8B the university daily kansan wednesday, October 22, 2003 sports JAYHAWKS 5-2 STATS This season PASSING PASSING Name Comp. Att Yds TD INT Whittemore 187-117 1883 15 2 Luke 6-9 92 1 2 RUSHING Name Yds Carries Avg TD Green 596 125 4.8 5 Whittimore 358 85 4.2 8 Randle 305 49 6.2 2 Nwabuisi 17 4 4.3 1 RECEIVING Name Rec. Yds. TD Simmons 27 631 6 Green 27 293 0 Gordon 23 411 4 Rideau 22 369 3 PUNT RETURNS Name Yds No Avg Gordon 285 19 15.0 PUNTING Name Yds Punts Avg Ansel 834 20 41.7 ON THE WILDCATS Kansas coach Mark Mangino on Kansas State quarterback Fli Johnson "He looked really sharp in the Colorado game. • He getting back to being confident. He is player and make plays. He seems to be getting back into the groove a little bit, I saw him make some plays against Colorado that really made the difference in that game." KANSAS PLAYERS TO WATCH Sophomore linebackers Gabe Tooney, Nick Reid and Banks Floodman all stepped up their play Saturday to help shut down Baylor's capable offense. They'll have their hands full once again with the two-headed rushing monster of quarterback Eli Roberson and tailback Darren Protes...Junior wide receiver Brandon Rideau could have a big will have plenty of footballs thrown his wav...Freshman receiver/returnman Charles game this week. Kansas State's weak secondary has struggled with tall receivers all year, and the 6-foot-4 inch Texas native Gordon is beginning to look like a young clone of the Kansas City Chiefs' Dante Hall. His tough-as-nails attitude and lightening-quick feet make him dangerous in any situation. He could be someone who breaks this game wide on if it's a tight one. STANDINGS North | | Cont | Overall | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Nebraska | 2-1 | 6-1 | | **Kansas** | **2-1** | **5-2** | | Missouri | 1-2 | 5-2 | | Kansas State | 1-2 | 5-3 | | Colorado | 1-2 | 3-4 | | Iowa State | 0-3 | 2-5 | South
Conf.Overall
Oklahoma3-07-0
Oklahoma State2-16-1
Texas2-15-2
Texas Tech2-15-2
Baylor1-24-3
Texas A&M1-23-4
KANSAS SCHEDULE Aug. 30 Northwestern L 20-28 Sept. 6 UNLV W 46-24 Sept. 13 @Wyoming W 42-35 Sept. 20 Jacksonville St. W 41-6 Sept. 27 Missouri W 35-14 Oct. 11 @Colorado L 50-47 (OT) Oct. 18 Baylor W 28-21 Oct. 25 @Kansas State Nov. 1 @Texas A&M Nov. 8 Nebraska Nov. 15 @Oklahoma State Nov. 22 Iowa State KANSAS VS. K-STATE WHEN/WHERE: Saturday, 1:10 p.m., KSU Memorial Stadium, Manhattan TELEVISION: None RADIO: 90.7 KJHK HOW THEY COMPARE The Kansas-Kansas State rivalry hasn't been much of a rivalry lately. The Jayhawks haven't defeated the Wildcats in 10 years, although they still hold a large lead in the series at 61-34-5. Last season's installment was a 64-0 thrashing delivered by the Wildcats at Memorial Stadium in Kansas' first game without then-injured quarterback Bill Whittmore. Whittmore returns this season, and the two teams enter Saturday's matchup on slightly Bill Whittimore is having an All-American-type season for the Jayhawks, ranking nationally in the top five in passing efficiency for almost the whole season. More than anything, his senior leadership may be needed on the road in a hostile environment. Clark Green is a consistent back who is rarely stopped for a loss and John Randle is the speed demon. Randle broke out last week for 55 yards rushing on seven carries. The wide receivers are talented, led by Mark Simmons who has six touchdown catches on the year. Brandon Rideau and Charles Gordon add size and explosiveness. The offensive line, while solid all season, struggled some against Baylor's blitz, allowing a season-high six sacks. OFFENSIVE ADVANTAGE: PUSH Ell Roberson leads Kansas State's offense from the quarterback position. Often referred to as just a running quarterback, Roberson has been effective this season through