Sports
The Kansas men's golf team will start competing today in the 2003 Prestige. The tournament will be the last of the fall season.PAGE 8A
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Monday, November 3, 2003
The University Daily Kansan
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Adam Barmann, freshman quarterback, made his collegiate debut Saturday in College Station, Texas. Mangino described Barmann's performance as "quit."
Adam Bermann, freshman quarterback, threw a pass during the third quarter. His 294 yards passed marked a Kansas best by a freshman.
New QB sets record
Barmann's numbers unusual for freshman
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Crouching behind the center preparing to take that first collegiate snap in front of 68,000 opposing fans, a defense foaming at the mouth, and in the shadows of a towering, tri-level stadium must be intimidating. To get confirmation, don't ask Adam Barmann. He'd know nothing of the sort.
The surprisingly unnerved freshman quarterback proved to critics in his debut that he could successfully replace an injured Bill Whittemore. Even with his poise and big passing numbers, the Jayhawks could not hold off Texas A&M, suffering a 45-33 defeat.
In just three hours, Barmann boosted his teammates' confidence in the offense, defined the term "nerves of steel" and
restored faith amongst the Jayhawk nation that 2005 is not a lost season.
"It's just playing football, and I've done that my whole life," Barmann said. "I felt all I had to do was get the ball to my playmakers."
Barmann's type of numbers have never been compiled by any Kansas freshman. He completed 25 of 33 passes for 294 yards, threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score.
"I don't know a whole lot about the history of KU football, but I'm studying it," coach Mark Mangino said after the game. "I can't think of a more gutty performance in recent history here."
After the Jayhawks spotted Texas A&M a 7-0 lead on the Aggies' opening drive, Barmann took the field with the fearless attitude Mangino had talked about all week.
It only took the true freshman three plays to make a statement. On his first
snap, Barmann made a scrappy run up the right end for four yards. Then he showed his poise in the pocket, connecting with freshman receiver Charles Gordon for a 20-yard completion. The very next play, sophomore tailback Clark Green converted a short dump pass into a 48-yard touchdown reception. Barmann's pass was a simple, short effort on the score, but it eased the pressure on him immensely.
"Iinitially, coming in, just getting those first few plays in, that's where the nervousness wears out," Barmann said. "I felt like our offense got into a little bit of a rhythm there."
Barmann proved he could get points on the board quickly, and later showed the ability to orchestrate a long, time-consuming drive.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 7A
'Hawks shoot out Cowgirls
By Nikki Nugent
nnugent@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
When Kansas soccer coach Mark Francis told his team they were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 Conference in a preseason poll, they couldn't help but laugh aloud.
The No. 21 Jayhawks finished regular season play with a 2-0 victory over Oklahoma State Friday. With that victory, the team finished third in the conference, proving the preseason poll was more than a little off.
With a best-ever record of 15-4-1, 6-3-1 in the Big 12 and a third place finish, the Jayhawks are headed into the conference tournament in their best position ever.
Francis said he wasn't sure if the Jayhawks were a lock for their first NCAA Tournament since 2001.
"We think we have a pretty good
chance of getting in," he said. "Now we have just to show up next week, we
The Jayhawks first shot against the Cowgirls didn't come until the eighth minute, but they wasted little time getting to work after that. In the 18th minute, freshman forward Jessica Klpattrick beat a defender, putting the ball past Oklahoma State goalkeeper Kathrin Lehmann.
Kansas forward Rachel Gilfillan put in the insurance goal for the Jayhawks in the 65rd minute. Kilpatrick sent a pass in front of the goal from the right side intended for Smith, but the ball rolled behind Smith to the left side of the goal where Gilfillan was waiting. She collected the ball and fired a shot past
The Jayhawks were able to hold off the Cowgirls through the first half, keeping a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
Kansas scored another goal in the 19th minute, but it was called back because sophomore forward Caroline Smith was offsides when she received the pass.
Lehmann, putting the Jayhawks up 2-0.
The Kansas victory diminished Oklahoma State's chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament. Kilpatrick said the Jayhawks were aware of how important the game was for the Cowgirls.
The game was important for reasons other than a possible tournament berth. Kansas' four seniors played their final home game, and the team wanted to do well for them. The NCAA Tournament is definitely on the seniors' minds, though. Junior midfielder Gabriela Quiggle said the seniors meant so much to the team, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself.
