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8B GAME DAY
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
KU
KICKOFF
AT A GLANCE
The Jayhawks will look to rebound from a heartbreaking 37-34 loss at South Florida on Saturday when they host Division FCS Sam Houston State. It shouldn't be much of a game, and the only real question appears to be how many points Kansas will win by. Kansas will be on national television for the third time in four games this season as the game is being carried by Fox College Sports.
0
field goals missed by Kansas
BY THE NUMBERS
1
Kerry Meier's national rank in receptions with 29
1
Todd Reesing's national rank in completions
11 consecutive home wins for Kansas
28
players from the state of Texas
31
points scored in a row by South Florida
PLAYER TO WATCH
James Holt. Holt had 13 tackles, including three for a loss, and two forced fumbles against South
Florida. Mike Rivera and Holt were the only two defensive players who played against Rhett Bormar when he was the quarterback for Oklahoma when Kansas lost to the Sooners 19-3 and Holt recorded one tackle.
GETTING BACK ON TRACK
Holt
QUESTION MARKS
COUNTDOWN TO KICK-OFF
Will Kansas establish a running game? The running game has been down-right awful during the first three games of 2008, and a lowly opponent such as Sam Houston State seems to be the perfect team to get it going against.
Will Kansas fans stop yelling "rip his (expletive) head off" during kickoffs? Coach Mark Mangino has asked students to stop yelling the profane chant at the game, but it remains to be seen if they will actually do it.
Jayhawks return home after tough loss in Florida
KANSAS VS. SAM HOUSTON STATE 6 p.m.Saturday, Memorial Stadium,FCS
Kansas 2-1,0-0 Big 12
Kerry Meier leads the nation in receptions with 29 and that number should go up significantly against a subpar Sam Houston State defense on Saturday. Todd Reesing is sixth in the nation in passing with 1,041 yards passing and nine touchdowns. The rushing game, however, continues to struggle. Through three games, Kansas is averaging only 105 yards
Meier
OFFENSE
per game on the ground. Angus Quigley leads the team with an average of just 51 yards per game.
Linebacker James Holt leads the nation in forced fumbles with an average of one per game. Holt and the defense are looking to rebound from a poor effort in the South Florida game and should come out fired up against Sam Houston State. The defense allowed three touchdowns in a seven-minute span against South Florida, but allowed no touchdowns and only three points in the first two games of the se
DEFENSE
KANSAN.COM
Holt
Marcus Herford has struggled and averaged only nine yards per kick return in 2008. The preseason All-American had more than 26 yards per return in 2007 but teams have been kicking away from him and taking away his chances at big returns. He is primed for a breakout game against Sam Houston State. Jacob Branstetter is a perfect five for on field
Herford
SPECIALTEAMS
goals this season, but his longest has been only 30 yards.
Coach Mark Mangino has said that the run game will improve or that he would start making personnel changes. It will be interesting to see if that does indeed take place because all of the wide receivers, who Mangino said were not doing a good job blocking for the running backs, have been putting up very impressive numbers. Mangino also said that Angus Quigley would see carries earlier in the game against South Florida, but he didn't play until the third quarter.
COACHING
MOMENTUM
Kansas lost for only the second time in almost two years so it will be interesting to see how they respond. Playing a team like Sam Houston State should allow them to have a breakout game. Kansas is fired up to get on the field and put the bad taste of last week's loss out of its mouth, so surprisingly the Jayhawks will have a large amount of momentum coming in.
Sam Houston State 1-0,0-0 Southland Conference
OFFENSE
Senior quarterback Rhett Bomar holds a career record of 1-0 against Kansas. However, he'll find that a lot has changed since that 2005 contest. Since then, the Jayhawks have transformed themselves into a national power while Bomar traded Sooner crimson for Bearkat orange. In his new team's 58-14 victory over East Central Oklahoma, Bomar was solid. He completed
Bomar
Brown
14 of 22 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 30 yards. Junior James Aston rushed for a team high 115 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
DEFENSE
All-Southland defensive end Chris Brown leads the Bearkat defense. Last year he recorded five of the team's 13 total sacks. Junior linebacker Luke McCall and sophomore cornerback DJ. Emerson each recorded an interception in week one. Defensive tackles Eric Mikoljchak and Kevin Smith average 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds each to anchort the Sam Houston State
SPECIAL TEAMS
Saturday is a homecoming for two of Sam Houston State's special teams players. Punter/linebacker Derrick Raymer, from Goodland, pulled double duty in week one because starting punter Lucas Ortiz, from Leavenworth, was injured. At linebacker, Raymer recorded three tackles, including one for an eight-yard loss. At punter, Raymer kicked four times for an average of
run defense. However, overall the unit is undersized and its secondary will probably struggle to keep up with the speed of Kansas' wide receivers.
31. 8 yards. Junior kicker Taylor Wilkins went 7 for 8 on extra points and nailed a 45-yard goal in the Bearkat game.