the air as well, completing 52 percent of his passes for 12 touchdowns on the year. Roberson combines tailback speed with a cannon for an arm and has been difficult to slow down since returning from injury. Darren Sproles, may be the best running back in the nation, although he never gets the carries to prove it. Sproles averages less than 20 runs per game. Even without the carries, Sproles leads the Big 12 in rushing yards per game with 105.8, and is dangerous every time he touches the ball. James Terry is a deadly wide receiver. He has 37 catches on the season, 24 more than that of the next guy in line. The offensive line led by Nick Leckey and Ryan Lilja looks great on paper, but has struggled at times this season. Kansas averages more yards per game than the Wildcats, but Kansas State scores slightly more. DEFENSIVE ADVANTAGE: Kansas State different terms. Kansas (5-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference) is tied for the Big 12 North lead with Nebraska, while Kansas State (5-3, 1-2) won its first conference victory last week over Colorado by a score of 49-20 in Manhattan. Both teams have lost some close games, which means both teams could be better than their records indicate. The coaching story isn't necessarily about which coach is better than the other—it may be about how each coach approaches the game. The rumor mill says Bill Snyder doesn't like Mark Mangino, a former Kansas State assistant, because when Mangino bolted for Oklahoma, he took some recruits with him. Linebackers Gabe Toomey, Nick Reid and Banks Floodman lead the Jayhawks on defense. The defensive backs, although exposed at Colorado, recovered to play fairly well against Baylor. The defensive line, while still far from healthy, played well against Baylor. Kansas pressured Baylor quarterback Aaron Karas all game long, ending up with seven sacks in the win. This unit has struggled this season against both the run and the pass, but has put together spurts of outstanding defense. The defense will need one of those sparts Saturday to attempt to keep up with an explosive Kansas State offense. Regardless of whether that is true, Snyder doesn't pull any punches around Mangino, as was evidenced in last season's shellacking. When Kansas finally started to move the ball late in the fourth' quarter, Snyder put his It is hard to qualify a potential All-American as an X-Factor, but how Whittemore handles this game could be the difference between winning and losing. Kansas State excels at rushing the passer, but its defensive backs struggle, so if Whittemore escapes on scrambles and makes a few plays downfield, this could make for an interesting game. The Jayhawks need to make sure the game is played at their pace, and the leadership abilities and savvy of their senior quarterback could go a long way in this one. backfield. Rashad Washington is one of the conference's top safeties. The cornerbacks have struggled and have been exposed at times, somewhat of a rarity for a Kansas State defensive unit that usually expects lockdown defense at the corners. The defensive line is good but has also struggled this year. Defensive tackle Justin Montgomery plugs the middle and allows several talented defensive ends to rush the passer. COACHES: Push X-FACTOR: Bill Whittemore BOTTOM LINE: Kansas State SPECIALTEAMS: Kansas State Kansas will make it a lot closer than last year, but the Wildcats will be fired up to take on the Jayhawks. The defense will have to play as well as it did against Brad Smith when it faces Ell Roberson. The Wildcats' losses with Roberson in the lineup have been to top-25 teams on the road, so it is hard to say that the Jayhawks will pull one out. Kansas State is explosive offensively and stingy defensively, and Snyder