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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tight-knit secondary group shows talent on the field
Senior safety Dexter Linton, right, and junior nickelback Victor Simmons attempt to stop a South Dakota player during the Sept. 7 game at Memorial Stadium. Kansas won the game 31-14.
CONNOR OBERKROM
coberkrom@kansan.com
Out of any group on the Kansas football team, the secondary has been talked up by coaches as having the most talent.
All the starters in the secondary have different skill sets and each have come from different places, binding together into one collective unit.
Dexter McDonald, the starting right cornerback for the Jayhawks, represents the comeback story. McDonald, who had a brief stint with Kansas before being dismissed after his freshman year, has another chance to make a mark with different coaches and a different attitude
ent coaches and a different audience.
"It definitely amazing what I had to go through, I'm lucky to be where I am now and have a second opportunity," McDonald said. "I feel like I [have] definitely grown as a person... now I'm just focused on football."
football.
Charlie Weis has talked about McDonald's big-time playmaking ability and his length, which has paid dividends for the Kansas defense. McDonald has already accumulated one interception this year and is tied for first in the nation with five pass breakups.
"Fortunately for us it's been a smooth transition," McDonald said. "With all that time we had, we just made sure we worked and try to get where we are now."
Opposite McDonald is junior cornerback JaCorey Shepherd, who was on the other side of the ball playing wide receiver just one season ago. He's now getting a firm hold on his new position.
"I think JaCorey is an amazing athlete. I think for me, it took me years to get where I feel comfortable at the defensive back position," McDonald said. "I feel it's one of the hardest positions on the field... to go from a great wide receiver to develop into a great cornerback is very notable and I commend him for it."
fense.
The cornerbacks aren't the only Jayhawks in the secondary who have improved the Kansas pass de-
Sophomore safety Isaiah Johnson, who got the first interception of his Division 1 career last week against Rice, had eight interceptions in one year of junior college football. Defensive coordinator Dave Campo has mentioned in practice that Johnson is always the guy to go get the ball, Johnson said.
Johnson remembers his pick fondly.
"It was a great feeling... I knew on that play I tried to bait him, I tried to come up and act like I was going to get him and try to make him force it, which he did and I just jumped it," Johnson said. "I just remember running."
The leader of this young, athletic group has been safety Cassius Sendish who has made a difference in transforming this Kansas defense.
Sendish is the vocal one of the group. With so many new players in the secondary, it's an attribute that shouldn't be overlooked.
"Cassius pushes all of us," Johnson said.
Johnson and Sendish have even come up with a handshake - a simple one that's still a work in progress. The two may even share it with the Kansas cornerbacks. It's just one of many examples of how connected the secondary has become in just less than eight months.
The potential is there and production has been there too. In a couple
of weeks, the Big 12 offenses will be marching in. Then we will know if this group contains something special.
Edited by Evan Dunbar and Hannah Barling
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MLB
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander throws against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning of a baseball game in Detroit on Wednesday.
Iwakuma shuts down Tigers to help Mariners win 8-0
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — Hisashi Iwakuma extended his scoreless innings streak on the road to 25 and Justin Smoak homered off Justin Verlander to help Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 8-0 on Wednesday night.
Iwakuma (13-6) matched his career high going eight innings, giving up just four hits and one unintentional walk. His 25-inning scoreless streak on the road matches a franchise record.
Verlander (13-11) allowed three runs, four hits, walked three and struck out six over seven innings. He was hoping to win consecutive starts for the first time in more than three months.
The AL Central-leading Tigers had won three straight and six of seven to close in on their third straight division title. Seattle had lost eight of nine.
TH
Iwakuma, who became an AllStar this year in his second season, joined Randy Johnson (1994) and Brian Holman (1989) as the Mariners who have thrown 25 straight scoreless innings on the road.
VOL
verlander gave up walks to leadoff hitters in the first two innings, and the second time it led to him giving up two runs.
Verlander seemed to finally find a groove in the fourth inning when he retired the side in order. In the home half, Iwakuma got out of a bases-loaded jam for the second time in the game, getting Hernan Perez to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Smoak got a free pass in the second and scored on Michael Saunders' double deep into the left-center gap. Nick Franklin followed with an RBI single to give Seattle a 2-0 lead.
Smoak's solo shot — his 17th horse — gave Seattle a 3-0 lead in the game.
sixth.
The 2011 MVP and Cy Young Award winner earned a victory in his previous start, ending a six-game winless streak. He has won consecutive games only once — July 31 and Aug. 6 — since winning four straight starts in late May and early June.
Verlander struck out two in the seventh, ending his 124-pitch outing.
Iwakuma, meanwhile, didn't win any of his previous four starts despite a 2.10 ERA over that stretch.
The Japanese right-hander didn't need more run support against Detroit, but the Mariners provided it four runs in the eighth and another in the ninth on Gutierrez's homer. Seattle's Danny Farquhar pitched the ninth and faced Alex Avila, a high school teammate in Florida, and struck him out to end the game.
Associated Press