THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY. APRIL 22, 2015
PAGE 7
1.
THE DAILY DEBATE
Who will win the spring football game: Blue or White?
This Saturday is the Kansas spring football game.
featuring the White (1st team offense and 2nd team defense) versus the Blue (1st team defense and 2nd team offense). When all is said and done at Memorial Stadium, the Blue will be victorious.
The 1st team quarterback has yet to be decided,but with Michael Cummings more successful than Montell Cozart. Cummings will most likely get the start for team White and Cozart will start for the Blue.
However, most Kansas fans are relying on Cozart to be our starter. From what the coaches have seen from him so far, based on his talent and athleticism, he will be going into Saturday's game looking to outperform Cummings. He also hopes to show the Jayhawk nation
that he is capable of bouncing back to be the quarterback everyone expected him to be when he first stepped foot in Lawrence.
The 1st team defense took a hit this offseason after losing a wide array of seniors, two of whom will likely get drafted: cornerback JaCorey Shepherd and linebacker Ben Heeney. Luckily, they do have a load of returning players on the Clint Bowen-run defense.
Two players worth focusing on are junior Fish Smithson at safety and senior Jake Love at linebacker. As a sophomore, Smithson was Kansas' fifth leading tackler on defense and recorded 49 defensive stops on the season. He also put himself on the stat sheet by racking in two tackles for loss and one pass break up.
Smithson had a career-high nine tackles against arguably the best team in the Big 12 last year — Baylor. As a transfer student, last year was Smithson's first year, but it was a great one and he will look to become a force to be reckoned with next fall.
Jake Love comes in this season as the most experienced, after playing alongside Heeney and other senior linebacker Michael Reynolds for his last three years on the field. He has two accolades he can put on his resume; for example,
in the third game of the season against the Central Michigan Chippewas, he earned honorable mention linebacker of the week, and all five of his tackles were behind the line of scrimmage and one for a sack.
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He started seven of the 11
"TWO PLAYERS WORTH FOCUSING ON ARE JUNIOR FISH SMITHSON AT SAFETY AND SENIOR JAKE LOVE AT LINEBACKER."
games he played last season, he was the fourth leading tackler on the defense with 53 stops and he will be the defense's leader this year. Because of an experienced defense that has been the star of Kansas football for the past couple of seasons, and a poised young quarterback looking for redemption, team Blue will take the W on Saturday afternoon at 1 P.M.
Edited by Victoria Kirk
WHITE
With football season less than four months away,it's time for the perennial question:How many games will Kansas lose this year?
"...NOW THE ENTIRE UNIT SEEMS ENERGIZED AND READY."
While the team has fallen on hard times lately, the annual Spring Game is the best way to get the fans—and the players—back into the football mindset. For journalists, it's our first chance to pick a football game since February, and we get to choose between the first team offense (White) or
the first team defense (Blue).
the first team defense (blue).
Coach David Beaty has infused energy and life into a team that, for the last eight years, has been utterly devoid of purpose. His uptempo practices and infectionally eager and intense attitude has given life to a team that looked like it had totally lost its direction in the middle of last season.
Beaty's personality shows up most in his offense, which has taken a complete 180 after the disastrous 2014 season. Senior Michael Cummings is improving with every throw and he continues to compete for time with Montell Cozart. Corey Avery and DeAndre Mann have each had an entire offseason to develop and work on themselves. With Beaty's new "weight room first" attitude, Avery and Mann have undoubtedly built up the strength to run between the tackles much more effectively.
After the departure of Nigel King and Jimmy Mundine, the receiving corps needed help desperately. Rodriguez Coleman and Tre' Parmalee are both going to be featured targets on the field, and the arrival of Matt Denning and Chase Harrell will help with depth and athleticism.
With a running game he can actually rely on, Michael Cummings won't feel so much pressure on him as a
quarterback, and he can sit back and show off his arm which, at some points last season, dazzled us with its accuracy and strength.
The defense, on the other hand, will have to deal with the loss of captain Ben Heeney, one of the best defensive players to come through KU this century. They also have to replace the leader of their defense, JaCorey Shepherd, who seemed to make the big plays every time they were needed at the end of last season. They also lose their leader in the pass rush, Michael Reynolds, not to mention defensive line plugs Keon Stowers and Tedarian Johnson.
This isn't to say the defense won't look great next year, but the Spring Game is more of a gauge of which side of the ball has improved more. David Beaty's intensity and passion has definitely rubbed off on the offense more than the defense. The offense seemed to give up on Charlie Weis early last season, and now the entire unit seems energized and ready. With a chip on their shoulder and fire in their hearts, they'll be ready to show the world they're an offense to be feared.
Kansas preps for midweek matchup against SIU
And the first step is the annual Spring Game.
Edited by Victoria Kirk
DEREK SKILLETT
@derek_skillett
The Jayhawks (33-8, 4-5 Big 12) will try to get back into the win column with a midweek matchup against the SIU-Edwardsville'Cougars (35-10, 16-4 Ohio Valley Conference) in Arrocha Ballpark at Rock Chalk Park. The Jayhawks will play the Cougars today at 1 p.m.
The Jayhawks are coming off a 2-3 loss to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Sunday. Kansas has only won one of its previous four games and have only won one conference series this season.
Junior infielder Chaley
Brickey leads the Jayhawks with a 418 batting average and has recorded 56 hits, scored 41 runs and has hit 11 home runs and 49 RBIs. Senior utility player Maddie Stein ranks second on the team with a .373 batting average and has recorded 47 hits, 28 runs scored, 13 doubles and 39 RBIs.
Freshman infielder Daniella Chavez, who was named an NFCA Freshman of the Year finalist last week, ranks fifth on the team with a .342 batting average and has recorded 40 hits, 21 runs scored, 10 home runs and 49 RBIs.
Senior pitcher Alicia Pille leads a talented Jayhawks
pitching staff with a 2.81 ERA and has recorded 155 strikeouts while allowing 121 hits and 69 scores this season. Freshman Bryn Houlton ranks second on the pitching staff with a 2.94 ERA, and has recorded 27 strikeouts while allowing 52 hits and 26 scores.
The Cougars come into Arrocha Ballpark with an incredibly impressive 35-10 record this season, with recorded wins over programs like Ohio State, Villanova and Georgetown.
"Edwardsville has one of the best freshman pitchers in the country. They also have an upperclassman who's one of the best pitchers in the country.
They're a great team, they win a lot of games and they pitch really well. They're the best team we've faced in the past few weeks," said Kansas coach Megan Smith.
"They're a great team, they win a lot of games and they pitch really well. They're the best team we've faced in the past few weeks."
MEGAN SMITH Kansas coach
Among the leaders of the Cougars' offense is junior
Haley Chambers, who boasts a .382 batting average and has recorded 55 hits, 35 runs scored, 12 doubles and 33 RBIs this season. Senior Rebecca Gray leads the Cougars with a .391 batting average and has recorded 50 hits, 29 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
Sophomore Allison Smiley ranks second on the team with 32 RBIs on a .305 batting average and has recorded 40 hits and 20 runs scored.
Chambers also leads a powerful Cougars pitching staff with a 1.34 ERA and has recorded a remarkable 233 strikeouts while allowing 107 hits and 42 scores. Freshman Baylee Douglass ranks second
on the pitching staff with a 2.01 ERA and has recorded 127 strikeouts while allowing 89 hits and 42 runs scored.
After Wednesday's game, the Jayhawks will prepare for their toughest challenge of the series: a weekend series against the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners at Arrocha Ballpark. The Jayhawks will play the Sooners on Friday and will finish up the weekend on Sunday.
—Edited by Garrett Long
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