4B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16,2008
KICK THE KANSAN: WEEK FOUR
Pick games. Beat the Kansan staff. Get your name in the paper.
This week's games:
1. Kansas State at Louisville (Predict Score) [Wednesday]
2. No.21 West Virginia at Colorado [Thursday]
3. Baylor at Connecticut [Friday]
4. Troy at No. 13 Ohio State
5. Notre Dame at Michigan State
6. No.18 Wake Forest at No.24 Florida State
7. No.6 LSU at No.10 Auburn
8. No.15 East Carolina at North Carolina State
9. Miami (FL) at Texas A&M
10. No.4 Florida at Tennessee
Name:
E-mail:
Year in school:
Hometown:
1) Only KU students are eligible.
Rules:
1) Only KU students are eligible.
2) Give your name, e-mail, year in school and hometown.
3) Beat the Kansan's best prognosticator and get your name in the paper.
4) Beat all your peers and get your picture and picks in the paper next to the Kansan staff.
5) To break ties, pick the score of the designated game.
5) To break ties, pick the score of the designated game.
Either submit your picks to KickTheKansan@kansan.com or to the
Kansan business office, located at the West side of Stautter-Flint Hall, which is between Wescoe Hall and Watson Library.
BASKETBALL Henrickson: Weldon to leave women's program
Sophomore point guard Chakeitha Weldon will pursue her career away from Kansas.
Women's basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson announced
I may that the Atlanta native had left the program for personal reasons.
Weldon played sparingly as a freshman before
tearing ligaments in her knee during practice in early February. The Jayhawks return senior Ivana Catic and junior LaChelda Jacobs at the point guard position. Freshman Angel Goodrich also figures to see playing time.
"We wish Chakeitha well in her future endeavors," Henrickson said in a prepared statement.
Women's team finishes first day of invitational
GOLF
What: Chip-N-Club Invitational
Where: Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln, Neb. (par 70)
First day results after 18 holes
Team standings
(1) Arkansas-Little Rock — +15
(2) Nebraska — +16
(3) East Carolina — +19
(T8) Kansas — +28
Individual results
(T10) Emily Powers — +5
(T15) Grace Thiry — +6
(T19) Meghan Gockel — +7
(43) Meghna Bal — +10
(T64) Sydney Wilson — +17
*T10) Jennifer Clark — +5
*T26) Kalynd Carson — +8
*Players entered in the individual category.Their scores don't apply to the team standings.
NFL
Chiefs try to find new quarterback; Croyle out for second week
ASSOCIATED PRESS
One thing does seem certain
Or is he?
They have one with an injured shoulder and one with a sore neck, one with low expectations and one with high hopes.
The one with low expectations is probably headed back to reserve wide receiver status.
One thing does seem certain — Brodie Croyle, the projected season starter, will be out a second straight week with a shoulder injury he sustained in the opener at New England. Damon Huard, the reliable 35-year-old backup, came in and almost engineered an upset over the Patriots, and then started on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
But Huard came out in the first half of the 23-8 loss with what the team called "mild head trauma" and what he calls a stiff neck. Edwards said Monday he did not know whether Huard or No. 3 QB Tyler Thigpen would start at Atlanta on Sunday.
Nobody, including head coach Herm Edwards, seemed to know on Monday what might happen next on Kansas City's chaotic quarterback carousel.
Neither is anyone saying if Marques Hagans, a backup wide receiver and former college quarterback, will ever get back under center after taking five surprise snaps against Oakland.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"I don't know yet," Edwards said when asked who would start against the Falcons. "We haven't decided. We're going to make a decision on that probably Wednesday."
Huard, the only one of the four who's ever won a game in the NFL, was lifted after throwing an interception. Tyler Thiplen, who had only six passes in the NFL on his brief resume, came in and
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen recovers the ball after getting a bad snap during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders, on Sunday in Kansas City, Mo. Oakland won the game 23-8.
wound up completing 14 of 33 throws for 151 yards, including a short touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez.
Even Huard's injury seemed mysterious. He did not appear hurt when he came out. Then in the fourth quarter the Chiefs announced he had mild head trauma. Thiagnen, who is hoping to get valuable playing time the next couple of weeks while Croyle rests his shoulder, admitted even he didn't know that Huard was hurt.
"I thought Tyler was getting a series in there. But on the sideline, my neck stiffened up on me pretty good," Huard said.
Huard, who has had a concussion during his career, said the symptoms seemed suspicious.
Hagans said he'll be ready if called upon for quarterback duty again.
"I think if we continue with it, it will be a good package for us," he said. "But if coach puts it down, then I've just got to be a third receiver and (on) special teams, and I'm all for that as well. Any time I get to play quarterback in the NFL, you've got to be excited about that."
BASEBALL
Szefc joins baseball team as assistant, third-base coach
Kansas head baseball coach Ritch Price announced Monday that John Szefc, former Louisiana-Lafayette assistant coach, has joined his staff as an assistant coach. Szefc will serve as the team's third base coach, handle hitting instruction and assist with recruiting.
"Coach Szeef is regarded across the country as one of the top young coaches in our game", Price said in a statement. "He has a proven track record in developing hitters to be."
successful at the Division I as well as the professional levels."
Before being hired at Louisiana-
Lafayette, Szefc was the head baseball coach at Marist College for seven seasons during which he posted a 212-137-1 record.
- Andrew Wiebe
Szefc arrives at Kansas after succeeding in steadily improving Louisiana-Lafayette's offensive performance during his six years as an assistant coach.The Cajuns productive offensive helped capture a Sun Belt Conference championship in 2005.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Missouri's defense gets stronger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Perhaps lost in the offensive fireworks from No. 5 Missouri's 69-17 romp over Nevada on Saturday, the defense also made strides.
Nevada entered averaging 540 yards in total offense, and Marko Mitchell's 42-yard touchdown catch
at the end of the first half cut the deficit to 38-17. In the second half, the Wolfpack was scoreless and held to 125 yards.
"That last play was a breakdown but a good throw," coach Gary Pinkel said Monday. "But overall, they're getting better and doing good things."
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberlus tried to counter the bitter
halftime taste with upbeat remarks.
"The main thing we did was stay positive at halftime," Eberflus said. "We told them to focus on fundamentals and to just remember that they only have each other."
Players upped the enthusiasm in their play as well.
"It was mostly attitude and it started with the defensive line when we
came out in the second half more focused," defensive end Stryker Sulak said. "When you're enthusiastic, you play differently."
The result was Missouri's first second-half shutout since a 55-10 victory at Colorado last season.
"We needed that and it came at the right time," linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said. "We knew we could go out and dominate that second half, and it's great for your defense whenever you do that. This could be a turning point in the season for this defense."
The Tigers have 10 returning starters on defense, but results have been spotty. They're ranked 90th in the country in total defense and last in the Big 12 conference.
The defense was much stronger after the start of conference play last year.
The second- and third-team defenses played most of the second half. Eblerius estimated that those units have about 60 snaps on defense the last three games, which is significantly more than what last year's backups had.
Starting safety William Moore (sprained foot) and reserve line-backer Andrew Gachkar (Achilles/ calf) were both listed as doubtful for Saturday's game against Buffalo, so backups might be leanned on again in the final non-conference game.
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