Volume 128 Issue 17
kansan.com
Monday, September 22, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COMMENTARY 15 minutes decided Weis' fate
Leading up to its contest against Central Michigan, all the talk swirling around Kansas football involved third-year coach Charlie Weis fighting for his job.
Weis wasn't just fighting for a fourth year in his five-year plan. There was legitimate doubt whether Weis would be here next week, if the lahwacks were to lose.
So there the man of the hour stood. He was left staring at the scoreboard with his hands on his hips as the teams were deadlocked at 10-all through three quarters of play.
Weis not only delivered in the most crucial 15 minutes of his young Kansas career, but he may have made a roaring statement on the future of this football program.
In the fourth quarter, the Jayhawks had their second-largest scoring output in a quarter this season with 14 unanswered points on the way to a 24-10 victory and 2-1 record.
Through three quarters, the Kansas offense looked bleak. They had accumulated just 249 total yards offensively. A good chunk of them came on the opening play from scrimmage when senior Tony Pierson took an end-around handoff 74 yards for the Jayhawks' lone touchdown in the first 45 minutes.
Sophomore quarterback Montell Cozart continued to show his youth, completing 19 of his 27 pass attempts for 134 yards and one interception.
But much like the first quarter of the season when they scored 24 points, the Jayhawks looked like a completely different team in a 15-minute span.
Kansas wound up with 369 total yards offensively. Cozart finished his career night going 23-for-33 for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
Early in the fourth quarter, Cozart connected with a 60-yard catch-and-run on a huge third-down conversion. It was Cozart's first touchdown since his 67-yard completion in the third quarter of the season opener.
On another third-and-9, Cozart found freshman running back Corey Avery over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown connection with under two minutes to go in the game, putting away a team Kansas was clearly better than.
On the surface, a 24-10 victory against a non-conference foe shouldn't have as much importance.
But for a coach who picked up just his third win against an FBS program during his Kansas tenure, a win like this means the world.
The Jayhawks were 15 minutes away from being 1-2, as they heared for the grusome slate of the Big 12 conference. Instead the Wcis-led squad enters conference play 2-1 with a homecoming matchup against a struggling 1-2 Texas team led by first-year coach Charlie Strong.
Edited by Emily Brown
FRANK WEIRICH/KANSAN
Senior linebacker Jake Love takes down Central Michigan running back Saylor Lavallii on Saturday. Love played a crucial part in Kansas' 24-10 victory against CMU, coach Charlie Weis said.
DAN HARMSEN
@Udk_Dan
Following the 41-3 defeat at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils, the talk surrounding Kansas football was about not surrendering the big plays. Plays of 25 yards or more have troubled the Jayhawks' defense throughout the early stages of the 2014 season.
Last Saturday in Durham, N.C., the Duke offense scored from plays of 69, 68, 45 and 36 yards against the Jayhawks, and in week one, Southeast Missouri State scored from 68, 37 and 26 yards.
This week, however, Central Michigan (2-2) was held out of the end zone until there was 6.11 left in the third quarter when running back Martez Walker rumbled in from 18 yards out.
Despite the final 14-point spread, the game was close throughout, hinging on which
team would make plays.
On second-and-10 from the CMU 26-yard line, senior linebacker Jake Love stopped CMU running back Saylor Lavalli for a two-yard loss. On the next play, arguably one of the game's most pivotal, Love met Lavalli again in the backfield for a loss of six.
With Central Michigan trailing just 17-10 with 6:03 left in the game, the Chippewas, led by sophomore quarterback Cooper Rush, needed a game breaker. But one particular Kansas player would have none of that.
"The only player I called out in the locker room after the game was Jake Love," coach Charlie Weis said. "Those back-to-back plays (Love made) took the wind out of (Central Michigan's) sail ... and helped us win the game."
Love acknowledged Weis' praise after the game.
about myself," Love said. "He doesn't do that very often so any time he calls you out it makes you feel good."
"It made me feel very nice
a back-to-back plays (Love made) took the wind out of (Central Michigan's) sail ... and helped us win the game."
CHARLIE WEIS Kansas football coach
Love credited paying attention to detail during the game and in the week of preparation as the key to his success. The senior finished the day with five tackles, four for a loss and a sack. His final two tackles were the most crucial.
"They ran two screens to my side back-to-back," Love said. "I was blitzing on one
of the plays, actually, and the offensive linemen released downfield. I smelled a rat, and made a few plays."
