WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Questionable decisions mar Mangino's debut
For all the hype and optimism surrounding the Kansas football team this season, Saturday's season opener against Iowa State looked like more of the same.
SPORTS
A stagnant offense, a defense that wilted after spending far too much time on the field and a lopsided road loss to a Big 12 Conference opponent mirrored the failure of recent years, not the success that coach Mark Mangino was supposed to bring.
Levi Chronister
lchronister@kansan.com
Much of the team's poor showing was a result of playing less talented athletes than the Cyclones. Zach Dyer, Reggie Duncan and Brock Teddleton aren't Seneca Wallace, Hiawatha Rutland and Jordan Carstens by any means, and Mangino can't be blamed for the athletes recruited before he came to Kansas.
What he can be blamed for, though, is questionable usage of the players he has and suspect play selection.
Sophomore linebacker Banks Floodman, who started the game at outside linebacker, injured his right knee late in the second quarter while on punt coverage and is
out for an indefinite amount of time.
Special teams are generally reserved for backups, but Mangino has several starters on the kick and punt cover teams.
Using starting defenders on special teams can give a team an edge, and the Jayhawks do need every advantage they can get, but Kansas isn't deep enough to risk starters getting injured on coverage teams. Another injury to a defensive starter, such as linebacker Leo Eiienne, could make the 45 points given up to Iowa State a high point of Mangino's first year.
Mangino and his staff made another perplexing special teams decision in the fourth quarter, calling a fake punt with just more
than two minutes remaining. Punter Curtis Ansel's wobbly pass was picked off by Cyclones' defensive back Nick Linder.
Mangino justified the fakery at Tuesday's press conference, saying that he would do whatever it took to stay competitive.
"I called the fake punt because I wanted to try to make something happen," Mangino said. "We weren't going to sit back and just say, 'OK, we're going to punt it again.'"
However important a first down would have been to team morale, faking a punt when down by 35 points made the Jayhawks look foolish, as did running double trips — three wide receivers on both sides — late in the game.
Getting game experience with trick plays like these helps a team for the rest of the season, but it helps the team's opponents too, because they get to see the plays on game film and figure out how to stop them.
For all the questionable decisions by the Kansas coaching staff against Iowa State, there's still hope for this year. Mangino could
"We will always do whatever it takes to give our kids an edge and give them the chance to win."
Mangino
Kansas football coach
have known the Jayhawks had no chance against the better and more experienced Cyclones and could have been hiding his real trickery for future opponents.
"We will always do whatever it takes to try to give our kids an edge and give them a chance to win." Mangino said in the press conference. "That's our philosophy here."
Chronister is a Lawrence senior in journalism. He is the sports editor.
He wasn't talking about sand-bagging the season opener specifically, but let's hope he was. Otherwise, Mangino's first season could end up worse than Terry Allen's final year.
ally well. Price said there were about five players who had four to five of these abilities.
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
"It's exciting to work with kids with those types of abilities," he said.
"Our job is to continue to coach those kids up and see if we can polish their game a little bit."
The coach also said he would be moving some players to different positions from last year to see what works best for the team.
However, not all of his observations were positive. Price said the space between those "four plus tool players" and the rest of the squad has to be shortened if the club wants to become a Big 12 power.
Despite this possible concern, it appears the entire roster is ready and willing to go to work for their new boss, as they try to land a spot in the starting lineup. The veterans and non-veterans alike are not taking anything for granted.
"The players have something to prove," Baty said, "This coach has never seen any of us play
"The players have something to prove. This coach has never seen any of us play before. It's just like we're trying to make the team for the first time."
Ryan Baty
Junior outfielder
before. It's just like we're trying to make this team for the first time."
According to players, the energy and intensity of Price and the rest of the coaching staff seems to be rubbing off in the clubhouse, giving extra enthusiasm to early September workouts."There's just an excitement buzzing around the baseball team with what those guys want to do," Baty said. "These guys came in and they want to win and they're willing to do whatever to takes to win."
Contact Schmidt at sshdirt@kansan.com. This story was edited by Adam Pracht.
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