WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Kansas punting specialists begin to lose their footing
After a strong start, punters struggle with new strategy
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas football team's offense and defense ranked last in the Big 12 Conference, but the Jayhawk punting unit has been one of the most consistent aspects of the season.
Junior punter Curtis Ansel averaged 42.5 yards per punt through the first 11 games of the season, tying him for fifth in the conference.
Ansel even had a Big 12 record 83-yard punt against Baylor on Oct. 5, but players' recent struggles with strategy changes have made the punting game a concern for coach Mark Mangino.
"We've put a great deal of time into the punt team and it has been pretty good for us up until the last two weeks." said Mangino in yesterday's weekly press conference.
Of course, all aspects of the Kansas football team have not played up to Mangino's expectations. Kansas State and Nebraska outscored the Jayhawks 109-7 over the past two games.
Mangino said some of the problems in the punting game have stemmed from the coaching staff's decision to kick away from Nebraska and Kansas State punt returners DeJuan Groce and Terrance Newman.
get into some directional punting."
"We felt Nebraska and Kansas State had really good punt return teams in terms of return men," Mangino said. "Because we have a very skilled punter, we tried to
Mangino said that rather than puncting the ball down the middle of the field where teams were used to getting returns, they would try to punt the ball closer to the sidelines.
Kansan File Photo
That decision backfired on Mangino and the Jayhawks against Kansas State and Nebraska.
In the first quarter against the Wildcats Nov. 2, the Jayhawks' Ansel had a free kick after running back Clark Green was tackled for a safety.
Ansel aimed too far towards the sideline and kicked the ball out of bounds. Kansas State was awarded the ball at the 50-yard line because of the penalty and the Wildcats scored on their third play following the kick.
Later in the first half, a bad snap by senior long snapper Greg Nicks left Ansel open to be tackled at Kansas' 11-yard line, leading to another Wildcat touchdown.
Last Saturday against the Cornhuskers, the punting unit had a complete breakdown as bad snaps by Nicks and dropped snaps by Ansel contributed to short fields for the Nebraska offense to light up the scoreboard.
In the second quarter, a low snap by Nicks led to a host of Nebraska defenders tackling Ansel before he could get the punt away.
In the third quarter after Nicks had been replaced by junior Andy Coffman, one of Ansel's punts was blocked and returned by Nebraska's Aaron Terpening.
Ansel said he was still learning to be comfortable with directional kicking as opposed to punting the ball straight down the field.
Junior punter Curtis Ansel is averaging 42.5 yards per punt in Kansas' first 11 games, tying him for fifth in the Big 12 conference. While the punting unit has been one of the more positive aspects of the Jayhawks' losing season, it has recently begun to struggle with a different strategy.
"That's something I haven't done in the past," Ansel said. "I usually just kick it to them and let the coverage team go down there and cover them."
Mangino said he did not regret using the directional punting strategy in the last two games, but he expected to use the technique with his punting unit in the future.
"Hindsight is always 20-20," Mangino said. "We were just not able to execute."
Hockey club takes two victories into weekend series with'Buffs
— Edited by Adam Pracht
By Jeremy Clarkson
correspondence@kansan.com
Kansan correspondent
Coming off of two victories against Southwest Missouri State University, the KU men's ice hockey club team hopes to carry some of the momentum from their comeback victories into their first set of home games this weekend against the University of Colorado.
In both games against Southwest Missouri State, KU fought back from 3-1 deficits against the previously undefeated Bears. The Jayhawks won the first game 5-4 and the second 5-3, scoring the game-winning goal of each game in the third period.
Matthew "Marty" McSorley, St. Louis junior goaltender, said the team made many simple mistakes on defense which led to early goals for the Bears.
Kyle Wilson, St. Louis junior defenseman, agreed the defense made fundamental mistakes, but attributed it to the lack of conditioning by the team compared to Southwest Missouri State.
"They had been practicing a lot longer than us," he said.
Matt Davis, Topeka, junior forward, said at the time, the team only had a couple practices to prepare while Southwest Missouri State entered the game with a 7-0 1 record. Since those two games, McSorley said the team had worked on more defensive zone
coverage to prepare for Colorado.
The teams are also working on ways to attract more students to attend the game and show support.
Last week, the club ice hockey team had a photo taken in front of Strong Hall. Davis said the team wanted to put the photo on cards and pass them out on campus before games, which will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ice Sports-Kansas City. 19900 Johnson Drive in Olathe.
Davis said students interested in learning about future games could e-mail the team at kuhockey@hotmail.com.
-Edited by Matt Norton
Samuelson
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
It's what made him leave the place he loved. Crider hadn't been back to the Fieldhouse since he left.
to play." Crider said in an interview earlier this week with The Tonek Capital Journal.
He said he wasn't trying to outplay his past last night.
"I don't have anything to prove. I'm just going out there
That's not completely true.
While Crider didn't have anything to prove to Fieldhouse fans last night, he did have something to prove to himself
— he had to leave his heart at the home he once inhabited.
weren't very positive despite the work.
"I had a lot of fun 'til I got my neck irred." he said.
Unfortunately, the results
And for another night, the young boy sitting in the sun of the "Jaydreamin'" painting remained in the shadows of his own Jayhawk dream.
He did.
Samuelson is a Wichita senior in journalism.
Mengüç
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
looking for is shots, and lots of them. The three point line is farther back in Sweden, and Solna's players are used to shooting the long ball. In fact, many of the Vikings are used to everything concerned with basketball, Menguc said.
That's because the average age
of the Solna players is more than 25 years old. Five of its players are 26 or older. At 22, Menguc is the oldest player for the Jayhawks, who have seven freshmen.
An experienced and physically demanding opponent is exactly the kind of team Washington wants to play, she said.
"We need it," she said. "It'll be good for them to be on the floor against other women's teams that
are physical."
If Kansas needs any more information it can check Solna's recent schedule. The Vikings have taken brutal beatings from two Big 12 Conference teams on their Midwest tour. Solna lost to Kansas State 99-49 on Friday.
It followed that 50-point loss with a 40-point loss to Missouri (86-46) Sunday.
Edited by Melissa Shuman