6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY HARRY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2008
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
as quarterback Colt McCoy put his team up 7-0 with a nifty flip pass.
"He breaks and looks like he's going to run it, so we collapse and then he sidearms it out to the running back and he takes it to the house," Hawkins said. "That's a great play."
That 65-yard score was the first of many Longhorn highlights on the night. They opened up a 28-0 lead in the third quarter and strolled to a 38-14 victory.
Hawkins said he couldn't help but leave Folsom Field impressed by McCoy.
"He's just playing full throttle," he said.
Hawkins also said Texas running back Chris Ogbonnaya, who caught McCoy's flip pass and finished with 187 total yards, was the best non-quarterback offensive player in the Big 12.
Despite Kansas' 20-0 halftime deficit in Saturday's 35-33 victory, Hawkins didn't learn anything about how to beat the Jayhawks. Iowa State capitalized on turnovers, which Hawkins said didn't come around too often against Kansas.
"Had they not had the turn-over barrage, they probably wouldn't have had as close a game last week," Hawkins said. "I give them a lot of credit for making plays and coming back and winning the game."
"I think where he's at his best is when it's not necessarily a designed run," Hawkins said. "That's where he can really gouge you. He killed us last year when he would break contain or take off running on pass plays."
Last year Kansas held on for a 19-14 victory at Colorado. In that game, Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing led the team in rushing with 84 yards, including a 53-yard scamper — his longest of the season.
Colorado gives up the third fewest passing yards per game in the conference. But Hawkins knows that Kansas' offense can start rolling at any time, as it did in the third quarter against Iowa State.
"When they get the ball and they're going, they're a dynamite outfit," Hawkins said.
— Edited by Mary Sorrick
NFL
Groin injury to bench Scheffler on Sunday
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It appears that Tony Scheffler's groin injury isn't nearly as serious as the one that knocked out fellow tight end Nate Jackson last season.
Scheffler said it was unlikely he'd play Sunday against Jacksonville but didn't speculate about how long he'll be sidelined. He said he didn't have a sports hernia. Jackson has bounced back from last year, when he went on injured reserve Oct. 9 with a torn groin. He figures to play a larger role in the offense without Scheffler, Jay Cutler's biggest target.
"Nate's going to step in and do a great job like he always does," Scheffler said. "The coaches have confidence in him, also."
Although Scheffler said he felt twinges while playing in the rain Sunday, the injury occurred on
his last reception, a dangerous throw from Cutler on first-and-10 from the Broncos' 14 just after the two-minute warning with Denver clinging to a 16-13 lead over Tampa Bay. With linebacker Derrick Brooks undercutting the pass, Cutler had to throw it high and Scheffler went up to grab it, but fell right to the grass in severe pain.
"It was something that was hurting me the whole second half but I actually pulled it when I was making the catch," Scheffler said.
"it's one of those things that come with playing the sport as long as you do. Stuff happens, but luckily, I don't think it's too major."
So, it's not something that will keep him out like a month or so?
"I'm not sure," he said. "We'll find out in the next couple of days."
Associated Press
Broncos kicker nears field goal record
NFL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Matt Prater is starting to make a name for himself. What the Denver Broncos' new kicker would really like is to put his name in the record book.
After kicking a 55-yard field goal that would have been good from 70 yards Sunday, Prater said he wants the chance to beat the NFL record of 63 yards held by Tom Dempsey and the man he replaced in Denver, Jason Elam.
"I'd love to get the opportunity, especially here in Denver," Prater said Monday. "It would be awesome to get the opportunity to do it, and hopefully I can keep it straight."
Hardly anybody knew about Prater when the season started.
Now, even Buccaneers coach
Jon Gruden is gushing about him.
and booming field goals of 55,
40 and 31 yards.
Prater was the difference in Denver's 16-13 win over Tampa Bay, producing touchbacks on four of his five kickoffs - the other was returned only to the 19
"Have you ever seen a kicker kick a 55-yard field goal and make it by 25 yards?" marveled Gruden. "Honest to God, why work on your kickoff return when you come here? That guy was unbelievable."
