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SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2002
'Hawks lose in final minutes
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald
Reggie Duncan, Kansas running back , scores on a 13-yard run with one minute left in the first half cutting Baylor's lead to 14-12. Baylor won its first Big 12 Conference game in four years.
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan sportswinter
Minutes after handing Baylor University its first Big 12 Conference victory since 1998, Kansas coach Mark Mangino was speaking optimistically about the lavhawks' future.
The Jayhawks' pass defense needed improvement at the end of the game. Baylor's sophomore quarterback Aaron Karas completed 7-of-9 passes for 119 yards during the Bears' final two drives of the game. He finished the game with 359 total passing vards.
The loss snapped Baylor's 29-game losing streak to Big 12 opponents. Kansas (2-4 overall, 0-2 in the Big 12) seemed to have the game in hand when junior quarterback Bill Whittemore scored his second touchdown of the day with 2:51 left in the game, making make the score 32-24. But the Bears (3-2, 1-0) run 80 yards for a quick touchdown and brought Baylor within two points.
"You look at us today, and you look at us opening day against Iowa State," Mangino said. "We're a better football team in all areas."
Baylor scored 10 points in the final 1:18, overcoming an eight-point deficit and beating Kansas 35-32.
Mangino said the last-second loss was difficult for the players, but they would use it to make themselves better.
Baylor's senior running back Chedrick Ricks' desperate dive for the two-point conversion was just enough to beat freshman defensive back Donnie Amadi to the corner of the end zone and even the score at 32.
Kansas missed an opportunity to send the game into overtime when it turned the ball over on downs with 43 seconds remaining.
After a 32-yard punt return, Baylor's sophomore quarterback, Aaron Karas, threw three passes for 41 yards to put the Bears in scoring position. Baylor's senior place-kicker, Daniel Andino, put up a 33-yield field goal that brought Baylor fans storming onto the field. Security guards quickly ushered the fans off the field so the final five seconds could be played.
But it didn't matter. When Kansas' frenzied return ended on its own two-yard line, the fans once again rushed the field. This time they headed straight for the south goalpost and within minutes, they brought it crashing down onto the field.
"You look at us today,and you look at us opening day against Iowa State. We're a better football team in all
"It hurts to be back in central Texas and see them tearing down the goalposts
areas.
Mark Mangino Kansas football coach
Duane A. Leverty/Waco Tribune-Herald
and me being on the other side of the ball," sophomore safety Johnny McCoy, of Killeen, Texas, told reporters after the game.
Another Killeen native, senior running back Reggie Duncan, saw his first action since Kansas' first game of the season against Iowa State. Duncan rushed for 22 yards on 10 carries and scored on a 13-yard touchdown run.
- Edited by Amy Schmitz
Aaron Karas, Baylor quarterback, gets crunched by Jayhawks Greg Cole and Brandon Lacy.
A tale of two kickers: triumphs and troubles
By Doyle Murphy
d murphy@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas' starting kickers are on opposite ends of the spectrum these days.
Senior punter Curtis Ansel continues to bury opponents deep in their own territory with one outstanding punt after another.
In Saturday's 35-32 loss to Baylor University, Ansel set a Big 12 Conference record for longest punt with an 83-yard bomb that ended up on Baylor's three-yard line. It was one of four kicks he landed inside the Bears' 20-yard line.
"When he hits that thing square, as you can see, he can put people down in the hole," Mangino said. "He's a great weapon to have."
Kansas coach Mark Mangino told reporters after the game that the talented senior had become a great asset to the team.
Ansel said he was surprised by the record-setting kick.
"I don't know how it flew, but it did," Ansel told reporters.
Sophomore place kicker Johnny Beck is struggling to find the form that put him on erasure watchlists for
Beck is struggling to find the fellow that put him on presession watchlists for
the Lou Groza Award given annually to the nation's leading place kicker.
Through the first six games of this season, he has already missed three extra points and his last four field goal attempts. Against Baylor, Beck missed an extra point and a 34-yard field goal attempt.
As a freshman, Beck successfully converted 16-of-17 extra point attempts and regularly kicked field goals from farther than 40 yards away, including a 59-yard field goal against Colorado.
"I just told him to try and relax," Ansel said. "I know it's hard because I went through a big thing in the spring, so I know what he's going through, and it's just a tough time."
Ansel said he could relate to Beck's problems and had tried to give him some advice.
He was unavailable for comment after the Baylor game.
In last week's victory over the University of Tulsa, Beck missed all three of his field goal attempts.
Two of the attempts were longer than 50 yards, but Beck was still redeyed and visibly shaken when he talked to reporters after the game.
Edited by Christine Grubb
Soccer splits pair in Texas 'Hawks edge Tech, stumble to Baylor We didn't come out ready to play. We were really flat and didn't look like the same team that played last
Texas Tech (2-10-0, 0-4-0 Big 12) led the match early when Michaela Roberts scored with 22:58 on the clock, giving the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead on the Jayhawks. The early Texas Tech lead paralyzed Kansas, which only managed three shots in the first half of play.
