THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
SPORTS
3B
COLUMN (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Jocques Crawford.
Crawford looked impressive against FIU during his first few drives in crimson and blue, but since he tweaked his ankle later in the game he has been anything but impressive. Sharp, on the other hand, just isn't matching the numbers he put up one year ago.
The last straw finally fell when Sharp and Crawford went into halftime against the Louisiana Tech with a mere 40 yards on 13 carries. By this time, the average fan's patience, as well as the patience of coach Mark Mangino, had expired for the lackluster Jayhawk rushing attack. Mangino went ahead and told Quigley to be ready.
After a three-and-out on Kansas' first second-half posses
sion, which included one run by Sharp for a loss of a yard. Qigley got the call. Quigley entered the
Quigley has the size, speed and ability to run wild in the Big 12. Like junior quarterback Todd Reesing and freshman wide receiver Daymond Patterson, he fits with the typical Kansas theme that the star is never who you think he will be. Most importantly, Quigley is healthy and appears to be in his best shape yet.
rewarded. Quigley should be the starting man in Kansas backfield when they take on nationally-ranked South Florida on national television Friday night.
@ KANSAN.COM
The same holes that opened up for Sharp and Crawford were there for Quigley. It's not like the offensive line likes Angus better; he just performed better. He has proven he can do what ultimately matters most - produce. He deserves the
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KU backfield with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter and stayed there until the final whistle. When it was all said and done, he finished the day with 84 yards rushing and 12 receiving, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Now, I don't know Quigley on a personal level, but I have no doubt that he was ready and waiting for that moment for a long time — it showed.
Patience has paid off for Quigley and he deserves to be
chance to contribute in the first and second quarter as well as the third and fourth. The surprise leader of the ideal triple threat should be Ouiley.
It's kind of ironic that Quigley lists fishing as his favorite hobby in this year's Kansas media guide. I'm guessing his patience makes him a pretty productive fisherman as well.
—Edited by Andy Greenhaw
COACH (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
offense has struggled in its first two games, but Leavitt said this isn't a distinct advantage for his team.
"They can run and throw. It's just because they haven't chose to do much running," he said. "They're capable of doing both at a high level."
Leavitt isn't too sure what to expect from his inexperienced secondary.
Leavitt's defense boasts a pair of studs in junior defensive end George Selvie and senior linebacker Tyrone McKenzie. However,
"They're OK" he said. "We'll find out a lot this Friday night."
The Bulls escaped last weekend with their perfect record intact. USF dispatched in-state rival Central Florida, 31-24, in overtime.
The history of the replacement
Edited by Becka Cremer
NFL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 1999, Trent Green went down with a knee injury and an unknown named Kurt Warner stepped in and led St. Louis to a Super Bowl victory. Two years later, little-known Tom Brady did the same.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has his leg buckled by Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard during the first quarter of a football game Sunday at Gillett Stadium in Foyborough, Mass. Brady went to the turf clutching his left knee and limped from the field between two trainers.
Now Brady is out for the season with a knee injury, leaving the Patriots to hope Matt Cassel can be the latest Supersub to step up.
Force-feeding an unknown at quarterback when a starter gets hurt is a coach's nightmare. But as Warner and Brady show, history is full of obscure backups who stepped in and did better than the guy they replaced.
That's why Bill Belichick's favorite phrase — "it is what it is" — is the standard by which coaches live. All of them know that stars are one hit away from being gone for the season. If it happens, they matter-of-factly throw in an often untested formula and hope for the best, knowing that injuries go with the territory.
"We all have to do our jobs. That's what every player has to do." Belichick said Monday in his storic fashion. "He played one position and played it well. There will be somebody else playing that position now and I have a lot of confidence in him. Everybody has to continue to do his job just as they always have. Just as they always need to."
That's what happened for Dick Vermilel when Green was knocked out for the '99 season in an exhibition game by San Diego's Rodney Harrison, who is on the other side now as the leader of New England's secondary. In stepped Warner, a former Arena League and NFL Europe player who not only became the league's MVP but led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory and won that MVP trophy, too.
It's what happened to Belichick two years later, when Drew Bledsoe was severely injured in the second game of the season. In came Brady, a second-year man who had thrown three passes as a rookie. He led them to the Super Bowl, where they beat Warner and the Rams in an upset on the same scale as the
Giants' win over the 18-0 Patriots in the title game last February.
In fact, the only team to finish a season unbeaten, the 1972 Dolphins, won with a substitute quarterback, 38-year-old Earl Morrall, starting nine games after Bob Griese broke his leg.
a 14-game season
That year finished on a down note when the Colts lost in the biggest Super Bowl upset even, the 16-7 win by the Jets.
Now it's Cassel's turn to step in.
He played well enough Sunday after Brady was hurt to lead the Patriots to a 17-10 win over Kansas City, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. His biggest play was a 51-yard completion to Randy Moss on third-and-11 from his 1-yard-line, the start of a 98-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard TD pass to Moss.
Morrall wasn't exactly unknown or untested, as Warner and Brady were. He had played 190 games going into that year, starting most of them, and was the NFL's MVP in 1968, when he filled in for an injured John Unitas with the Colts and threw 26 touchdown passes in
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner is hit by Tennessee Titans safety Blain Bishop. Warner stepped in when Trent Green went down with a knee injury during the season, and led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.