"We always expect a physical game," she said, "especially with so much on the line for them."
"I don't want to jinx anything," she said. Kansas meets Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in San Antonio.
Edited by Abby Sidesinger
Kansas freshman forward Jessica Kilpatrick held back Oklahoma State defender Lauren Colwell in the first half Friday. The 21-st-ranked Jayhawks beat the Cowgirls 2-0 in their final match of the season.
sports commentary
Shane Mettlen
smettlen@hansan.com
Mangino should give Scott Webb a chance
The precedent has been set.
By taking the redshirt off freshman quarterback Adam Barmann in Saturday's loss to Texas A&M, Kansas football coach Mark Mangino made it perfectly clear the future is now.
Mangino decided that he wasn't going to let a little thing like losing Bill Whitte-more keep his Jayhawks out of a coveted bowl game. Now it's time for him to decide not to let a thing like missed extra points and field goals keep his team out of the post season.
You see, there is another highly recruited freshman on campus who has been wearing that figurative redshirt this season and it might be time to strip it off him too.
Kicker Scott Webb was rated the No. 17 high school player in Oklahoma last year as a senior. Street and Smith magazine named Webb one of the top 15 kickers in the entire country. After junior kicker Johnny Beck struggled last year, Webb became one of the Jayhawks' most prized recruits.
Beck retained the place kicking job this season, but so far has continued with results similar to last year's.
A missed extra point Saturday forced Kansas to go for two after their next touchdown. They failed, meaning Beck's blunder cost them two points. A missed field goal made him successful on just eight of 14 attempts this year. That's a total of five points Kansas could have counted on Saturday with a reliable kicker.
That might seem irrelevant in a 12 point loss, but look at it this way: When Kansas got the ball back with 40 seconds remaining in the game a touchdown would have just made it a more respectable score. But if Kansas had those five points, that last possession would have been an attempt to send the game into overtime.
Webb connected on 74 out of 76 extra point attempts at Tulsa Union High School. The problem is that was high school, not college.
There aren't very many high school stadiums as intimidating as the ones Webb would see in the Big 12 Conference.
The guys in high school who lined up across the line of scrimmage set on blocking the kick aren't quite the caliber you see in the major college game either. Many high school kickers also benefit from kicking off a wedge, a small plastic platform that the holder sets the ball on making it easier to get the kick away.
Whether Webb has adjusted well to the college game we don't know. Reporters know more about the inner-workings of the super-secret military base Area 51 than what goes on in a closed Mangino practice.
What we do know is that Beck is inconsistent at best. If Kansas could count on the Beck that went 2-2 on field goals with a 51-yarder against Kansas State last week, there would be no discussion about pulling Webb's redshirt.
SEE METTLEN ON PAGE 8A
By Sean O'Grady
sogrady@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Cross country runners gain experience at Big 12
Before the Big 12 Conference cross country championships, Erik Sloan was Kansas' ninth runner, looking to use the race to build experience and confidence for next year.
the main reason the Kansas men's cross country team finished fourth, its highest placing at the meet in conference history.
At the end of the race however, he was
"It was a great meet. I was the ninth man coming in, but some of our guys were faltering," the Glenview, Ill., sophomore said. "I went in, ran my race and got real aggressive toward the end."
Sloan was the fourth Jayhav-k runner across the line and 39th overall, running the eight kilometer course in 26:08.8.
Kansas was once again led by the trio of Benson Chesang, Chris Jones and Cameron Schwehr. Joshy Madathil rounded out the scoring for the Jayhawks, finishing 40th.
"The key to having a good team is you can't just depend on the same five guys every meet," Doug Clark, assistant coach, said. "If Erik and Joshy hadn't ran what they run, we wouldn't have been fourth."
University of Colorado claimed the
Despite a record performance, Schwehr said the team was disappointed in the results.
"We still ran pretty strong. It just wasn't what we wanted," the Colbert, Wash., sophomore said.
team and individual title. The Buffaloes scored 38 points, led by All-American Dathan Ritzenheim.
Schweir said the team did show improvement, which was a good sign of
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"It's a good thing that we've come a long way. We were eighth last year," he said. "Sloan stepping up was huge, and he saved our lives."
things to come.
Clark said the coaching staff was pleased with the team's effort. Although they came up short of defeating Texas A&M, the team ran competitively, he said.
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SEE CROSS COUNTRY ON PAGE 8A