His performance on the field, combined with his deserved acclaim from Weis in the locker room, led to a rambunctious celebration.
Love noted several keys to limiting the big play.
"I think it's just everyone playing a lot more physical and everyone getting to the ball." Love said. "I didn't think we did very well against Duke. We preached that all week in practice. Get to the ball, get to the ball."
Senior Ben Heeney gets so much of the credit at linebacker, but it's complimentary players like Love who can really take this defense to the next level.
"There's really no drop off," Heeney said. "As a linebacker corps, I think we're one of the strongest units on the team."
On the evening, the
Chippewas offense amassed just 101 yards on the ground and 178 yards through the air in Kansas' 24-10 victory. CMU's longest play from scrimmage was 29 yards, and after allowing 245 yards to Duke freshman Shaun Wilson a week ago, Kansas held CMU as a whole to just 2.9 yards per carry.
"The defense only gave up 10 points and had three turnovers," Weis said. "All in all, they played pretty stout up front."
Love will look to carry his performance over to next weekend as Kansas takes on Texas for its annual Homecoming game Saturday. The last time the Longhorns came to Lawrence, Love notched 2.5 tackles for a loss in a 21-17 Kansas loss. Kansas will need that kind of performance again if it wants to win.
— Edited by Ben Carroll
Kansas volleyball takes title at Jayhawk Classic over the weekend
MATT CORTE
@Corte UDK
Saturday night's match between Kansas and Arkansas played out as the de facto championship of the Jayhawk Classic, with both teams coming in 2-0 in the tournament.
What was supposed to be a highly contested match for Kansas turned out to be a fairly lopsided affair. The Jayhawks did drop their second overall set of the invitational, but still managed to win the match and the tournament 25-16, 25-11, 27-29 and 25-18.
Coach Ray Bechard was happy with the win, but still pointed out that his young squad needs to focus more at times.
"We got so many young kids out there, that it's a challenge to play really well for an hour and forty-five minutes or two hours," Bechard said. "That's just part of our growth, and we talk as coaches, our staff, how we're going to have patience with that."
Freshman setter Ainise
Sophomore libero Cassie Wait won MVP of the Jayhawk Classic, the first of her career after being selected to her first All-Tournament team a week ago at the Villanova Classic. She finished the match against Arkansas with 26 digs, giving her 54 overall for the invitational.
Freshman setter Ainise Havili sets up freshman outside hitter Madison Rigdon (14) prepares for a kill. Rigdon led Kansas with 46 kills in the tournament.
"It's an incredible feeling, but I really just have to thank my teammates." Wait said. "They funnel the balls to me, they give me the opportunity to dig, and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be anything."
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Havili was also selected to the Jayhawk Classic All-Tournament team, the third time this season in which she was voted onto an All-Tournament team. Havili finished with 51 assists against Arkansas and 131 overall in the invitational, adding 32 total digs as well.
"I'm speechless; I don't know what to say about it," Havili said. "I think it helped that we won three out of the four tournaments, so that was a big part of me getting any awards at all, and it was definitely a team thing."
Freshman outside hitter Madison Rigdon had a great tournament too, leading the team in kills with 46 and recording a career-high 20 kills against Arkansas in the process.
The Jayhawks won easily in their first match of the invitational, defeating a then 9-1 North Texas team 25-19, 25-17 and 25-19.
Their second match against Cleveland State came with a few hurdles energy being one of them but the team still managed to assert themselves and win in four sets, 25-14, 18-25, 25-14 and 25-19.
The win against Cleveland State also happened to be the 1000th for Bechard's career, with 284 of those wins coming at Kansas.
Bechard was all smiles after the match.
"It was cool to hear from a lot of current and (former) players that were a part of that, and coaches, and I'll obviously share that with this year's team."
To say Kansas started out strong against Arkansas would be a vast
understatement, as the Jayhawks barely let their opposition come close in sets one or two, winning 25-16 and 25-11.
Whatever momentum Kansas finished with after set two wore away before the third door, as Arkansas
Luckily for Bechard, his team in the fourth set ressembled that of the first two sets in which the Jayhawks dominated.
battled the Jayhawks point-for-point until pulling out a close win, 29-27, saving two match points.
After the set was tied 13-13, Kansas put together a couple small but crucial runs, including a 5-2 run to put the score at 23-17 and help the Jayhawks cruise to a comfortable 25-18 fourth set win.
Edited by Emily Brown
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