SPORTS
OFFSIDES GOAL DISALLOWED
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Freshman scores final goal in 86th minute for a heart-pounding victory against Auburn.
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SPORTS 3B
10
MEN'S BASKETBALL
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
PAGE1B
Team debuts in Great White North
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Tyshawn Taylor wouldn't have minded staying in Canada for an extra day to play another exhibition game.
Taylor, a freshman guard, enjoyed the first three Kansas played in, especially the way the team improved in each one. If the Jayhawks played one last game, Taylor said he thought they could have really dismantled an opponent.
"Wed blow them out," Taylor said, "by like 100."
Kansas' trip to the Great White North built confidence for Taylor and his teammates. The Jayhawks arrived in Canada primarily as an amalgamation of highly touted recruits and previously inexperienced reserves. The team left a little closer
to being ready for the season, which begins in two months.
Just ask coach Bill Self. He smiled a lot this weekend because of the way his team grew. He watched as the Jayhawks struggled to beat McGill, a mediocre Canadian team, 72-67 in their first game Saturday. He saw progress when Kansas outlasted Carleton, which had won five of the last six Canadian national championships, 84-83, later that night.
He high-fived players after the 95-60 victory against the University of Ottawa on Sunday night where he said it all came together.
"This was a perfect time for us to come," Self said.
Self said he could only think of one way the trip could have been better — if freshmen Marcus and Markieff Morris could have joined the team. Self had to leave the
Morris twins at home because the NCAA has yet to deem them academically eligible.
But Self said most of the five newcomers who were in Ottawa pleased him.
He said freshman shooting guard Travis Releford surprised him when he scored a team-high 25 points against Carleton. Self used the word "fabulous" when describing Taylor's potential. He called junior-college transfer Manio Little a key to what Kansas would try to do this season.
Self said as long as the young team was open to his direction, it would be very good this season.
"This is Basketball 101," Self said. "We've got some guys that, as soon as they realize they don't know. They'll have a chance to learn."
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8B
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor leaps for the basket during Saturday night's game against Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. The Jayhawks won the match, their second of the day, 84-83.
FOOTBALL
'One-three punch needed this season
FOOTBALL
Never mind it was his first NCAA snap. Never mind that he nor any Kansas football player - suited up in front of a Memorial Stadium crowd of 52,112 layhawk fans, a number that broke the attendance record and saw its high expectations translate into a big win.
Junior college-transfer tailback Joques Crawford shook his nerves and took off for a 15-yard gain one play after his counterpart, junior tailback Jake Sharp, tacked on five yards.
Freshman wide receiver Daymond Patterson dodges a tackle attempt by an FIU player during a punt return Saturday evening at Memorial Stadium. Patterson recorded 135 yards on four punt returns, including one 75-yard return for a touchdown.
And later in the first quarter, when Crawford tore through FIU's front line like a hell beast to score the season's first points, Crawford's lofty goal of 2,000 yards didn't seem so ambitious. Together, he and Sharp could at least match or better that mark.
But on a day when two of the nation's top football programs had their scares Ohio State's Beanie Wells and Mizzou's Jeremy Maclin both left their respective games because of injuries — Kansas' rush attack took a hit when Crawford injured his ankle near the end of the first quarter.
He returned at the start of the second quarter but wasn't the same. After averaging 4.6 yards-per-carry and a score in the first quarter, Crawford had just five more carries — two for a loss — and left the game for good in the third quarter when he wreaked his ankle again. Crawford's total on the day: 11 rushes for 36 yards, an average of 3.2 yards per carry.
Coach Mark Mangino and offensive coordinator Ed Warriner rightly did not want to take any chances with Crawford after he went down early and again later in the game. But with a healthy Sharp at their disposal, Kansas abandoned its running game for the bulk of the game, allowing FIU's defense to dictate that Reesing attempt a career-high 52 passes, even when the game was well in hand.
A healthy Sharp was more productive in the passing game seeing limited rushing action. Junior quarterback Todd Reesing found him for an 18-yard gain in the first quarter, but he finished with just eight carries for 27 yards, an average of 3.3 yards-per-carry.
Jon Goering/KANSAM
Crawford, who sports the number 3, and Sharp, wearing jersey number 1, represent a one-three' punch necessary for success in a year when Reesing can no longer sneak up on anyone.
Despite airing it out all day, Reeing completed only one pass longer than
SEE MONTEMAYOR ON PAGE 4B
Off and running
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
rains@kansan.com
All it took were two plays — a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 47-yard field goal - for lavawk nation to rest easy.
Patterson introduced himself to a Memorial Stadium record 52,112 fans by returning four pants for a total of 135 yards. After almost breaking free on his first two, Patterson took his third return 75 yards into the end zone for his first collegiate touchdown — hurdling over a falling Ashlyn Parker of FIU near the 30-yard line.
"I felt like I was going to get one,"
fine lines on his face. He put
return a team was blocking
really well. I was running
and he fell and I ended up
jumping over him. I think it
was pretty cool"
At kicker, the Jayhawks were welcomed by the
debut of Alonzo Rojas, who had been signed to be the team's punter but has also taken over kickoff and long field-goal duties over the past few weeks.
See additional coverage. Including photos, on Kansan.com.
@ KANSAN.COM
In addition to three punts that averaged 46 yards, rojias hit two goal goals, one of
which was a long 47-yard attempt early in the second quarter that brought a big fist pump from the Bowling Green transfer.
"It felt good because going out there"
because going out there, everyone's expecting. He's probably not going to make this. He's a punter; he just got the job." Roias said. "I wanted the crowd to know that I'm here, and I'm here to help out the team, and I felt like 1 hit
that ball pretty good."
Quarterback Todd Reesing attempted 52 passes, completing 37 of them for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B
VIEW FROM THE PRESSBOX
It was over when...
Daymond Patterson followed a wall of blockers and streaked down the sideline 75 yards for his first collegiate touchdown. The 5-foot-9 Patterson, who thought his leap over a falling FIU defender on his way to the endzone was "pretty cool," has electric speed and will be scoring several more punt return touchdowns for Kansas in the future. The score put Kansas up 24-0 midway through the second quarter and the Jayhawks cruised from there.
Player to remember
Dezmion Briscoe. The sophomore had nine catches for 55 yards and three touchdowns, the second time in his short Kansas career that he's had three touchdowns in a single game. He has become quarterback Todd Reesing's favorite target inside the red zone with his stellar ability to get open. After scoring a Kansas freshman record seven touchdowns in 2007. Briscoe is on pace for a breakout year in 2008.
Player to forget
FIU's Ashlyn Parker. Daymond Patterson leaped over the FIU defender on Patterson's 75-yard punt return and later was injured and had to be carted off the field.
Coaches corner
"They saw that we could run the ball early and put extra defenders in the box and said 'you're going to have to throw it.' We wanted to dink and dunk a little bit, spread the ball around and work the short game. That's what they were giving us so that's what we took."
— Offensive Coordinator Ed Warinner on why Kansas had 52 passing plays to only 36 running plays
B. J. RAINS
Football Schedule
Sept.6 Louisiana Tech
Sept.12 at South Florida
Sept. 20 vs. Sam Houston State
Oct. 4 at Iowa State
Oct. 11
vs. Colorado