Volume 124 Issue 10
w th
T th ae U.
th
jo o th S.
d S h a v e r i
kansan.com
Thursday, September 1, 2011
PAGE 12
STARTING LINEUP
A young offense that looks much improved in the basics returns to the football field. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb is more comfortable in his second year as a starter and word out of practice is that he's controlling the tempo better. Kansas will be running the ball much more this season, behind sophomore running back James Sims. Darrian Miller and fellow backup freshman Brandon Bourron will
OFFENSE
Webb
Miller
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
Pos. NAME No. Year
QB Jordan Webb 2 So.
HB James Sims 29 So.
FB Nick Sizemore 45 So.
WR Daymond Patterson 15 Sr.
WR D.J. Beshears 20 Jr.
TE Tim Biere 86 Sr.
RT Tanner Hawkinson 72 Jr.
RG Duane Zlatnik 67 Jr.
C Jeremiah Hatch 77 Sr.
LG Trevor Marrongelli 69 Jr.
LT Jeff Spikes 74 Sr.
K Alex Mueller 10 Fr.
also see multiple carries as the game wears on. The offensive line will need to remain steady blocking for the run and up against a McNees State team that loves to bitz.
DEFENSE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Turner Gill likes to talk about his team's speed and the Jayhawks have certainly added more quickness to a defense that was frequently torched last year. Junior defensive end Toben Opurum, a converted running back, brings some speed to a defensive line that would not otherwise be considered too fast. Freshman safety Bradley McDougail and junior safety Keeston Terry are both converted
Opurum
McDougald
receivers and playmakers that should help the defense out. Senior Steven Johnson will lead the linebackers and the rest of the defense, as he's the teams top returning tackler.
NAME No. Year
Toben Opurum 35 Jr.
John Williams 71 Jr.
Kevin Young 90 So.
Keba Agostinho 96 So.
Steven Johnson 52 Sr.
Darius Willis 2 So.
Tunde Bakare 17 Jr.
Isiah Barfield 19 Sr.
Greg Brown 5 Jr.
Keeston Terry 9 RFr.
Bradley McDougald 24 Jr.
Ron Doherty 13 So.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of non-conference wins at home Kansas has had in 24 total games since 2003.
The number of points Kansas scored in last year's season opener against North Dakota State.
AT A GLANCE
Failure is not an option for Kansas in Week One against an Football Championship Series opponent. After suffering a loss to North Dakota State in the season opener one year ago, the Jayhawks will not be taking McNeese State lightly. With a tough schedule ahead of them, games in which the Jayhawks are favored will be rare. Coach Turner Gill needs to win this one to ensure that his second season will be better than the first.
Miller brings four-star talent and a whole lot of hype to the position that will be key to the lay-hawks this year. Playing behind sonohome, runnin
PLAYER TO WATCH
Miller
back James Sims as the backup, Miller will have plenty of carries, as he hopes to find a role as the perfect complement to Sims. No one has seen Miller play outside of the coaching staff, so his talents remain a mystery, but that will all change on Saturday when the coaches unveil what Miller can do.
SPECIAL TEAMS
A new punter and kicker highlight the changes at special teams for Kansas. Freshman kicker Alex Mueller will make his debut for Kansas on Saturday. He was firstteam all-state in Texas
and was ranked as the fifth best kicker in the nation by rivals. Sophomore punter Ron Doherty brings an even bigger leg than Mueller and is competing for kickoffs this year. Junior wide receiver D.J. Beshears will be back returning kickoffs this year and senior wide receiver Daymond Patterson will once again be returning punts.
KANSAS
3-9 IN 2010
Mueller
FOOTBALL GAME PREV
3
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
COACHING
PREDIC 34-17,
It's year two now for the coaching staff and with that comes a whole new wave of expectations
2n
s
th
a
Gill's team cannot look like they did last year, as first-year excuses will no longer be deemed acceptable. New defensive coordinator Vic Shealy will bring some new aggression to the defense and offensive coordinator Chuck Long now
knows his players and will be calling plays according to their talent.
MOMENTUM
There's nowhere to go but up for Kansas this season. Some teams would be demoralized from last year's 3-9 record, but Gill has this team using only their short-term memory and a positive mentality.
QUESTION MARKS
line hold up?
