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MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
Spring game shows defensive improvement
Sophomore running back Tony Pierson noon's Spring Game at Memorial Stadium
Weis'inf
COMMENTARY
On a day when the University honored one of its football program's most significant figures, former coach Don Fambrough, it embarked on new era.
An estimated 15,000 Jayhawk fans caught a glimpse of the new Kansas football team under the leadership of new coach Charlie Weis during the spring game Saturday.
New quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps showed off their extraordinary passing ability that Kansas fans haven't seen since Tod
ETHAN PADWAY epadway@kansan.com
At the end of practice, coach Charlie Weis called him out for it, trying to explain to him that they are going after him because he is one of the few players on the team who can make that play.
In one of the Kansas football team's practices last week, sophomore linebacker Michael Reynolds had three different coaches talk to him about running the play full speed.
points per game in the NCAA Division I last season.
Weis likes playing more versatile players at both positions because it
Reynolds, along with fellow line-backer senior Toben Opurum, played a hybrid linebacker/defensive end position normally seen more in a 3-4 defensive scheme than in the Jayhawks' 4-3.
what his role will be in the fall. Because of Jackson's bigger build, he has the ability to play in the traditional halfback position as well as a bulkier fullback.
"I'm very comfortable with it because it gives me the chance to stand up and rush the passer and also play in coverage." Reynolds said.
"He could very easily be at 230 with a couple of cheeseburgers," Weis said. "That's what were going to have to decide, what weight we want him at, but you can see he has some natural running instincts."
The zero on the board beneath the white squad's name is an impressive feat, but it must be noted that the
MARCH 31,2012
NCAA TOURNAMENT: KANSAS 64, OHIO STATE 62
Jayhawks roll on in this season's style
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
Junior forward Thomas Robinson competes with Ohio State's Jared Sullinger for a rebounds during the second half of the semifinal win over the Buckeyes, 64-62.
NEW ORLEANS — There's this funny blueprint the Jayhawks follow that probably shouldn't work.
It starts by missing everything. If it's a Kansas shot going up, it's probably not going to drop. Up next is the opposition heating up. If it's one of their shots, it's probably bound to fall. Then the Jayhawks trail. They seemingly always do.
But soon after, they start to buckle down. They take care of the ball. They score just enough points and get the stops they need. Finally, they win. They probably shouldn't, but they do. They always find a way.
"Isn't that weird?" senior guard Tyshawn
Twelor said.
The blueprint was in full effect on Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes, so naturally Kansas abided by the steps and won 64-62.
"This has aged me a lot," coach Bill Self said. "But 1 say this with sincerity: I've never had more fun coaching a group of kids. They drive me nuts, but they try so hard. They're stubborn and that's one of their greatest strengths."
Kansas fans have seen this blueprint before in narrow victories against Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse and Purdue in Omaha, Neb., to name just a couple. And with this version of Kansas, this less talented but highly cohesive team, the blueprint just works.
"I'm still shocked," junior forward Thomas Robinson said about the team's last-second winning style. "I wish it stops happening."
Against the Buckeyes, the blueprint went something like this. The Jayhawks shot 36.7 percent from the field in the first half, while the Buckeyes shot 46.2 percent. The Jayhawks, Self said, were slow and tight, perhaps wrapped up in the pressure of a Final Four game.
"We were playing in quicksand," Self said.
But just as the blueprint goes, everything started to change. In the final seconds of the first half, Robinson corralled one of junior center Jeff Withey's seven
blocks and passed to Taylor who quickly dribbled up the court. Junior guard Travis Releford dropped his head and sprinted as fast as he could. Taylor zipped a pass to Releford who converted a layup in the final second of the half.
Out of the break, the lajayhaws started to click. In the first five minutes of the second half, they started to attack the hoop like Self had pleaded and ended up with three layups and a dunk.
"When you see you're down double digits, it kind of takes the soul out of you a little bit," Taylor said. "But once you cut it to like nine or eight, you feel like you're back in the ball game."
The Jayhawks led for just 3:40 of this game, and one of those times occurred with 27 seconds to go. Withey stepped into the meat of Ohio State's defense, embraced contact and thought he had a
foul and the basket. Instead he was called for a travel.
With Kansas up 64-61 and six seconds remaining, Taylor overheard Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft tell his teammate William Buford to run for it. Taylor used this as an excuse to ease the pressure on Craft and follow Buford. Taylor then intercepted Craft's pass and saw junior guard Elijah Johnson running toward the hoop on the other side of the court. Taylor skipped a pass that widely missed Johnson, but bounced right to Self. That could have ended the game. Instead, it gave the Buckeyes another life.
"It it was like third-and-long and throw it out of bounds. Throw it away," Self said.
"He wasn't even close to the receiver."
After the turnover. Self directed Releford to foul Craft; an atypical strategy considering Kansas' history in similar
50
situations. Craft made the first free throw, but was called for a lane violation on the second attempt.
From there, the layhawks simply had to inbound the ball. They did and it was finally over. Now the layhawks, after another successful use of the blueprint, find themselves in Monday's national championship game.
"I came this far," Taylor said. "Might as well go home with a 'ship."
Robinson sees Kentucky, the same team that manhandled Kansas in New York City earlier this season, as an ideal opponent for the final game of the season—the game that crowns the NCAA's finest.
"It can't be scripted any better," Robinson said. "We're right back where we started."
"William Faulkner was a Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) Member." What other English Literature courses and assigned novels were written by fraternity men and sorority women authors?
Which KU fraternity man was founding editor of the Book of the Month Club and ran for Kansas Governor on an Anti-Klu Kux Klan Ku Platform?
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