PAGE 8
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GRIDIRON
Improved passing plan leads to Kansas victory
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
MAX GOODWIN
meoodwin@kansan.com
Forced to pass
Louisiana Tech loaded the box throughout the game in an attempt to stop Kansas from running the ball inside. The strategy worked for most of the game and limited the running game.
"They wanted us to beat them with the pass," running back James Sims said.
Jake Heaps threw the ball 46 times in Saturday's 13-10 win.In the two previous games, Heaps had a combined 49 attempts.
Heaps knew before the game that the Jayhawks would be passing more, but even he was surprised by how much more.
"We didn't expect to have that many attempts." Heaps said, "but the way the game was going and the way we were playing, the passing game was working for us and it was efficient."
The team has been looking to find more balance in its passing game, and coach Charlie Weis has said that will be critical against Big 12 competition. The game against Louisiana Tech could help them do that.
"We'll use that to build off of it."
More touches for Tony
Heaps said.
In his Tuesday press conference, Weis said to expect to see an expanded role for Tony Pierson and Brandon Bourbon against Louisiana Tech, and that's exactly what happened
"The whole week I was getting the ball," Pierson said. "So, going into the game I figured I would be getting a lot
Pierson
of touches, and I did today."
Pierson ended up with the ball in his hands on 14 plays, and Bourbon had seven touces as well.
They combined for 129 receiving yards. Pierson caught nine passes, but none more important than a 29-yard catch on the final drive of the game that brought the Jayhawks within field goal range.
"I saw the ball and thought I had to make a play for the team, and I made the play" Pierson said.
Confidence in the kicker
In practice, the lajayhats simulate the situation of having a field
goal to win the game just like the one that Matthew Wyman made against Louisiana Tech, except in practice a miss means the team has to run laps.
"If he missed today, it would have been worse than that," Weis said after the game.
But it was no surprise to Weis, or the players, that Wyman made the 52-vard field goal.
The kid's been nailing them from that distance," Weis said of what he's seen in practice. Keon Stowers recovered the fumble at Kansas' five-yard-line that made the goal goal possible.
That put the ball in the hands of Jake Heaps and the Kansas offense with an opportunity to win the game, as they made several big plays to set up the field goal.
"My stomach was turning." Heaps said.
The situation was less nerve-racking for Stowers.
"That field goal, it was just like every day." Stowers said. "I had a hundred percent confidence that he was going to make it."
Edited by Casey Hutchins
Quarterback Jake Heaps passes to a receiver down field during Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech.
EMILY WITTLER/KANSAN
Jayhawks break losing streak after weekend wins
STELLA LIANG
STELLA LIANG
sliang@kansan.com
The offense for the Kansas soccer team seems to have returned, bringing the Jayhawks back into the win column with two victories over the weekend. The Jayhawks, who now stand at 5-4-1, defeated the South Dakota State jackrabbits on Friday and the Illinois State Redbirds 2-0 on Sunday.
Following three games where they were shut out, the Jayhawks got on the board fast with sophomore forward Courtney Dicker-
son's goal in the first minute of the match on Friday.
Sophomore midfielder Liana Salazar had the assist. Junior defender Haley Yearout made her first goal of her career to put the Jayhawks ahead for good.
Sunday, the offense continued to create scoring opportunities and capitalize on them.
on Friday, there was a lot of pressure on the attacking players because we hadn't scored in a couple of games," coach Mark Francis said. "We struggled, really, and I
thought we created a lot of chances Friday and we just built upon that today"
Salazar put the Jayhawks on top with her goal in the 30th minute of the game. Senior forward Caroline Kastor got possession of the ball near midfield on the Illinois State half of the field. She started her run up the sideline with two defenders guarding her closely, trying to force her into the corner. She maneuvered around them and fired a pass to the middle of the field. At the end of the play, Salazar
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Senior forward Caroline Kastor takes the ball away from San Diego, leading to the Jayhawks' victory on Sept. 13.
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Sophomore forward Ashley Williams scored the second Jayhawk goal. Fourteen minutes into the second half, Salazar sent a long pass toward Williams and the opposition's goal.
