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SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
9A
SPORTS COMMENTARY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2002
Levi Chronister
lchronister@kansan.com
To Mangino: start Luke for future
Mark Mangino's on a youth kick.
No, the Kansas football coach isn't trying to find the fountain of youth. Instead, he's giving his young athletes more playing time, trying to prepare them for next season and beyond.
Freshmen Kevin Kane (linebacker), Justin Henry (center) and Kevin Borders (tight end) all played in Kansas' 64-0 loss to Kansas State on Saturday.
The most important move toward youth was Mangino's decision to play quarterback Brian Luke, giving the second-year freshman some valuable playing time.
Senior Jonas Weatherbie started in place of injured Bill Whittemore, but Luke replaced Weatherbie — who completed two of nine passes for no yards and an interception — early in the second quarter.
Mangino's words the past four days have made it apparent that Luke won't get that opportunity this week or the rest of the season.
Luke showed some first-game jitters, going 7 of 18 for 74 yards with an interception and two fumbles, but he appeared to gain some poise as the game progressed.
After the game, Luke said he had learned a lot from his almost three quarters, namely the speed of the game and what to do next time he lined up behind the center.
Luke also said he would love to get another chance to lead the offense.
Mangino said that Weatherbie would start Saturday against Nebraska if Whittenore's injury didn't improve enough to allow him to play. Considering Whittemore has a torn medial collateral ligament — an injury which has kept Kansas soccer forward Caroline Smith out of action since Oct. 13 — it's not likely he will start again.
Given Mangino's move toward youth and the future of the Kansas football program, starting Weatherbie makes little to no sense. Mangino justified his decision by saying that Luke wasn't ready for the Kansas State game after sitting out with a hand injury until Oct. 21 and "should only be used if pressed into duty."
Coah, if Weatherbie is your only other viable option, then starting Luke is pretty pressing.
Luke may have less than a game of experience, but he now has five more career passing attempts than Weatherbie and five more completions.
Weatherbie has passed for just 16 yards on 13 career completions and will be out of the program after this season. Luke is the quarterback of the near future.
Whittimore will be a senior next year, and it's unlikely that a two-win team can bring in a top quarterback recruit soon. Luke, who was named to two all-area teams and broke five school records his senior year of high school, needs time on the field to learn the collegiate game and be ready to take over once Whittimore is gone.
Mangino has said it was unfair to ask Luke to come back so quickly from his injury, but it's unfair to Luke not to give him the opportunity to learn and gain experience.
It's hypocritical, too. Mangino said during Monday's Big 12 teleconference that he wanted his young athletes to play against Kansas State to learn how to keep fighting in the face of adversity.
After Saturday's game, Mangino said it was those younger players who played the hardest, best and most consistently because they just wanted the opportunity to play and compete, no matter the opponent.
Luke certainly wants that opportunity, and it's in Mangino's best interest to make sure his future quarterback gets that wish.
Kansan file photo
Chronister is a Lawrence senior in journalism. He is the Kansan sports editor.
'Husker coach feels Kansas' pain
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Nebraska quarterback Jammal Lord looks for open field in last year's 51-7 victory at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. Lord and his fellow Cornhuskers, led by coach Frank Solich, will play host to the Jayhawks at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.
Although Nebraska and Kansas are hardly equals on the gridiron, Cornhusker football coach Frank Solich is taking notice of the building project taking place in Lawrence.
Solich said Tuesday in his weekly press conference that he could see improvement in Kansas' play as the Jayhawks prepare to end a 33-game losing streak to Nebraska.
"They are building for the future," Solich said. "I think they're doing a fine job of coaching. You can see, as you go through the tapes, as we look at every game they played, you see them using great techniques and getting better as the season progresses."
When Solich became Nebraska's coach in 1998, he was not inheriting a team that needed rebuilding similar to Mangino's at Kansas. Instead, Solich took on the responsibility of continuing the success his predecessor Tom Osborne enjoyed for 25 seasons as head coach.
Osborne became a legend in Nebraska after he coached a team with a .836 winning percentage and that played in 25 consecutive bowl games, along with three national championships between 1973-1997.
Osborne is currently a senator in the Cornhusker state, and Solich is feeling the heat of continuing the winning tradition of Nebraska football.
Nebraska's football fans are traditionally known as some of the most loyal fans in college football, but 'Sack Solich' has become a popular slogan around Lincoln this fall.
After Nebraska's run to the national championship game in the Rose Bowl was tainted by a 37-14 thrashing by Miami last year, the Cornhuskers have gone 6-4 so far this season.
Solich said it had been difficult at
times to keep his team focused, especially after losing to Iowa State Sept. 28. The loss ended Nebraska's streak of being ranked in the Associated Press poll that dated back to October 1981.
tude that goes from one game to the next," Solich said. "That's going to be the proper attitude to make them at the end the type of team that they want to be."
"They need to have the kind of atti-
FOOTBALL SEE PAGE 12A
Kansas tumbles to Texas
By Jason Hwang
jhwang@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas volleyball team knew that Texas Tech would be focused last night.
