THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
PAGE 9
FOOTBALL
Quarterbacks young, speedy
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
The football team has had the misfortune of playing seven consecutive undefeated teams led by strong quarterbacks. Since entering conference play, all four of the quarterbacks it has faced are competing to be named to the all-Big 12 team.
Texas quarterback Case McCoy passes during the first half of the game against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas Oct. 8. The Jayhawks will face one of the Longhorns young quarterbacks Saturday. Texas freshman David Ash and sophomore McCoy took over the position for Garrett Gilbert earlier this season.
This week, the Jayhawks will get a break from that trend. Texas coach Mack Brown has yet to name a starter, but freshman David Ash has started to see the majority of the snaps since he and sophomore Case McCoy took over for Garrett Gilbert.
"He's a young guy, but at the same time he's learning the game as he is going." Kansas sophomore cornerback Tyler Patmon said. "You can see watching the first game to the Oklahoma State game, he's improved a lot."
With a young quarterback under center, the propensity for mistakes increases, especially under heavy defensive pressure. It has shown, with Ash throwing four interceptions compared with three touchdown passes.
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"We just have to go in there, try to play our best and get into his head, try to get him to make a bad pass so we can make some picks," Patmon said.
Ash came to Austin with the reputation of a dual threat quarterback, but outside of the Longhorns' second game of the season, when he rushed for 36 yards against BYU. Ash didn't have positive rushing yards until last week against Oklahoma State.
Even so, his quickness still brings an added element of danger to opponents trying to game plan for him.
"He can make a play," junior cornerback Greg Brown said. "He's not super fast, but when he's in scrambling situations he can go out there and make a play out of nothing."
The Longhorns have had success by relying on other people to make plays while Ash and McCoy gain experience by being thrown into the fire.
Freshman wide receiver Jaxon Shipley has three receiving touchdowns on the year, and freshman running back Malcolm Brown has 516 yards on the ground for the
Longhorns. Brown has teamed up with senior running back Foswhitt Whittaker for seven rushing touchdowns.
Brown and Whittaker are each averaging at least 5.0 yards per carry.
"The biggest asset that they
The opportunity to rough up a young quarterback is not a gift a team receives every day, especially a team with as tough of a schedule
as the Jayhawks.
have is they're fast, and their speed makes up for some of the mistakes that their guys make," junior linebacker Toben Opurum said.
It is an opportunity the Jayhawk defense can't let slip through their hands.
"Every game is a chance to get confidence, but coming in here and getting the best of an inexperienced quarterback could help us
get our swag back as a defense, Brown said.
— Edited by Alexandra Esposito
INTERNATIONAL
Brazil's Sports Minister resigns after allegations cleared
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brazil's Sports Minister Orlando Silva shows documents as he speaks at the Sports Commission of the Lower House in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday. Oct. 18. Silva was accused of taking part in kickback schemes. Although the allegations were dropped, Silva decided to resign in order to avoid further complications with the Brazilian government.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAO PAULO — Brazil's sports minister resigned Wednesday after fighting corruption allegations for more than a week, the sixth minister forced to leave office since June.
Sports Minister Orlando Silva maintained his innocence against allegations he took part in a kickback scheme, but said he was resigning to avoid a continuation of a political crisis for the government.
"I submitted my resignation. I decided to leave the government
Several people have come forward in the past 12 days to accuse Silva of involvement in kickback schemes linked to projects for social sports programs. On Tues-
so that I can defend my honor," Silva said after an hour-long meeting with President Dilma Rousseff.
day, Brazil's Supreme Court said it opened an investigation into the allegations. Silva has already denied the accusations before a congressional panel.
A spokesman with Rousseff's office said no replacement for Silva had been named.
Silva was tasked with overseeing Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, though his departure is unlikely to effect preparations for those events because responsibilities are spread across many federal ministries, as well as state and city governments.
Silva returned from the Pan American Games in Mexico last week to defend himself against the accusations, which first surfaced in the newsmagazine Veja, whose reports on corruption have helped lead to the removal of four other ministers since June.
Veja quoted police officer Joao Dias Ferreira, who runs a nonprofit sports youth organization, as saying kickbacks were personally delivered to Silva so that the nonprofit could receive government funds.
Silva denies receiving any money from Dias' group and said he believes the allegation was made in retaliation for an investigation he launched into how Dias' group was using government money.
A spokeswoman for Brazil's organizing committee for the World Cup said the organization had no comment. A spokesman for the Olympic organizing committee did not return calls, though the group's president, Carlos Nuzman, told the AP last week that the Silva scandal will not affect Rio de Janeiro's preparations for the Olympics.
Silva is the sixth minister forced from Rousseff's government. Four of the five who have already left faced corruption allegations.
"Brazil must hold the world record now for the number of ministers forced out because of corruption," said Gil Castello Branco, founder of the nonprofit watchdog group Contas Abertas, which campaigns for transparency in government.
He said that Silva's exit was inevitable, "but I don't think it will have any affect on the preparations for our two megaevents, the World Cup and the Olympics. Silva is more of a figurehead, the preparations will go ahead without him," Branco said.
"This is likely to have more repercussions on Brazil's international reputation than any actual work here," he said.
But Ricardo Caldas, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, said any effects would likely be positive "because the Brazilian government looks like it's fighting corruption."
The exit of Rousseff's ministers began in June, when her chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, was forced from his post amid reports about the rapid growth of his personal wealth during his tenure as a legislator, from 2006-2010.
Rousseff's approval rating has risen above 70 percent in recent months, and analysts say that is largely due to the perception that she's tackling entrenched corruption.
The ministers of agriculture, transportation, and tourism have also resigned following allegations of irregularities.