The Broncos signed the 24-year-old kicker last December after Todd Sauerbrun wore out his welcome in Denver and they needed somebody to handle kickoffs for their last two games.
Coach Mike Shanahan saw enough of Prater's powerful right leg that he allowed Elam, the franchise's leader in points and games, to bolt for Atlanta in free agency.
But nobody's missing Elam
now thanks to Prater, who has
Shanahan took a lot of heat for turning over the team's kicking chores to a kid who had made just 1-of-4 field goals in the NFL. After all, the Broncos' 7-9 season last year would have been much worse had it not been for Elam's four game-winners.
piled up a league high 51 points and has made all four of his field goals from 50 yards or more. He's amassed 11 touchbacks, tied for the league lead with Carolina kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd and he's made 12 of 13 field goals, including a half dozen from 40-plus.
Denver also leads the league in a key but often overlooked category: the number of opponents' drives (10) that start inside the 20-yard line.
"Field goals are how you keep your job," Prater said, "and kickoffs are something that's good to be good at."
In that case, Prater is the double-whammy for opponents.
He not only gives Shanahan the luxury of long field goals, adding to his options on offense, but he can negate good return specialists, often by kicking the ball right out of the end zone.
While the league is just starting to learn about Prater, teammate Dre' Bly has been singing his praises for a while.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bly was in Detroit when Prater came through in 2006 as an undrafted free agent from Central Florida. He was simply a camp leg, keeping Jason Hansen fresh for the season, and he was long gone by the time the season started, beginning a journey that would take him to Miami and Atlanta before landing in Denver.
COMMENTARY (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Reeing's resume only contains one blemish: a 37-34 loss to South Florida. All four Big 12 quarterbacks listed in the Heisman Watch play for undefeated squads including BYU's signal caller Max Hall. The other two quarterbacks listed — last year's Heisman winner, Tim Tebow of Florida and Mark Sanchez of USC — each suffered upsets to teams not nearly as talented as South Florida.
On paper, Reesing has actually been more impressive than Tebow or Sanchez. Unlike Reesing, Sanchez's credibility is definitely lifted because of the team he plays for. Two USC quarterbacks have taken home Heisman hardware in the past six years.
Tebow is sixth on the list,
However, last year's season is still in the mind of voters. Tebow had one of the best seasons in the history of college football last year. If voters are going to keep that in mind for Tebow, then why not do the same for Reeing?
despite compiling only 1.025 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception throwing; 157 yards and his touchdowns rushing. His completion percentage is at 61.7 percent. That's 8.5 percent lower than Reesing. The rest of his stats are significantly lower as well.
Reeing led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and an Orange Bowl victory. He re-wrote the Kansas record books and helped establish a fan base in Lawrence. That fan base has been one of
the most loyal in college football this year as they've filled Memorial Stadium to an average of 101.5 percent capacity for the first three games. Only an outstanding team can generate that type of buzz and it's obvious Reesing is the main attraction on the team.
Watching Reesing has become well worth the price of admission as he scrambles behind the line of scrimmage making defensive ends look foolish before unloading a rifle to Kerry Meier, Johnathan Wilson or Dezmon Briscoe.
Will Todd Reesing win the Heisman? Probably not. After watching Kansas' first half in Ames, it's fairly obvious that Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech have better odds
of attending a BCS National Championship or bowl game.
However, Reesing is 16-2 as a starting quarterback so you can't count Kansas out against anyone. If they are able to pull two wins out against four of the Big 12 teams nationally ranked in the top seven, watch for his name to surface on a lot more watch lists as it did at the end of last year.
Does Reeing deserve the trophy? Now that's debatable, but there is no debating that Reeing deserves to be on ESPN's and other publications' watch lists considering what he's already accomplished this season.
— Edited by Andy Greenhaw
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