Raymer
COACHING
Coach Todd Whitten started his career as an assistant for two years at Texas Tech. From there, he moved around the country before settling in Houston as head coach in 2005. Whiten was an All-Southland quarterback at Stephen F. Austin and the Sam Houston State offense has made improvements every year under his watch.The Bearkats are coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Southland.
See full coverage of the game, including live blogging and photos, during Saturday's game on Kansan.com
★★★☆★
MOMENTUM
Twenty-three days after opening the season with a 58-14 victory, Sam Houston State will finally play another game. A scheduled by week coupled
with a cancellation due to Hurricane lke has put the Bearkats in the unenviable position of trying to tune up against a ranked team on the road. The team just returned to the practice field on Tuesday afternoon after spending nearly a week away from campus.
Dezmon Briscoe
Taylor Bern
SHSU KICKOFF
AT A GLANCE
Rhett Bomar is a familiar name to Big 12 followers, but his performance on Saturday likely won't remind anyone of his 2005 potential. As a freshman, Bomar had a stacked team surrounding him. This time around, he's playing with a FCS team that's just trying to get back into a routine after sitting on the sidelines for over three weeks. Coach Todd Whitten said his team would have to shake off the rust, and that's not a good thing against a top-25 team on the road.
BY THE NUMBERS
4
6.9
Rhett Bomar passing touchdowns in week one
Bearkats a yards per carry, nearly twice that of the Jawhaves
7
punts in a 39-3 loss at Oklahoma State last year
14.4
14.4
average yards per carry for senior James Aston in week one
average yards per catch for senior Catron Houston in week one
23
days since Sam Houston State's last game
PLAYERTOWATCH
Senior wide receiver Ca
Senior wide receiver Catron Houston, a Houston native transferred to Sam Houston State
after playing in nine games as a freshman at Texas Tech. Last year he led the Bearkats with 46 catches for 597 yards. In week one, he
Houston
led the team with five catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Houston also handles punt return duties.
QUESTION MARKS
Can the Bearkats make it through the first quarter? The likelihood of the Bearkats hanging in this game is miniscule, but keeping the score close through one quarter would be positive. Bearkat players are just happy to get back on the field, but enjoy a 28-point deficit after 15 minutes.
Will Rhett Bomar throw a touchdown pass? Bomar had no trouble scoring against East Central Oklahoma but that doesn't translate to Kansas' defensive unit. Bomar could prove he's still got a Big 12 arm in this game.
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Game
Time (CT) Channel
Baylor at Connecticut 7 p.m. ESPN2
Saturday
Buffalo at No. 5 Missouri 1 p.m. No TV
Miami (FL) at Texas A&M 2:30 p.m. ABC
Rice at No. 7 Texas 6 p.m. No TV
Massachusetts at No. 11 Texas Tech 6 p.m. No TV
Sam Houston State at No. 19 Kansas 6 p.m. FCS
Iowa State at UNLV 8 p.m. The Mtn.
Friday
Kansas effectively runs the ball. Fans have seen Todd Reesing's aerial assault move the ball up and down the field, but highly touted running backs Jake Sharp and loccues Crawford have been ineffective thus far. Kansas should really be concerned if the running game is still stuck in neutral after Saturday.
MEMORIAL STADIUM WILL ROCK IF...
GALE SAYERS WILL WEEP IF...
Kansas fails to get to the quarterback. The Jayhawks defensive front has struggled to create pressure on the quarterback, forcing Mangino to blitz the linebackers. If Kansas can't use an effective four-man rush against an over-matched Sam Houston State offensive line, then there will be trouble in Lawrence.
PREDICTION Kansas 55, Sam Houston State 10
SATURDAY'S TOP 25 TELEVISED GAMES
Game
Time Channel
1
Troy at No. 13 Ohio State 11 a.m. Big Ten Network
No. 15 East Carolina at NC State 11 a.m. ESPN
Temple at No. 16 Penn State 11 a.m. Big Ten Network
No. 9 Alabama at Arkansas 11:30 a.m. No TV
South Carolina State at No. 23 Clemson 12 p.m. No TV
Buffalo at No. 5 Missouri 1 p.m. No TV
Wyoming at No. 14 Brigham Young 2 p.m. No TV
No. 4 Florida at Tennessee 2:30 p.m. CBS
Boise State at No. 17 Oregon 2:30 p.m. No TV
No. 20 Utah at Air Force 3 p.m. No TV
No. 12 South Florida at FIU 4 p.m. ESPNU
Rice at No. 7 Texas 6 p.m. No TV
Massachusetts at No. 11 Texas Tech 6 p.m. No TV
No. 18 Wake Forest at No. 24 Florida State 6 p.m. ESPN2
Sam Houston State at No. 19 Kansas 6 p.m. FCS
No. 6 LSU at No. 10 Auburn 6:45 p.m. ESPN
No. 3 Georgia at Arizona State 7 p.m. ABC
No. 25 Fresno State at Toledo 7:15 p.m. ESPNU
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