FRIDAY,OCTOBER11,2002
HOMECOMING
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 11P
'Hawks looking for homecoming win over Buffaloes
By John Domoney jdomoney@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Chris Burket/Kansan
Senior linehacker Leo Fienne and sophomore safety Johnny McCoy dive for a tackle against Bowling Green
After opening with four of its first six games on the road, the Kansas football team now will close the season with four of its last six games at home.
This stretch begins at 1 p.m. tomorrow as Kansas will host the University of Colorado for homecoming at Memorial Stadium.
Kansas (2-4) enters the contest looking to improve upon its 0-2 Big 12 Conference record after the season-opening loss at Iowa State and last Saturday's defeat at Baylor.
While the Jayhawks are looking for their first conference victory, the Buffaloes are riding a high that came with Colorado's 35-31 defeat of then 13th ranked Kansas State last Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
In the victory, Colorado (3-2) tormented the previously unbeaten Kansas State with a big play offense led by quarterback Robert Hodge.
Hodge, who replaced Craig Ochs earlier in the season, had 289 yards passing and three touchdowns against Kansas State.
Kansas coach Mark Mangino said the big play capability of Colorado was a concern for a Kansas defense that has allowed at least 30 points in five of its first six games.
"They can make big plays, there's no question," Mangino said. "But we can't be worried about what they might do. We have to prepare for the things that
they do the very best."
What Colorado does best is run the football. Buffaloes running back Chris Brown is averaging a Big 12 best 135.6 yards per game, and he has eight touchdowns.
Mangino said he was worried that Colorado's running game combined with the emergence of Hodges at quarterback was reminiscent of last year's Colorado
team that defeated Nebraska and Texas on its way to winning the Big 12 championship.
"Colorado is starting to get in sync like they did last season," Mangino said. "They got off to a little bit of a slow start and are starting to hit their stride."
Kansas is also starting to click on offense led by junior quarterback Bill Whittimore who has
"Kansas has been a difficult place to play for us, and for some reason I can't really put my finger on it."
Gary Barnett
Colorado football coach
totaled 720 yards in total offense and has been responsible for eight touchdowns in the last two games against Tulsa and Baylor.
To complement Whittemore, running backs freshman Clark Green and junior Reggie Duncan will try to improve Kansas' running attack.
Mangino said Duncan, who made only his second start of the season against Baylor Saturday would compete with Green for the number of snaps each will play against Colorado.
"We'll give them both reps in the beginning of the game and if someone just has a feel for what we're doing and the way the defense is playing it, we'll go with them," Mangino said. "If neither one does, then we'll continue to look for it. And if they're both hot,
then we'll give them both chances by starting one off, give him a rest and get the other guy in."
Homecoming has been kind to Kansas as the Jayhawks have won 10 of their last 12 homecoming games. Kansas also has defeated Colorado the last two times it has visited Lawrence, in 1998 and 2000.
Colorado coach Gary Barnett knows his team must not look past Kansas especially after what has happened to Colorado during the past two trips to Memorial Stadium.
"Kansas has been a difficult place to play for us, and for some reason I can't really put my finger on it," Barnett said.
Mangino, however, isn't relying on recent history to help his team tomorrow, but he did say that he has taken a new approach by shortening practice this week in order to prepare the Jayhawks.
"We just feel like we needed to give our kids an opportunity to recover a little bit in terms of their legs and just being nice and fresh for Saturday's game," Mangino said.
Football faces familiar homecoming foe
— Edited by Andrew Vaupel
Buffaloes lost in 2000 homecoming
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
They handled Kansas State last weekend, and now Colorado will try to make it a wheat state sweep when they play Kansas at 1 p.m. Saturday. But if the Buffalooes' recent performances against the Jayhawks are any indication, that will not be an easy task.
Last year in Boulder, Colo.,
the Jayhawks lead the Buffaloes
13-10 at halftime, before Colorado scored two fourth quarter
touchdowns and won 27-16. Then-freshman Johnny Beck scored 10 points on three field goals and an extra point. He also kicked the second-longest field goal in Kansas history with a 59-yard kick at the end of the second quarter.
If the Jayhawks want to hand the Buffaloes another homecoming loss, they'll need another strong defensive performance on Saturday.
When Colorado came to Lawrence for Kansas' homecoming two years ago, the Jayhawks fared even better. A touchdown by then freshman running back Reggie Duncan with 8:47 left in the game sealed at 23-15 for a Kansas victory. The Jayhawk defense held Colorado to 90 yards rushing on 32 carries.
Against Kansas State. Colorado rushed for 194 yards and passed 289 yards against a tough Wildcat defense.
Kansas coach Mark Mangino knows all about the Colorado offense.
"Colorado's going to come in here, and they're going to run the football," he told reporters. "But don't be fooled, they can throw the ball too. We're going to just keep working hard to improve our run defense."
The Colorado offense continues to roll, even though it has lost its starting quarterback. Junior Craig Ochs
announced through a press release that he was leaving the team after sustaining a head injury on Sept. 7 during a game against San Diego State University.
Mangino said Ochs' replacement, senior Robert Hodge, was more than capable of leading the Buffaloes.
"The quarterback that they're using, Robert Hodge, is a guy that fits what they're doing." Mangino said. "You can tell he's a smart, young guy, he understands what they're trying to do and he's executing their offense really well at this point in time."
Edited by Matt Norton
Chris Burket/Kansan
Junior quarterback Bill Whittemore throws past the Bowling Green defense in Kansas' second home game this season. The 'Hawks take on the Colorado Buffaloes in their first conference home game at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
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