The weakest group of starters for the Jayhawks, on paper, have been questioned the entire offseason for their abilities. With McNeese State running a pro-style attack, there will be many runs up the middle and at the defensive line. The Jayhawks start two juniors and two sophomores who, for the most part, have little game experience. Junior defensive end Toben Opurum will be the key to the group, as his superior athleticism from his running back days could carry over to wreak havoc in the Cowboys backfield.
BABY JAY WILL CHEER IF ..
The Jayawhak take care of their business and put away McNeese State. If the team can avoid the little mistakes that made them look clueless at times last year, they can restore some faith to a fan base that sat through a long and rough season last year.
A&M is making a move that will put them in the lower echelon of the top football conference instead of remaining in the upper echelon of one of the top conferences (albeit a very unstable one).
Whitie, P or the top 10 recruits will be playing football in Austin, Texas this season.
Quite simply, this is Texas A&M giving the finger to Texas for being better than them in nearly every way, shape and form. Instead of beating the Longhorns head-to-head, they decided losing more games in a better conference would be the proper form of revenge.
Edited by Sarah McCabe
So now it's the Big 12's turn,
as they can say goodbye to Texas
A&M. You can be sure they will
take pleasure in watching them get
"whooped" more often than not.
program joins the West Coast Conference.
Aug 25, 2011 Texas AAM president R. Bowen Loftin sends a letter to Big
Jan 19,2011 University of Texas president William Powers said Texas is "firmly committed" to the Big 12 and that league officials knew Texas was pursuing a network deal.
12 commissioner Dan Beeeb explaining that Texas A&M is considering leaving the Big 12.
Aug 30, 2011
Texas A&M denies the Monday
New York Times report
that it notified the
Big 12 of its intention
to leave the athletic
conference.
The Governors of Colorado and Utah deem June 30 'Pac-12 Day' as the Utah Utes and Colorado Buffalooes become official members of Pac-12.
Jul 1.2011
become the 17th member of the Big East conference after leaving the Mountain West.
Aug 29, 2011
The New York Times reports that President R. Bowen Lotin informed Big 12 Board Chairman Brady Deaton that the Aggies will officially withdraw from the conference as early as Tuesday.
Aug 29. 2011
ETHA
epadw
Aug 31, 2011
Texas A&M officially notifies the Big 12 of its intention to withdraw from the conference.
Sara McClinton and Chelsea Albers may each be in their first season with the Jayhawks, but coach Ray Bechard is counting on both of them to contribute, and contribute early. McClinton started all three of the team's victories in the season-opening Georgia Bulldog Invitational over the weekend, and Albers started both of the Saturday sweeps.
"We're going to put the best six out there, and sometimes that's a bit of a stretch for freshmen to do that," Bechard said. "But we have a bunch of confidence in both of those young ladies."
work to achieve
McClinton finished the weekend with 11 kills, including seven in the finale against Georgia. To secure her role as a starter for the season's first three games, McClinton had to play catch-up with the upperclassmen who stayed over the summer.
"I knew we had a good opportunity to compete with some of the upperclassmen for the spots, but you can't come in and expect to start," McClinton said. "You have to
work to achieve it. That was my goal, to come in and start, but I guess I wasn't expecting it so soon."
"That is a tough call," Bechard said. "You need to kind of get a sense for you think their progress will be within the first month and if this is a kid that can help us by mid-
Starting so early is an unexpected perk for Albers, but it is one she said she plans on working hard to maintain. Both freshmen had to work hard just to avoid being redshirted by Bechard, who said the decision to sit and develop a player for a year is a difficult one.
Albers had an impressive first start on Saturday morning, recording six kills in the sweep against Liberty. She may have ensured her spot as a starter through a decorated high school career at Papillon LaVista, where she notched a state-leading 487 kills in 2009 was named the Omaha World-Herald's Girl's 2010-11 Athlete of the Year her senior season.
.
"They have worked hard to include us and not make us feel like freshmen," Albers said. "Speaking for myself I feel like they treat us like volleyball players and not by our age."
Since Bechard was hired as the coach of the volleyball team 14 years ago, he has had a player from Nebraska on his roster every season. Albers and McClinton first met as opponents in the state's notoriously competitive high school volleyball circuit. They would later come to know each other better as teamsmates at the even more competitive club level.
training in Italy, the freshmen were not permitted to tag along. Still, the upperclassmen have tried to make the Nebraska natives feel at home, Albers said.
"Growing up in Nebraska, I think it gave us a huge advantage," McClinton said. "High school volley
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SEE VOLLEYBALL PAGE 8
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