will go after Mangino with all he has. Having said that, the talent gap is less than in years' past, so the 'Hawks have a chance to win this one. Whitemore should make it at least respectable, but this just isn't the year Kansas will break the string. Kansas has struggled on special teams this season, from snaps to missed field goals, and last week was no different. Although Johnny Beck made every extra point, Baylor blocked a Curtis Ansel punt and recovered it for a touchdown. The two return men, Greg Heaggans and Charles Gordon, are special. The snapping has been better the past few weeks. Kansas State players aren't spectacular on special teams, but they don't defeat themselves. Kicker Joe Rheem is solid and has missed only one extra point and one field goal all season. He leads the team in scoring. Kansas State uses its best players on special teams cover units. first team defense back in the game to prevent Kansas from putting any points on the board. Last year's game was a blowout, but this year Mangino may have the horses to run with Snyder's team. Snyder WILDCATS5-3 STATS This season Name Comp-Att Yards TD INT Roberson 66-127 1165 12 7 Schwinn 37-67 563 1 3 PASSING RUSHING | Name | Yards | Carries | Avg. | TD | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Sproles | 846 | 146 | 5.8 | 8 | | Roberson | 525 | 99 | 4.5 | 8 | | Schwinn | 81 | 40 | 2.0 | 2 | RECEIVING Name Yards Catches TD Terry 734 37 6 Casey 235 13 1 Moreira 200 12 0 Dennis 192 10 3 Sproles 149 13 1 PUNTING Name Yards Number Avg. Moreira 121 16 7.6 Washington 113 4 28.2 Sproles 70 6 11.7 Name Yards Punts Avg. Brite 478 36 41.1 KANSAS STATE PLAYERS TO WATCH Coach Bill Snyder seems to be the only one on a team junior running back Darren Sproies this year - although Sproies will be on holiday, he is still only yards away from setting the Kansas State career rushing record..Senior quarterback EI Roberson and Sproles form a nasty running duo, Sprotes form a fasty running duo, combining for 16 touchdowns... Senior wide receiver jammers State's taller version of Mark Simmons. The 6-5 height. Two or three 30 inches. per catch last year, and has six touchdowns to demonstrate his bin play potential this season...Senior linebacker Josh Buhl is even more undersized than you might think. Listed at 6-0 210 pounds, he is really closer to 5-10 200 pounds. He runs like a cornerback and makes plain all over the field. Senior defensive end Andrew Shull has eight tackles for loss and has all big 12 talent...Defensive tackles Justin Montgomer and Jermaine Berry get great push and live in the offensive backfield. Senior strong safety Rashad Washington is one of the Big 12's hardest hitters. SCHEDULE | Date | Opponent | Result/Score | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 8/23 | California | W-42-28 | | 8/30 | Troy State | W-41-5 | | 9/6McNeese State | | W-55-14 | | 9/13 | Massachusetts | W-38-7 | | 9/20 | Marshall | L-27-20 | | 10/4 | @Texas | L-24-20 | | 10/11 | @Oklahoma State | L-38-34 | | 10/18 | Colorado | W-49-20 | | 10/25 | Kansas | | | 11/1 | Baylor | | | 11/8 | @Iowa State | | | 11/15 | @Nebraska | | | 11/22 | Missouri | | PROBABLE STARTERS OFFENSE WR5 James Terry LT 79 John Doty LG 64 Ryan Lilja C 53 Nick Leckey RG60 Mike Johnson RT 66 Jeromey Clary TE 86 Brian Casey WR2 Antoine Polite QB3 Ell Roberson TB 43 Darren Sproles FB 44 Travis Wilson DEFENSE LE 98 Andrew Shull DT 92 Justin Montgomery NT91 Jermaine Berry RE 94 Thomas Houchin or 52 Kevin Huntley LB 7 Josh Buhl LB 45 Ted Sims LB 18 Brian Hickman CB9 Randy Jordan FS 23 Jesse Tetuan SS 2 Rashad Washington CB4 Cedrick Williams SPECIAL TEAMS P 6 Jared Brite PK15 Joe Rheem H 12 Dylan Meier DS52 Russ Vanover KDR43 Darren Sproles PR43 Darren Sproiles or 10 Jermaine Moreira