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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2013
PAGE 3B
FOOTBALL
Heaps 'ready for the pressure' of Saturday's game
CHRIS HYBL
chybl@kansan.com
Junior quarterback Jake Heaps, center, practices with junior tight end Jimmy Mundine, right. The team voted Heaps one of four team captains, along with senior running back James Sims, junior linebacker Ben Heeney and junior defensive tackle Keon Stowers.
When many students are waking up on Saturday and scrambling to finalize tailgate plans with their posse, Kansas quarterback Jake Heaps will be making he's putting on his clothes in the right order. He's been waiting for Saturday to come for a while.
"Gamedays are really stressful for me because I'm really superstitious," Heaps said. "Everything has to be done a certain way: from the way I put on my pants, to the songs I listen to."
For Heaps, it's time to get serious. He has had quite the experience leading up to this Saturday's season opener against South Dakota, but the highly touted high school recruit, former BUYu quarterback and Kansas scout team phenom is ready to suit up in and reverse the culture of a uniform currently associated with losing. "This is going to be a different
"This is going to be a different football team," Heaps said. "We're
GEORGE MULLINIX /KANSAN
just threw in the tower.
Facing adversity against an FCS opponent Saturday wouldn't be a great sign of things to come for Heaps or Kansas football. By the game's end, Heaps wants the fans making excuses for the win.
"I want people to think 'Well it was only South Dakota.'" Heaps said. "I want them to question the fact that they shouldn't worry how big of a win we had just because it was South Dakota."
Fourth in fourth place, Geverson
"We're the type of team that,when adversity hits, will be able to battle through that."
underestimated. The team was in no way dominated when it lost 31-17 to the Jayhawks at Memorial Stadium last year, and they plan to build on last week's FCS vs. Big 12 successes in Northern Iowa's victory over Iowa State and North Dakota State's win over Kansas State.
"They like to play 3-4 and bring pressure, it's kind of a gamble." Heaps said. "Sometimes it pays off, but sometimes it leaves big holes, so if we can protect that will be the key to our football game." South Dakota's pressure may be the fastest way for Kansas fans to get the best feel for its new quarterback after one game.
But the South Dakota Coyotes are currently ranked No. 6 in FCS standings, and they shouldn't be
It's a big question: is he worth the hype? Heaps had two years at BYU in which he attempted more than 250 passes. Dayne Crist had one year with over 250 attempts at Notre Dame. In Heaps' two years compared to Crist's one, Crist had numbers better than Heaps all across the board. Crist had more yards per attempt, a better completion percentage, more touchdowns (they tied for 15 touchdowns in 2010 when Heaps had 89 more attempts), less interceptions and a better quarterback rating. But despite those
JAKE HEAPS Junior quarterback
numbers at Notre Dame, Crist's numbers at Kansas tanked, and the Jayhawks' 1-11 record showed it.
So when Kansas head coach Charlie Weis was talking about Heaps' success on the practice squad last year and said "[Jake] would go out there and tear [the defense] up on a daily basis," would it be that shocking if Dayne Crist did the same and we just didn't hear about it? Kansas wide receiver Christian Matthews may have accidentally waved the biggest warning flag when he said what separated Crist and Heaps.
"The only thing I could really think of is height," Matthews said. "They were both really good quarterbacks, but I guess height is the biggest thing. Both had good arms and were good leaders." Polite, but scary. If Dayne Crist was a really good quarterback.
it certainly wasn't evident in his four touchdown season. Kansas fans are hoping that a difference between the two couldn't be clearer by the end of this year.
But, overall, players and coaches have raved about what they've seen from Heaps, and he appears
ready for the pressure. He's ready for the spotlight. He's ready to put a 180 degree turn on Kansas football. On Wednesday, Heaps was asked to finish a sentence: "If Jake Heaps plays well this year..." and with an unwavering confidence, Heaps responded:
"Kansas football will be a definite bowl team."
Edited by Duncan McHenry
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