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Thursday, Sept. 24, 1970
University Daily Kansan
Hawk's Morale Remains Good
By DON BAKER Assistant Kansan Sports Editor
Last Saturday's loss to Texas Tech was the first derailment in the KU "comeback express" and in all probability will not be the last. The Red Raiders were surprisingly good and, hurt as it may, the Jayhawks were simply outmatched from the start to the finish.
But practice sessions this week have admiringly indicated nothing wrong with team morale and spirit as the Jayhawks have given all indications of being ready to make a strong comeback against the only team they defeated last year.
Pepper Rodgers has said repeatedly there is nothing wrong with the attitude of this team and to date it has done nothing to contradict him. The Jayhawks are basically young with, if you please, as they say up the Kaw a lot of pride with the determination it takes to come back.
But patience is going to be required on the part of the students and fans. Don't get down on the Hawks, particularly in the season's early going, if they lose a few. KU has basically the potential for a good team but it is simply too inexperienced at too many key positions to 'bounce back like we would like.
Rodgers jokingly told the team at the first of the year that one stipulation about playing on the team was that no one could get injured.
But joking aside, this will be one of the big keys to the team's fate. And this may be seen already as Rodgers has been forced to do some facelifting of the starting units for Saturday's game.
Larry Brown, Kenny Page and Gary Davenport, all starters in the first two games, will be replaced for the Syracuse game because of injuries suffered against Texas Tech.
No doubt a good all-round healthy situation will be as big a boost to KU as anything. But the health must pertain to much more than just the physical condition of the team. Student and fan support, contradictory to what was in evidence during the Tech game, must be maintained throughout the season if the Hawks are going to make it back.
Troubled Orangemen Await KU Invasion
By DON BAKER Assistant Kansan Sports Editor
Despite their reinstatement it is unlikely they will appear in the game with KU.
Attempting to rebound from last Saturday's loss to a surprisingly good Texas Tech team, the Kansas Jayhawks pack their bags and head for Syracuse this weekend for a return battle with the only team they defeated last year.
The black athletes were suspended from the Syracuse football team last spring when they failed to appear for spring practice, charging head coach Ben Schwartzwalder and his staff with racial discrimination.
The Jayhawks' lineup, both offensively and defensively, will have changes from the setups used against Texas Tech last Saturday. Injuries took a heavy toll in that game as four Jayhawks are listed as doubtful for the game.
The reinstatement came only Tuesday night by a vote of the football team after Syracuse mayor Lee Alexander announced he was considering seeking a court injunction to halt Saturday's game in order to prevent feared demonstrators from disrupting the game.
The game will be played in light of recent racial turmoil at Syracuse surrounding the suspension and reinstatement of eight black football players.
The game will be the 1970 home opener for Syracuse which is expecting a crowd of about 32,000. The Orangemen opened last Saturday night against Houston and were blitzed, 44-15, in the Astrodome.
Running back Donnie Joe Morris, who led KU in rushing against the Red Raiders, will probably not make the trip because of a
leg injury and tight-end Larry Brown, who probably will make the trip, is listed as a doubtful participant because of a similar injury.
The Jayhawks' linebacking corps was especially hit hard by injuries in the Tech game. Starters Gary Davenport and Kenny Page will both be suited-up for the game but will probably watch most of it from the sidelines. Both are suffering from ankle injuries.
Scheduled to start at linebacker Saturday are Phil Basler, Steve Roach and Tommy Oakson. Oakson, one of the smallest linebackers in the nation at 181 pounds, tied with safety Gary
Adams as the Jayhawks' leading tackler last weekend.
Other defensive changes will see Mike Sullivan, a 222-pound junior, start at defensive end and Don Perkins, a 223-pound sophomore switch to defensive tackle.
Offensively, Steve Natsues, a 205-pound senior, will start at tight-end in place of Brown and Steve Conley, a 205-pound junior, will move ahead of Chuck Schmidt at a running back position.
Leading the Syracuse offensive attack will be halfback Marty Januszkiewicz. The 6-1, 213 pounder is a highly thought of sophomore who will serve as the principle cog of the Orangemen's ground attack. Syracuse is regarded as an extremely physical team that relies primarily on a rushing rather than passing game.
On the defensive side of the
line, Joe Ehrmann will lead the Orangemen's rush. A 6-5, 246 pound sophomore, Ehrmann has been tagged as being one of the
Joe Ehrmann
. . plugs Syracuse line
country's best before his career ends.
The Jayhawks will leave for Syracuse at 1 p.m. Friday from Municipal Airport in Kansas City.
Bob Timmons, head cross country coach, wishes that his team would finish every meet this way. Timmons ran a 6-mile time trial Monday at Lawrence Country Club to determine the seven runners that will make up the varsity squad. Fourteen runners
Time Trials
competed in the time trial. From left to right are Timmons and the first 6 finishers in the time trial: Jay Mason, senior captain from Hobbs, N.M.; Rich Elliott, Chicago junior; Jeff Wray, Chicago sophomore; Doug Smith, Sioux City junior; Dennis Petterson, Wichita senior; and Dave Anderson, Mission sophomore. The seventh man to make the squad was Jon Callen, Wichita sophomore, who finished 10 seconds behind the lead group. The lead runners
Kansan Photo by JIM FORBES
covered the hilly six-mile-course in 32 minutes and 10 seconds. The squad travels to Ames this Saturday to compete in the first meet of the season, a dual with Iowa State University. Timmons will be trying for a third straight Big Eight cross country championship this year. Six of the seven runners were on the championship team last year. Wray has moved up to fill the spot vacated by Glenn Cunningham Jr., who graduated.