VOLLEYBALL: Kansas falls to Texas Tech. SEE PAGE 5B. GOLF: Teams prepare to begin tournament play today. SEE PAGE 3B.
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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
1B
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8,2001
Commentary
Chris Wristen
Columnist
opinionakansan.com
Football fans should relish road victory, brag about it
Ahhhh, you should feel good about being a Kansas football fan today.
Relish that feeling; drol about how good it feels to love your Jayhawks; call your friends at other Big 12 universities and brag to them about your up-and-coming Jayhawks.
The Big 12 Conference has to take Kansas seriously after its stunning 34-31 come-from-behind double-overtime victory that spoiled Texas Tech's homecoming game on Saturday night.
mig game on Saturday night. But most importantly, be proud that your Jajahaws are not in last place in the Big 12 right now. That honor rests with the low Kansas State Wildcats.
That's right. For the first time since 1989 and the now-defunct Big Eight Conference glory days, K-State is last place in the conference. The Wildcats are conference doormats. They're bringing up the rear, stuck in the conference black hole, worse than the Jayhawks. Heck, they're worse than ... Missouri.
And to that I say, "HA HA."
The Wildcats are 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12. If not for a late USC fumble inside the 20-yard line in the final minutes of its season opener, K-State would be sitting at 1-3. The Cats are plummeting in the national rankings and will drop out of the Top 25 after Texas Tech beats them this Saturday.
The Bill Snyder dynasty is in a nose dive that could return K-State to the doormat status it held during the Stan Parrish, Jim Dickey, Ellis Rainsberger, Vince Gibson, Doug Weaver and Bus Mertes year. Those players guided the Wildcats to 31 losing seasons and three winning or even seasons from 1955 to 1988. Even Snyder added three losing seasons in his first years in Manhattan.
Kansas is also 2-2 overall, but the Jayhawks are 1-1 in the Big 12 — and that's better than K-State. Kansas won a conference road game because it showed poise in the second half. It believed it could win on the road and stayed true to its successful offensive attack throughout the second half.
The offensive line finally opened holes for sophomore tail back Reggie Duncan to run through and he broke tackles, stiffarmed defenders and rumbled for 227 yards on 38 carries. Quarterback Zach Dyer got Kansas off to a good start by leading a touchdown drive, and backup Mario Kinsey showed some late poise that helped send the game to overtime
that helped freshman Johnny Beck hit four clutch field goals, and senior captain Marcus Rogers sent the Kansas faithful who journeyed to Lubbock, Texas, into a celebration after his interception in the second overtime sealed the win.
The Jayhawks shone in the clutch. Kansas State hasn't done that. That's why Kansas is tied for third in the Big 12 North division right now - and K-State is last. How long those standings will last is another story because Kansas plays No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Regardless, feel good about your Kansas football team this week. And pray for a miracle on Saturday so you can have something else to brag about.
Wristen is a Leawood senior in journalism.
Kinsey leads rally as Kansas delivers in overtime win
Late drive propels' Hawks
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
Reggie Duncan breaks a tackle in the first quarter of Kansas' 34-31 double-overtime win against Texas Tech Saturday. Duncan ran for a career-high 227 yards on 38 carries at SBC Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.
Freshman quarterback Mario Kinsey, drained from a nasty case of the flu and winded from two overtimes of football, stood proudly under the Saturday night lights in Lubbock, Texas.
With the score of Kansas' 34-31 victory displayed on the scoreboard behind them, Kansas players and coaches — swarmed by a herd of Jayhawk fans — embraced one another at midfield in front of him.
A wide smile broke across Kinsey's face.
"I live for big-time situations like this, so we can make the play and I can hook everybody up." Kinsey said. "I feel great."
Statistically, Kinsey has had better games at Kansas. He completed eight of 24 passes and had one touchdown. He was sacked three times and threw for only 86 yards. Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury had 183 passing yards by halftime.
Things soured for Kinsey after his first snap when he replaced sophomore Zach Dyer, who started the game.
Kinsey came in for the final nine minutes of the first half. He slumped through the second quarter and struggled through the third. But in the fourth, when his team needed him the most, Kinsey's game flourished.
With two minutes left, his team trailing 24-16, and 63 yards from the end zone, Kinsev took over.
"I just felt it," he said. "I just knew we had to go out there and win."
A minute was shed from the clock after a few plays, and Kansas was faced with a long third down. For the first time this season, Kansas tried some trickery.
On third and 16 from the Kansas 44-yard line, Kinsey fired a short pass to senior wide receiver Termaine Fulton. Fulton caught the football at midfield and pitched it behind him to sophomore wide receiver Derick Mills. Mills raced 35 yards down the sideline before he was pushed out of bounds at the Texas Tech 15-yard line.
"We've been working on that this week in practice," Kinsey said. "I didn't think we were going to use it because we had not used it all game. But it came up big when we did."
After successive 5-yard runs by Kinsey and sophomore running back Reggie Duncan, Kinsey zipped a 5-yard pass to Fulton, who jumped in the end zone and ripped the football out of the air for a touchdown. A two-point conversion run by Duncan with 17 ticks left evened the score at 24.
Kansas, in front of a stunned crowd of 45,343, was in business.
After the two teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, Kansas freshman kicker Johnny Beck blasted a 37-yard
field goal, putting Kansas up by three. After missing a field goal for the first time this season — his fourth quarter 48-yard attempt reverberated off the left upright — Beck's boot put the pressure back on Texas Tech. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound kicker from Kansas City, Kan. also connected on three other field goals, including two from 42 yards out and one 44-yard kick. He has now hit eight of nine field goals in four games.
