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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
Kansas must step up to compete against Baylor
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Coach Charlie Weis said his defensive plan on Saturday is to slow the offensive attack from Baylor, which averages 64.7 points per game.
CONNOR OBERKROM
coberkrom@kansan.com
Coach Charlie Wets is well aware of the task ahead this week: devising a plan to slow down Baylor's lethal offensive attack.
Weis encountered Baylor coach Art Briles in the offseason and asked him how he ran so many plays. Briles reply? "It's organized chaos."
That organized chaos, which is top 10 in the country in passing and rushing yards per game, comes into Lawrence Saturday, averaging 64.7 points a game.
The offense is fully equipped to beat opposing teams either way, with its ground attack led by top-flight running back Lache Seastrunk, who is third in the country with an average of 9.4 yards per carry.
Baylor's passing game has ambushed opposing secondaries quarterback Bryce Petty has passed for 2,023 yards with a best-in-the country 14 yards per pass attempt.
"They truly play sideline to sideline," Weis said. "You see times when one receiver will be two yards from the sideline and the receiver on the other side will be two yards from the sideline and stretch you horizontally."
Baylor uses multiple wide receivers, including four wide receiver sets a good portion of the time. Antwan Goodley and Tevin Reese, who have speared their passing attack into a matchup nightmare for defenses, have helped spread the ball around endlessly and beat teams with their combined speed and athletic prowess. Goodley is fourth in the country with 851 receiving vards.
Baylor just doesn't present matchup problems when they have the ball. Their defense, vastly improved from just a season ago, is seventh in the country in scoring defense and
has three of the top five tacklers in the Big 12.
Baylor has 18 sacks, the most in the Big 12, and it goes four-deep on the edges. Its offense has allowed the pass rush to be more relentless and take more liberties to get after the quarterback.
"Because they score a lot, they just turn them free and say 'go get after the quarterback.' They don't have to bring a lot of pressure," Weis said.
The blueprint to stifle Baylor on offense hasn't presented itself quite yet. Kansas State gave some encouragement to defenses taking on Baylor in the coming weeks, as they muddied the Bears' running attack and dropped back into coverage. By dialing up a few blitzes and playing conservatively for most of the game, the Wildcats held Baylor to a season-low of 35 points, considerably lower than its average.
This is Baylor's second road game of the season and Weis hopes for a "loud, boisterous crowd" — something that may have worked in K-State's favor — to help stop the behemoth that is Baylor's offense.
Weis has said his offensive game
plan is to milk out the clock, keeping the Baylor offense away from the field as long as possible. This strategy is something that worked early on versus Oklahoma, but as the passing game faltered, Oklahoma brought more defenders closer to the line of scrimmage.
“Well, that's what we're going to do anyway,” Weis said. “They know it, you know it and we know it. Last week we made a firm commitment that this is what we're going to do.”
Weis, however, realizes that the passing game has to show some semblance of prominence in order for the offense to work. As they face Baylor, offensive execution is almost as equally important as the defense.
Montell Cozart looks to get more snaps this week and Weis orchestrated a meeting between Jake Heaps and Cozart to go over what has to get better. The quarterback position, which Weis concedes has slacked thus far, has to improve for the Jayhawks to have a chance to pull off the upset.
Edited by Emma McElhaney
VOLLEYBALL
Strong Kansas offense looks to best Iowa State defense
BLAIR SHEADE
bsheade@kansan.com
Last week junior Chelsea Albers, right-side hitter, earned 12 Conference player of the week. Alberts tied for lead in blocks per set in the Big 12.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Coming off a comeback victory over West Virginia on Saturday, the No. 22 Jayhawks (16-4, 6-1) come back home tonight to face the Iowa State Cyclones (10-6, 4-2) at the Horejsi Family Athletic Center.
Last week, Kansas ended its two-game road trip undefeated and the Jayhawks' junior right-side hitter Chelsea Albers earned Big 12 Conference player of the week. Albers, who tied for the Big 12 lead last week with 1.71 blocks per set, was the seventh Jayhawk this season to receive Big 12 player of the week honors.
"She has a physical presence at the net," coach Ray Bechard said. "As far as a right-side player, she is one of the most physical that the league has. For her to not only have that type of presence physically, but also be able to dig balls — that's a unique combo for a player to have."
Speaking of digs, Iowa State is giving up the least amount of digs in the Big 12 this season.
Iowa State's defense will have its hands full with the Kansas attack. Kansas has the second best hitting percentage in the Big 12 Conference and leads the Big 12 in kills, but Iowa State's defense has been solid.
Teams are averaging just 13 digs per set against the Cyclones and Iowa State is No.1 in the Big 12 with 16.9 digs per game.Iowa State's senior libero Kristen Hahn is the Big 12 leader in digs, averaging 5.95 per set.
lowa State allows the least amount of digs and digs a lot of hits, but Kansas is not too far behind.
16 digs per set
The Jayhawks are currently third in digs during the Big 12 games. The Jayhawks average 16.12 digs per set and senior libero Brianne Riley averages almost five of those
"She's a big deal for all of us," senior setter Erin McNorton said. "She's a huge part of the team playing-wise and vocally. She is our vocal captain and when she is not in the game, it's pretty obvious."
Riley, who recorded 23 digs against West Virginia, has double-digit digs in 46 consecutive games. She moved into sixth place on the Big 12 career digs list with 1,858.
Riley isn't just a defensive leader, Bechard said, but she also helps motivate the Jayhawks to stay determined.
"She is so steady for us," Bechard said. "She brings great confidence to our team. She never thinks we're out of a point, never thinks
we're out of a match, and that can get contiguous. She is a special competitor."
Riley will try to continue her double-digit dig game streak tonight.
Last season, the Jayhawks beat Iowa State in Lawrence, taking a 15-9 win in the fifth set to secure the match.
The Cyclones are led by sophomore right-side hitter Mackenzie Bigbee, who is sixth on the Big 12 conference kills leaderboard by averaging just under four kills per set.
The Jayhawks will try to protect their home court tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Edited by Emma McElhaney
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