If you can believe your eyes and ears
Wildcats in Top 20
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI)- Vince Gibson says his Kansas State football team still hasn't arrived. That's by his standards.
By others, the Cats' are a modern day phenomenon.
Monday, Gibson's team made the national rankings—in the No. 19 spot. Maybe to some of the long-standing football powers that's not such a great showing. But to Kansas State fans, its a dream unheard of.
Never before, had the Wildcats been ranked among the top football teams in the nation.
Travels without Charlie
--definitely our No. 1 quarterback right now."
And now, a golden opportunity awaits K-State next Saturday when it hosts Penn State, the nation's second-ranked club.
Penn State Coach Joe Paterno faces the loss of star halfback Charlie Pittman (24) in Saturday's encounter with (hang on) 19th ranked Kansas State. Pittman, a prime all-American candidate, is a doubtful starter due to a sprained ankle suffered in the Nittany Lions' 27-3 win over Colorado last weekend.
"They have a super football team," Gibson told sportwriters at the weekly Big Eight Conference luncheon Monday. "We all know that Penn State should be at the top of the list."
"If there's anyone who's done a good job at rebuilding in the country," he said, "it's Vince. If you want to get specific, it's the way they've developed those explosive backs."
But Penn State coach Joe Paterno, speaking by telephone, said he was not "looking forward to coming to Kansas.
The Lions whipped Colorado 27-3 Saturday, but Paterno said, "Offensively, they're Kansas State, a better football team than Colorado. There's so many things that they do well."
Paterno has good cause to worry. In two victories the Wildcats have piled up 90 points, the best offensive start by a Kansas
State team since 1910, when the club exploded for 96 points in its first two contests. It's also the first time K-State has won its first two games of the season since 1961—after which it lost 18 straight.
"I'm really pleased at the way we've started this season," Gibson said. "The thing that really pleases me is the aggressiveness we've shown. I feel like we're getting to the point where we can compete. We can put our team on the field with anybody and not be embarrassed.
"We've got more quickness than we've had and we've got more people, on the offense that can make the big play," he continued. "Now we're putting people out there on the field that can make a mistake and not panic."
A key factor in the game may be the status of Penn State halfback Charlie Pittman, who was injured in the Colorado victory. Pittman, the Lions leading rusher in 1968, had scored twice and netted 176 yards in 19 carries in the opener against Navy. But against Colorado, he returned the opening kickoff 32 yards and suffered a sprained ankle on the play.
Paterno said there was a 50-50 chance Pittman would play against Kansas State.
Stram hunts for QBs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI)—The injury-struck Kansas City Chiefs, left with only seldom-used Mike Livingston at quarterback, Monday invited former Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte and veteran Tom Flores for tryouts.
Coach Hank Stram said both players would workout Tuesday "on a look-see basis" and emphasized Livingston, a former Southern Methodist star, would start next Sunday against Denver.
"All these moves are strictly to find a backup man for Mike Livingston," Stram said. "Mike is
Gibson said, "I do hope Pittman's ankle doesn't come around."
Stram said the Chiefs would also test rookie Ed Podolak, a runningback from Iowa, at the quarterback position. Podolak was a quarterback at Iowa for two seasons before being switched to tailback.
Huarte, 25, won the Heisman Trophy in 1964 after quarterbacking Notre Dame. He was the No. 2 draft choice of the New York Jets the year Joe Namath was drafted No. 1. Huarte also played for the Boston Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Flores, 31, a nine-year veteran, was released earlier this month from the Buffalo Bills. He played seven seasons with Oakland and was involved in the trade that sent Daryle Lamonica to the Raiders.
Stram spent most of Monday on the telephone in an attempt to acquire quarterbacking depth and a Chiefs' spokesman said a possible trade was not out of the question.
46 Frosh greet Tomey
Described by freshman coach Dick Tomey as the best group of recruits at Kansas since the coaching regime of Pepper Rodgers began three years ago, 46 candidates are working out daily for starting positions on the Jayhawk freshman team.
"We want to develop them fundamentally to our program during the freshman season so they will have an easy transition to the varsity next spring." Tomey said of the goals of the freshman staff.
Tomey has seven student assistants helping him, all former KU players. The student assistants
Sept. 30
1969 KANSAN 5
Tomey has been pleased with the early workouts of the future Jayhawks. He pointed out that more local area players are on the team than in the past, making the learning process easier since many knew each other before coming to Kansas. He said this can help make an easier task of uniting them into a team.
The first of four freshman games will be against Kansas State October 10 at Lawrence. The Jayhawk frosh also play Missouri at Lawrence on October 24. Games on the road send the KU freshman to Oklahoma State October 31 and to Oklahoma November 10.
are Bill Greene, Dave Morgan,
Steve Lukert, Dick Fortier, Bob
Fortier, Mike McCoy and John
Jackson.
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TOPEKA, Kans.—Governor Robert B. Docking said Monday he will honor student requests and proclaim Saturday "Purple Pride Day" at Kansas State University.
The governor plans to attend the traditional Kansas State pep rally prior to the university's first home football game. Kansas State plays Penn State Saturday.
Wildcat football coach Vince Gibson will accept the proclamation from Docking.
Lind Steinbrink, chairman of Kansas State's Pep Coordinating Council, asked the governor to attend "Purple Pride Day" and the pep rally "to help insure enthusiasm for the Wildcats victory over Penn State."
The University of Kansas football team worked for 1-hour and 50-minutes Monday and wound up the session with a scrimmage between the freshman team and varsity reserves.
The freshmen were preparing for their opener Oct. 10 with Kansas State.
Coach Pepper Rodgers said that films of the "Jayhawks" 13-0 victory over Syracuse last Saturday showed that Gary Davenport was in on the play which resulted in an interception and a touchdown by defensive halfback John Mears.
Rodgers said the films showed that the Syracuse quarterback was hit first by linebacker Emery Hicks and then by Davenport before he released the ball. It was at first thought that Hicks was the only man to hit him before the ball was released.
Rodgers praised his defense for the shutout victory saying, "When you shut a team like Syracuse out, you have played an exceptionally good defensive game."
He said the Jayhawks would continue to work hard with controlled scrimmages Tuesday and Wednesday before tapering off in preparation for Saturday's road game with New Mexico.
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