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MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
Spring game shows defensive improvement
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
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.
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.
points per game in the NCAA Division I last season.
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.
"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.
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.
Weis likes playing more versatile players at both positions because it allows him to have his best chance
Sophomore running back Tony Pierson noon's Spring Game at Memorial Stadium
"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."
COMMENTARY
Weis'infl
The zero on the board beneath the white squad's name is an impressive feat, but it must be noted that the troops are not met dead when they
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.
On a day when the University honored one of its football program's most significant figures, former coach Don Fambrough, it embarked on a new era.
New quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps showed off their extraordinary passing ability that Kansas fans haven't seen since Todd
KANSAS 70, OKLAHOMA STATE 58 FEBRUARY 27, 2012
Junior forward Thomas Robinson flies over OSU's Philip Jurik for a dunk during the second half of the match-up at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
Jayhawks seal eighth consecutive Big 12 title
mrothman@kansan.com
MAX ROTHMAN
"We got eight, baby," junior forward Thomas Robinson said. "This one feels good, too."
STILLWATER, Okla. — Two days after Missouri, one Big 12 season later, the Jayhawks have done it yet again. And now it's outright and unquestionable.
After a 70-58 victory at Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Brena, No. 3 Kansas, claimed its eighth consecutive Big 12 title for good.
As Robinson spoke, senior guard Tyshawn Taylor took a hat off his head. He turned it around and read "8 STR8 champs," running his fingers along the seams and smiling.
Taylor had reason to smile. He had con
queered the conference that pundits said was never supposed to belong to the Jayhawks. As the season progressed, he decreased his turnovers and started scoring more. On Monday, he dropped 27 points on the Cowboys.
"Every time we came down and made a big play, Tyshawn would come down and hit a big shot," Oklahoma State's senior guard Keiton Page said.
On his senior day, Page scored 29 points and hit seven of his 14 three-point shots. At just five-foot-nine, which some call a generous listing, Page used deceptive dribbles and fakes to evade defenders. Taylor and Johnson often tightly guarded Page, but he still made shots.
"He can shoot the rock," Taylor said. "If
he gets any daylight, he's putting it up and usually it's good"
"I'm glad he's a senior" coach Bill Self said.
Yet as Page and freshman guard Brian Williams continued to score, the rest of the Cowboys combined for 9 points and a 17.6 field goal percentage. Oklahoma state forwards and centers didn't score a point.
The low-scoring affair suited the Jayhawks just fine after Saturday's overtime victory against Missouri, which Self called "the most emotional regular season game ever."
"We were gassed, but it wasn't a fast-paced game," Self said. "Fortunately for us, there weren't a lot of possessions."
Self said that with the quick turnaround, this game was one of the season's greatest challenges. The Jayhawks had just 15 minutes of stationary shooting on Sunday, and a brief amount of time to warm up on Monday. The game wasn't filled with energy, it was more a game to fight through and finish with a victory, style points be damned
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The layhawks did just that, and now they've got another conference title to show for it.
"You're supposed to win at home when you have a crowd like we have," Self said. "But for them to go 7-2 on the road, that's pretty special."
"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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