On the ensuing possession, Texas Tech backup quarterback
B. J. Symons was intercepted by middle linebacker Marcus Rogers. Rogers cradled the football before he tumbled to the turf, securing Kansas' second win and first Big 12 Conference win of the season.
Rogers said his coaches had told him to watch for Texas Tech receivers' cross patterns.
"They were doing it all game. I chased it and ran back right into them. We raised the level in the second overtime," said Rogers.
Kansas coach Terry Allen said
he never gave up on his team.
"We were looking 1-3 in the mouth," Allen said. "That would have been pretty bad. But now we're 2-2, and we get to play the team that should be the No.1 ranked team in the country next week."
Kinsey said he was looking forward to playing against Oklahoma on Saturday.
It's going to be fun against OU. I hope they're ready," he said.
Contact Denton at 864-4858
On his home turf, Duncan garners 227 yards
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
A return to Texas results in career-high stats for running back
Sophomore running back Reggie Duncan had enough in his tank to dominate and dazzle for an entire four quarters on Saturday.
Kansas' sophomore running back from Killeen, Texas, romped through Texas Tech's defense for 227 yards on 38 carries — both career highs — in his first start in his home state since high school.
"I nat's the breakout game I wanted," Duncan said. "It happened here in Texas. It felt real good to run like that again. My
Quarterback Mario Kinsey said a large part of Saturday's game plan was to give Duncan the opportunity to run for 100 yards.
first game as a college player over 100 yards — I feel real good about that."
"We challenged our offensive linemen before the game that if they could get Reggie 100, then something good was going to happen," Kinsey said.
Duncan eclipsed his quarterback's goal in the first quarter with 64 yards. The number grew to 122 by halftime, and by the halfway mark of the fourth quarter, Duncan had more than 200 yards rushing.
Duncan displayed a combination of speed, finesse and power.
He sprinted 45 yards down the right sideline on his second carry of the game.
He slithered his way through the line of scrimmage for a 12-yard gain in the second quarter, and in the second overtime period, he stampeded nine yards, setting up freshman Johnny Beck's game-winning 37-yard field goal.
But Duncan said he knew his best showing in a Jayhawk uniform never would have happened without the adequate blocking of his offensive line.
"My game ball goes to them, and I will keep telling people that," Duncan said.
In a surprise start at quarterback, sophomore backup Dyer Dyer came out in Kansas' first possession and led the offense on a 12-play, 84-yard scoring drive in 4:37. The drive ended with Dyer throwing a one-yard play-action touchdown pass to freshman fullback Austin Nwabuisi.
On fourth down and one from the Texas Tech 16-yard line, Dyer kept the ball himself on a quarterback sneak and plunged forward three yards and a first down. Dyer was a perfect 2 for 2 passing on the drive.
Dyer was given three offensive possessions in the first half. He was five of eight passing for 50 yards and a touchdown. Kinsey relieved him with 9:19 to play before halftime and went the rest of the way at quarterback.
Kansas is 2-1 when Dyer starts. Kinsey started in Kansas' 27-16 loss to Colorado on Sept. 22.
Contact Denton at 864-4858
Soccer team falls to Nebraska in season's first shutout
By Ryan Wood
Kansan sportswriter
After defeating Iowa State 3-1 on Friday, the Kansas soccer team fell to No. 5 Nebraska 2-0 yester day to split the weekend series.
The Jayhawks now stand at 7-3 overall, and 3-1 in Big 12 Conference play. All three losses this season were to Top 25 teams.
Kansas struck early against the Cyclones on Friday, when junior midfielder Brooke Jones scored off an assist by senior forward Hilla Rantala just four minutes into the game. It was
Jones's third goal of the season.
Coach Mark Francis said he felt the Jayhawks should have done better early in the game, despite outshooting the Cyclones in the first half.
Iowa State, 3-6 overall, 1-2 in Big 12 play, tied the score when midfielder Tiffany Belz scored on a free kick past freshman goalkeeper Meghan Miller in the 28th minute.
The Jayhawks came back and broke the game open in the second half. Freshman forward Monica Brothers, last week's Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, scored her fifth goal of the season off an assist from Jones in the 61st minute, putting the score at 2-1.
"Brooke scored a really great goal," coach Mark Francis said. "But we did not play well in the first half."
Rantala put the game out of reach in the 66th minute when she put a corner kick past Cyclone goalkeeper Karen Hasselman. It was her eighth goal of the season as she continued to add to her numerous scoring records at Kansas.
"The second half was much better," Francis said. "I felt like we dominated in the second half. We really got after it and played some soccer."
Francis was proud of his team's efforts.
Despite a tough performance yesterday in Lincoln, Neb., the Jayhawks were unable to find the back of the net. Nebraska goalkeeper Erin Miller recorded the shutout. It was the first time Kansas had been shutout this season.
said. "We played very well, but we just didn't finish on a couple of chances. It wasn't one-sided like last time."
Nebraska forward Kelly Haxton scored off a corner kick by midfielder Meghan Anderson in the 42nd minute and Nebraska took the 1-0 lead.
The Cornhuskers, 8-1, 3-0 finished the scoring in the 66th minute on a goal by forward Christy Harms.
"It was very close," Francis
Contact Wood at 864-4858
NFL
NFL
Cardinals
21
Eagles 20
NFL
Buccaneers 14
14
Packers 10
MLB
Cardinals
9
MLB
2
10
Tigers 4