's Geelong Supercats on Saturday night in Allen Fieldhouse, 119-44, Kansas' largest margin of victory in team history for either an exhibition or regular season game.
"We did a better job, when we were pressing, not letting someone sneak down the court and get an easy basket," Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
While the Jayhawks forced 33 turnovers, they only committed 15. down from 24 last week.
"With the pace of the game, you're going to have a lot of possessions and, when you have over 100 possessions, if you can have 15 turnovers that's very good," Williams said.
Kansas did not use the press at the start of the game and fell behind early, 5-0. But the 'Hawks countered the Supercats' run with an 8-0 run, sparked by two Nick Bradford three-pointers. After the flurry, which gave Kansas the lead for good, Geelong called a timeout. The Supercats could have called the game.
After the timeout, Kansas unleashed its press, which led to steals, dunks, and lay-ups, and the lead stretched to 17-5. That would be as close as Geelong could get to the Jayhawks, who kept the pressure
See JAYHAWKS on page 2B
Kansas forward Drew Gooden puts up a shot over a Supercat defender. Kansas defeated the Supercats 119-44 in the most lopsided victory in school history. Photo by Eric Sahmann/KANSAN
Commentary The Jayhawks' special teams aren't so special
STILLWATER, Okla. — There is something evil in Oklahoma.
Kansas did not play its best football in the first half of Saturday's 45-13 defeat against Oklahoma State, but it went into the locker room leading 13-10. There were signs that the Jayhawks were the same team that beat Missouri and Baylor, and the same team that had hung tough with nationally-ranked Texas A&M and Nebraska.
The Jayhawks were down 10-0 after one quarter, but touchdown drives of 70 and 80 yards in the second quarter put
Kansas into the lead at halftime
then something went into the Kansas locker room, and replaced the new Jayhawks with the team that made mistakes and turned over the ball earlier in the season, which led to embarrassing defeats against Notre Dame, San Diego State and Colorado.
Brad
Heilier
associate sports
editor
The Cowboys
would outscore the Jayhawks 35-0 in the second half, but the defense didn't play badly. Oklahoma State's touchdown-scoring drives were 35 yards, eight yards, 66 yards and one yard. It also scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone and a blocked punt return.
But really, there was one reason the score was so lopsided — the special teams.
Allen was referring to the Nebraska game, when Bobby Combe ate up the Jayhawks in the second half with punt returns, including an 86-yard return for a touchdown that gave the Cornhuskers a 17-9 advantage.
"Special teams made the difference." Kansas coach Terry Allen said. "It was particularly frustrating because it happened to us two weeks ago."
But it was even worse on Saturday. The Cowboys' Terance Richardson burned the Jayhawks for 140 return yards on only six attempts. That's more than 23 yards a return. And midway through the third quarter, he had back-to-back returns of 44 and 60 yards, which both led to easy Cowboys touchdowns. And if you throw in the blocked punt in the first quarter, you can conclude that the Jayhawks 'not-so-special teams had a horrible day.
And while Richardson slashed through the Jayhawks, Kansas' Henri Childs, who can be a dangerous punt returner, baffled everyone by calling fair catch after fair catch. Once in the fourth quarter, Childs called for a fair catch when nobody was within 10 yards of him. I can't figure this out. Henri, for goodness sake, if you are healthy, try a return! If your turf toe is bothering you, let Harrison Hill or someone else return punts.
"Special teams were our Achilles' heel, there's no question about it." Allen said. "We had our opportunities there, but the blocked punt and the returns killed us. When you block one early, that creates an opportunity for a return because you concentrate on protecting, and you can't do that with a guy like Richardson."
And of course, Kansas' wonderful day of special teams would not have been complete without a miscue in the kicking game. For once, it wasn't Joe Garcia's fault. After scoring on a 56-yard pass play, Hill bobbled the snap on the extra point. That made it the seventh game this season that the Jayhawks have failed on at least one field goal or extra point attempt.
Kansas' defense has improved dramatically since the San Diego State game. The offense has been solid at times, but the whole season, the special teams have been embarrassing. Looks like Allen has his work cut out for him in the off-season in the special teams department.
Hallier is a Mission senior in journalism.