4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008
Texas linebackers Sergio Kindle, left, and Jared Norton, right, sack Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins for a loss in the first quarter in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLORADO (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
In last week's 38-14 loss at home, Texas' defense blitzed constantly and brought him down behind the line of scrimmage three times.
"He's a tough kid, he takes a lot of hits," coach Mark Mangino said. "He took some vicious hits (against Texas) and jumped right up."
Seeing the success of the Longhorns blitz-happy attack, line-backer Mike Rivera said he thought his defense might have an easier time getting to Hawkins than it did Arnaud.
That's good news for the defense because more pressure means more
fun and more fun usually leads to success.
"You definitely love to blitz because you get a chance to hit the quarterback, and everybody loves sacking the quarterback," Rivera said.
Recently Rivera has come under some fire for a lack of effort. He didn't start against Sam Houston State or Iowa State.
However, in the second half on Saturday, Rivera shot out like a cannon, and defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said his linebacker was playing with more
desire. That's something Bowen said he had been looking for in his linebacker corps for the entire season.
"Someone has to step up and make a play beyond just playing football," Bowen said. "You're talking about guys making plays and doing something special, and there are guys in that linebacker crew that have the ability to do that and need to do that. That's their obligation to being on this team and playing."
Edited by Andy Greenhaw
RIVERA (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"He may do the most community service of any student-athlete we have here at KU," coach Mark Mangino said. "He is a good citizen, high character, great moral person. He really is."
"Being named captain is one of the biggest honors that you could ever have as a football player," Rivera said.
Rivera's teammates voted him as a team captain before this season, a position he also held in 2006, his first year as a starter.
Despite being one of the top tacklers on the team and a team leader, Rivera was benched earlier
this season for unproductive play. Mangino and the coaching staff weren't happy with his effort and decided that taking away his playing time might be incentive for him start giving more effort.
Rivera agreed.
"Coach wanted to send me that message to make sure I'm not getting complacent or anything," Rivera said. "It did motivate me. It helped me to get going again and re-evaluate what I was doing and make sure I was doing everything I could help the team win."
Rivera, who is majoring in communication studies, plans to
pursue a master's degree in sports management. He wants to stay around the game and hopes to someday coach high school football. Regardless of what happens on the field, Rivera knows he has set himself up nicely for a career after football.
"I've been getting my education and networking and doing internships and getting things going in that aspect," Rivera said. "If football doesn't work out, I have a backup plan."
Edited by Brenna Hawley
VOLLEYBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"We spent more time on KU today," Bechard said after Monday's practice. "We looked at some opportunities where we could have extended the lead and maybe made some better volleyball plays."
Senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart was relieved to see the season-high three-match losing streak end on Saturday, but she hopes to start another positive streak with a win tonight.
"It's possible. It's doable. So why not?" Uhart said. "Let's get this show on the road and get on a roll."
Uhart also said the team needed better passing to kick-start its offense.
She also noted how the right-side offense needed to be more consistent. Sophomore outside hitter Karina Garlington is stabilizing the left side with her stellar play, so Uhart and Bechard hope to see some better plays coming from the right side.
Uhart said Bechard told them during Monday's practice that a win tonight would propel the Jayhawks into the top half of the Big 12.
"He listed out the records for all the teams in the Big 12," Uhart said. "So that's our goal, to win and be top-five in our conference."
KANSAS KEYS TO THE GAME
— Cut down on errors: The Jayhawks had 28 of them against the Red Raiders. While that may fly against a team that's winless in the conference, it will doom them against the more talented Aggies.
No mental letdown: The Aggies come in struggling with a 2-3 conference record, but there is a reason they were chosen to finish fourth in the preseason. The Jayhawks cannot allow their home court advantage and the Aggies' deceiving record to have them underestimating tonight's match.
PLAYERS TO WATCH Kansas: Freshman outside hitter Alyson Mayfield
With sophomore outside hitter Jenna Kaiser adjusting to playing without her elbow brace, Mayfield should continue to see major minutes and needs to duplicate her numbers against Texas Tech (10 kills, two blocks) for Kansas to roll.
Texas A&M: Junior outside hitter Mary Batis
Batis is coming off a career-high 23 kills during a five-set victory against Missouri on Saturday. Not only that, she ended the match with 11 digs. She's a unique outside hitter, and she leads the team in both kills per set (3.56) and digs per set (3.11). Usually digs are for defensive specialists and liberos, but Batis is a dual threat. Kansas will have to stymie her numbers to win.
Edited by Mary Sorrick
BEECHER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
basketball elsewhere. No program is more tradition-rich than this one.
The names associated with Kansas basketball paint a picture that practically chronicles the history of the game: James Naismith, Phog Allen, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, Paul Pierce, etc.
And then there's the building in which Kansas plays, named for one of the legendary coaches just listed: Allen Fieldhouse. It's widely heralded as one of the best venues in all of sports, and with good reason.
But it isn't as if KU basketball is coasting on its considerable reputation. Under Bill Self, Kansas has claimed four consecutive Big 12 championships, three consecutive Big 12 tournament championships, and that little tournament in March and April. As if that weren't enough, five Jayhawks were selected in the most recent NBA Draft.
Now it's time to play Memphis' advocate.
Sure, Kansas has tradition. Great, but this is college basketball, not history class. Are today's hoop recruits really going to be swayed by the prospect of sharing a court with Wilt Chamberlain? To KU devotees, Allen Fieldhouse is a basketball cathedral. But without context, it's hardly the state-of-the-art venue that Memphis' FedExForum is.
Winning won't be a problem at Memphis either. Conference USA is fine, but it isn't the Big 12. It's almost impossible to imagine Memphis not winning the conference every year for the foreseeable future.
It's also worth noting that nothing that transpired in the NCAA championship game says that Memphis can't win a championship.
Quite the contrary, it showed that Memphis is in fact an elite program that can compete with
or beat the traditional blue-
bloods. Sometimes the breaks
just don't go your way.
John Calipari would be more than happy to talk NBA as well. After all, Derrick Rose was the No.1 overall pick in the draft, which is probably due to more than Rose's talents.
Calipari's dribble-drive motion offensive philosophy allows for much more improvisation than Self's.
That, in turn, gives exceptionally talented players ample opportunity to showcase their skills for onlooking scouts.
If I'm Calipari, that's the point I'm emphasizing above all else. The players may be one-and-done's, but Memphis provides a good stepping stone to the NBA.
Fitting, then, that their allegiance will go a long way toward deciding who wins the next Kansas-Memphis battle.
Edited by Scott R. Toland