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aggressively charged toward the goal and sent a strong shot straight into the net. Kastor and senior forward Ali Kimura assisted on the play.
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Williams played one-on-one with Aryn Newcom, the Illinois State junior goalkeeper, and shot the ball past Newcom.
"I think collectively as far as a lot of the things we were looking to do, that was our best game;" Francis said.
While the focus lately has been on the offense, the defense was key in assuring the victory.
Francis said they represent the intensity the team brought to the match. Overall, he said he was pleased by the play of his entire team.
Francis said the victory was a collective effort by the whole team, but he gave special credit to junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud, who totaled seven saves against Illinois State.
"It's all about staying focused." Stroud said. "When the shot's coming, all you have to do is stick to your technique and try to read the ball the best you can."
A couple of minutes after Salazar's goal, the Redbirds had one of their best scoring chances of the match. Stroud was crucial in shutting it down. After senior defender Maki Hillis missed the ball, Illinois State took the opportunity to shoot on goal, with only Stroud there to defend. She charged and knocked
Each team had injury scares as a result of the physical play. Players were constantly knocked to the ground from the pushing and shoving. While the yellow cards are not desirable,
referees over a no-call.
Edited by Paige Lytle
Illinois State and Kansas both played a physical game with each side keeping up their levels of aggression throughout the match. Five yellow cards were issued, with four going against Kansas. Kimura and freshman defender Morgan Williams were given cards in the first half. Freshman forward Ashley Pankey was given one in the second half, and the team was given one after Francis argued with
the ball away from the goal. Stroud and Kansas defenders fought off at least two other Illinois State shots in the frenzy that ensued, and emerged with their shutout still intact.
"She's real steady," Bechard said. "She's your point guard, she's your quarterback who manages everything out there from an offensive standpoint."
a tournament's MVP, Coach Ray Bechard wasn't surprised McNorton received the honor.
FROM SWEEP PAGE 10
Even with an attack percentage of .364 for the tournament, McNorton noted that it was an allaround effort on both sides of the ball. In the three matches, the Jayhawks' defense allowed more than 20 points in just four of the 10 sets. Kansas dropped only one set in the tournament.
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"At the beginning [of the season], we were a little inconsistent," McNorton said. "The defense would have great days but our hitting percentage wasn't there or vice versa. I think (today) it was a good effort altogether." Joining her on the all-tournament team are Jarmoc and McClinton, who combined for 68 kills in the tournament. Jarmoc was named the tournament MVP at last weekend's InnTowner Invitational in Madison, Wisc.
Despite opening the season with a 4-3 record, the Jayhawks have come back to win their next six matches, defeating quality opponents from the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten along the way
—Edited by Paige Lytle
Even at the beginning when things weren't going as planned, everyone still had faith in each other" McNorton said. "The way we finished the preseason (pre-conference) compared to how we started was so much better."
Kansas returns home on Wednesday, Sept. 25, for an exhibition match against the Italian U-23 National Team followed by the first conference match of the year against Texas Christian University on Saturday, Sept. 28.
THE
"Mich states I grew was a defini speci
Jayhawks handled it "really well," the scoreboard didn't exactly show it. But Kansas did earn 396 yards of total offense, more than the 360 yard average of last year's squad and the 385 yards of total offense averaged in Kansas' first two games this season.
"It doesn't stop the fact that we were driving down the field," Heaps said. "We were driving down the field. It's just when we were getting in those short yardage situations, we weren't finishing the drives, and [there were] multiple times where we should have walked away with points. I think we'll improve even more as we get more comfortable with it."
VICTORY FROM PAGE 10
Kansas did follow through with its game plan to get the ball to Tony Pierson who had 14 touches, two more than the 12 he had in the previous two games combined.Kansas has a bye this week, and will have extra time to get comfortable with the new offense. The team will need to get comfortable with it to put up a fight against undefeated Texas Tech at Memorial Stadium for homecoming on Oct. 5. Tech has averaged just under 39 points in its four games this season, while Kansas has averaged just over 19.
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Edited by Evan Dunbar
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