The Jayhawks were rejuvenated in the second period and outshot the Red Raiders 12-2. Kansas tied the match in the 76th minute of the game when senior defender Brianna Valento put a header in the net off a penalty kick from senior Lindsay Hunting. Freshman forward Jessica Smith solidified the win for Kansas with her first collegiate goal with only 24 seconds left to play, a header off an assist from sophomore Amy Geha.
The Kansas soccer team (8-2-2, 2-1-1 Big 12 Conference) split its weekend series in Texas with a 2-1 victory against Texas Tech yesterday and a 2-1 loss to Baylor on Friday.
"It was not pretty," Kansas coach Mark Francis said. "We did not show up to play in the first half. However, we regrouped in the second half and played better."
Shots were also few and far between for Kansas in Friday's match against the Baylor (7-4-0, 1-2-0 Big 12). The Bears held the Jayhawks to a season-low seven shots.
The loss was Kansas' first in eight games. It was the team's first loss in con-
Mark Francis Kansas soccer coach
week.
The Bears jumped ahead early when sophomore Kristen Ruef scored at the 1:03 mark. But the Jayhawks retaliated in the 24th minute when sophomore Lauren Williams scored her first goal of the year off an assist from Hunting and sophomore Rachel Gilfillan.
ference play and Baylor's first win
Seven minutes into the second half, it looked as if Kansas had taken the lead only to have a goal by freshman Caroline Smith waved off by an offside call. Baylor took the lead in the 54th minute when Ginny Rosario-Tull scored off an assist from Emily Fukuchi.
"We didn't play very well," Francis said. "They wanted it more than we did. We didn't come out ready to play. We were really flat and didn't look like the same team that played last week."
The team will be in Lawrence next weekend when it hosts Oklahoma State and Oklahoma at SuperTarget field. Kansas plays Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. Friday. They will meet Oklahoma at 1 p.m.Sunday.
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Kansan staff reports
Levi Chronister
chronister@kanson.com
Kansas must recover after Baylor losses
A loss to Baylor!
A loss to Baylor?
How does that happen?
How does that happen?
It's not like our team's the best in the nation,but come on.
Baylor — a team that was winless in the Big 12 Conference before the weekend—beats Kansas, a team that put up a big victory last weekend?
How does Kansas soccer coach Mark Francis let his Jayhawks lose to the Bears, even if the game is on the road?
The soccer match Friday between the Jayhawks and Bears should have been easy.
Kansas — an up-and-coming team ranked No. 8 in the Central Region — was victorious in its past six regular-season Big 12 games, while Baylor — which won just four conference games and eight overall last year — was in the middle of a three-game losing skid.
Part of the problem was a lack of shots for the Jayhawks. Kansas had just seven shots — Baylor had eight — and none came from sensation Caroline Smith.
Goalkeeper Meghan Miller also had an uncharacteristically poor game, allowing two of the three shots on goal by the Bears to reach the back of the net.
The forward from Edina, Minn., had a go-ahead goal called back because of an offsides infraction with the game tied 1-1 seven minutes into the second half. Smith couldn't put the ball in the net the rest of the game.
After last weekend's blowout victory against Colorado and an emotionally and physically draining draw against Nebraska, a let down wasn't out of the question for Kansas against Baylor.
The team did bounce back and top Texas Tech 2-1 yesterday, but Kansas has to make sure it doesn't get tripped up by a lesser opponent again.
The Jayhawks are young, with 11 freshmen and sophomores, so it's up to Francis to make sure the team forgets about the loss and moves on instead of letting the loss affect them for the rest of the season.
Another Kansas team lost in Waco Texas, this weekend, as the football team dropped a 35-32 decision to Baylor on Saturday.
Yes, Baylor hadn't won a Big 12 game in its past 29 tries dating back to 1998, but who better for the Bears to break the streak against? Kansas was the last conference opponent Baylor had defeated, so the Jayhawks are now the bookends to the longest Big 12 losing streak.
The Jayhawks should join the Bears in the Big 12 record books in another, undesired way, as just the second team to go winless in conference play. Baylor's done it the past three years, and barring some sort of miracle, the Jayhawks will reach that mark of futility this season.
Sure, Kansas still has Oklahoma State, Colorado and Kansas State on the schedule, and all of those games are at home. Oklahoma State lost by just two at Texas on Saturday, Colorado defeated Kansas State, and Kansas State will certainly be as emotionally ready and more talented than Kansas when it's time for the Sunflower Showdown.
Coach Mark Mangino doesn't have much to work with, having to wait until next year before he gets a recruiting class of his own to mold and teach. Of course, going 0-8 in the Big 12 won't help make that group of freshmen much better than the current corps of players on the roster.
**Chronistor is a Lawrence senior in journalism. He is Kansan's sports editor.**
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