A lopside 3-0 loss to Kansas on Sept 28 in Lawrence ensured that fact.
Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, the Red Raiders were seeing 20-20 yesterday in a 3-0 (30-24, 31-29, 30-17) victory against Kansas in Lubbock, Texas.
The loss halted the Jayhawks' three-match winning streak.
Michaels
Kansas, 17-6 overall and 8-6 Big 12 Conference, is now 0-3 in road games all of which were sweeps, in the state of Texas this season.
"We basically ran into a very hot Texas Tech team tonight," said Kansas coach Ray Bechard. "They always play well at home and tonight was no exception."
The Red Raiders, 9-13 overall and 4-9
Big 12, registered 68 digs, which is the most for a Kansas opponent in a threegame match this season.
"Those two players were a lot better tonight that they were when we faced them at home," junior outside hitter Sarah Rome said. "I thought we gave good effort in the first two games of the match and then things fell apart after that."
For the third time this season, no Kansas player had double-digit kills. Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Michaels led the team in kills for the first time this season with eight.
Texas Tech's Laura Grote had 55 assists while Red Raider Kelly Johnson had a match-high 22 kills, and Angela Mooney had a season-high 20 kills.
Freshman setter Andi Rozum had 27 assists and a team-high 11 digs for her fourth double-double.
The Jayhawks don't play this Saturday because of a scheduled idle period but Kansas plays Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
- Edited by Andy Samuelson
Soccer starts tournament excited about opportunity
Daniel Berk
dberk@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Opportunity is the word of the week for the Kansas women's soccer team this week as it heads into the Big 12 soccer tournament in San Antonio, Texas.
"Our team moral is very good this
Coming into the tournament on a three game slide, the No. 6 seeded Jayhawks look to reverse their fortune and defeat No. 3 seeded Nebraska.
Kansas squares off against Nebraska at 7:30 onight.
Kansas has not won a game since a 2-1 win over Iowa State on Oct. 20. Coach Mark Francis said his team had overlooked that and was excited about its opportunity this week.
Earlier this season Kansas played to a 1-1 tie against the Cornhuskers. Kansas scored late in the second half on a goal by freshman Caroline Smith to take the lead 1-0. Nebraska responded quickly and tied the game 25 seconds later on a goal by Christine Latham to finish the scoring.
week," Francis said. "We had some quality practices and we feel like we have something to prove. We are ready to play."
At the time, Nebraska was ranked No.18 in the country and Francis thinks his team was a couple of mistakes away from winning.
"We played very well against them earlier this season," Francis said. "I
SEE SOCCER ON PAGE 12A
Anton Bubnovskiv/Kansa
The two Ryans square off this week with the return of the virtual face-off. The older Ryan Malashock is looking to pummel the younger Ryan Greene.
Virtual face-off places Kansan's Ryan vs. Ryan
By Ryan Greene and Ryan Malashock
rgreene@kansan.com
rmalashock@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriters
The virtual face-off has been absent the past few weeks, but returns for the final two weeks of the season. Next week's opponent will be a surprise, but this week, Ryan Greene, who lost his last outing to Jonah Ballow and the Colorado Buffaloes, faced Ryan Malashock and his Nebraska Cornhuskers. This game carried significance far beyond the controllers, because it was a battle between the Kansan sports staff's two Ryan's ultimate bragging rights . Old Ryan versus New Ryan, senior versus junior, seven semesters at the Kansan versus three semesters.
"Yeah, I know what y'all are thinking." Greene said. "Malashock's covered basketball. Malashock's written some clever columns. Malashock writes for The Topeka-Capital Journal. Forget all that. He's old hat, it's over for him. He needs to graduate and find a job, because I'm taking over this newsroom."
"Yeah, Greene has the experience factor on the video game system, but you
Malashock entered the contest with an abundance of confidence, despite having never played the game.
can't ever bet against Nebraska at home," said Malashock, an Omaha native. "And don't worry, I'd never allow that impostor to take my status as the Kansan's greatest Ryan of all-time."
1st Quarter
Jonas Weatherbie started at quarterback for Kansas but couldn't move the ball as the Jayhawks punched on their opening drive. A muffed fair catch by DeJuan Groce gave Kansas the ball deep in Nebraska territory, and the Jayhawks capitalized with a 27-vard Johnny Beck field goal.
Kansas 3, Nebraska 0
On the ensuing kickoff, Groce quickly delivered revenge, returning a kick 98 yards down the sideline to put Nebraska back on top.
"I must have told that moron about 20 times not to kick it to Groce," Malashock said. "He got what he deserved right there."
Nebraska 7, Kansas 3
2nd Quarter
After Kansas went three-and-out on their next drive, the Cornhuskers were quick to give the ball right back to the Jayhawks when Dahrran Diedrick fumbled on his own 41-yard-line where Nick Reid quickly pounced on the loose football.
On each of the teams' next two pos-
SEE FACE-OFF ON PAGE 12A
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