Sports
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The University Daily Kansan
Kansas defeated Oklahoma Sooners Saturday for the fourth straight time, despite losing freshman Jana Correa to a pregame injury. PAGE 3B
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sports commentary
Monday, October 13, 2003
Shane Mettlen smetten@kansan.com
Postseason attainable for Kansas
If you were listening to the game on the radio Saturday as Kansas suffered an overtime loss at the hands of Colorado you might have noticed something.
The Fort Worth Bowl, a new post-season game featuring a team from the Big 12 Conference and one from Conference USA, was advertising on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
That means the administrators of the game see Jayhawks as likely participants in the game and want to sell tickets to crimson and blue clad fans.
Senior quarterback Bill Whittomme capped on an 80-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Jayhawks led by 11 at the halft but lost 50-47 in overtime. Whittomme threw for 422 yards and scored two rushing and three passing touchdowns.
But Saturday's loss made dreams of bowl games seem a little harder to obtain.
Sure the Jayhawks will probably win at least two more games to make themselves eligible this season, but the task of making a bowl game next season, and the two seasons after that became more difficult.
Eric Braem/Kansan
You see, if Kansas only manages two more victories this season — Baylor and Iowa State seem to be likely victims — then the Jayhawks will have to count the victory over Div. 1-AA Jacksonville State as one of the six victories needed to become bowl eligible.
That doesn't seem like a big deal except according to NCAA rules victories over a Div. 1-AA team can only be counted once every four seasons.
That means if Kansas counts Jacksonville State this year they can't rely on sure victories against Div. 1-AA patsies the next three seasons, the post-Bill Whittimore seasons.
Kansas State fans can feel fortunate this rule isn't haunting their team this season. In 2001 the Wildcats snuck into a bowl game with a 6-5 record and victories over barely Div. 1-A New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech.
Had one of those teams been Div. 1- AA in 2001, then Kansas State would only have two victories this season to count toward bowl eligibility. That's because two of the Wildcats four victories this season are over' Div. 1-AA opponents.
Kansas might not be so lucky
The turnaround of the program has been amazing, but it's hard to believe that the Jayhawks won't be down next season sans Whittemore at quarterback.
'Hawks lose in overtime
SEE METTLEN ON PAGE 4B
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — On what the national media had touted as Separation Saturday in the college football world, both Kansas and Colorado had a lot to prove.
Colorado was looking to show that 2003 was not going to be a lost season after a 42-30 loss to Baylor, and Kansas wanted to prove its 35-14 upset victory over Missouri was not a fluke.
While neither of the two objectives were clarified, Colorado defeated Kansas 50-47 in overtime in one of the most exciting college football games this season.
Any jitters the Jayhawks brought appeared to be quelled on the opening drive when senior quarterback Bill Whittenore sold the entire Colorado defense on play-action fake.
The result was a 64-yard touchdown bomb to junior receiver Brandon Rideau.
Unfazed, the Buffaloes answered right away. Quarterback Joel Klatt found his tight end Joe Klopfenstein, and receiver D.J. Hackett's block on Kansas junior safety Tony Stubbs was enough to spring Klopfenstein to the endzone, tying the game at seven points a piece.
Folsom Field's 50,000 screaming fans, thin air and closed ends can make an opponent feel trapped.
Those factors, along Whittemore's collapsing pocket, kept the quarterback under pressure for the rest of the quarter.
"The first couple series were more of a learning situation," Whittimore said. "We struck quick on that play action. It's
just learning what they're going to do against you and come back with something else."
After Klatt ran in a one-yard touchdown for Colorado, on Kansas' next possession senior punter Curtis Ansel's punt was blocked by Colorado's Derek McCoy and recovered by the Buffaloes at the Jayhawks' eight-yard line. The block
led to a 23-yard field goal by Colorado's Mason Crosby.
Trailing 17-7 late in the first quarter, Kansas' next drive defined the gritty, tireless attitude the team has carried all year in the face of adversity.
SEE COLORADO ON PAGE 6B
Colorado, Barnett victorious
By Kevin Flaherty
kflaherty@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Gary Barnett stood at the podium after Colorado's come-from-behind victory over Kansas looking like he had just survived a 12 round prizefight.
The Colorado coach's wrinkles were ever more prominent, his hair a shade grayer, and his soft voice struggled to be heard over the reporters, even while he spoke through a microphone. And every now and then, a weary smile escaped as he reflected on a 50-47 overtime victory that easily could have ended in a Buffaloes loss.
"I guess this is just who we are," Barnett said. "The way they fought made a coach proud."
The Buffaloes are a team that has excelled in close games this season. All three of the victories for Colorado have come on the last possession of the game.
This victory may have been helped by the location of the game.
Sitting in the south endzone is a sign that reads "Folsom Field 5334 feet." It certainly felt that high as ears popped both from the altitude and from the crowd noise. It may have been a combination of the two that wore down a Kansas team that led at halftime by 11.
Jayhawks finish 'tougher' camp
SEE BARNETT ON PAGE 4B
By Joey Berlin
jberlin@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After putting his team through a rigorous running session to end his so-called "boot camp," Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self proclaimed his team ready to start regular practice.
The team capped Self's two-week boot camp Friday by running 32 "suicides" during a one-hour session at Allen Fieldhouse.
The suicide drill involved running from the baseline to half-court and back, to the opposite free-throw line and back, then the length of the floor and back.
Twelve of the 16 players on the roster participated. Junior guard Keith Langford and freshman center David Padgett, both rehabbing knees after surgery, exercised on stationary bikes as their teammates ran. Brett Olson and Christian Moody ran their suicides earlier in the day because of schedule conflicts.
Boot camp served as a prelude to regular practice sessions, which begins after Late Night in the Phog this Friday. Self said boot camp was about building mental toughness as well as physical conditioning.
"All it is is just doing things that you didn't think you could do, or you didn't want to do," Self said. "When you're finished with it, you feel pretty good about yourself."
SEE CAMP ON PAGE 4B
Kansas junior guard Keith Langford was one of 12 players who participated in coach Bill Self's "boot camp." The two-week program had athletes doing rigorous running exercises early in the morning as a prelude to regular practices, which begin next week.
Soccer claims first Big 12 Conference road victory
By Nikki Nugent
nnugent@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas soccer team is proving it is a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 Conference.
The Jayhawks defeated the Cyclones 2-0 Friday before defeating Missouri 2-0 yesterday. The Jayhawks extend their record to 11-3-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the Big 12.
Kansas coach Mark Francis said the road victory was huge for the Jayhawks. With the victory against the Cyclones the team moved to .500 in the Big 12 and put its first conference road
victory under its belt. The victory against Missouri gives Kansas a winning record in the Big 12.
"We made a lot of changes at different times in the game because of people getting tired or tactically," he said. "I felt like even the guys coming off the bench really contributed today."
Despite early scoring opportunities, the Cyclones were unable to put the ball past Kansas goalkeeper Meghan Miller. Miller recorded six saves in her sixth shutout of the season.
After Friday's game against Iowa State, Francis said he told the team he was pleased with the way it played together.
Both teams failed to score before the halftime horn blew.
Iowa State dominated early in the second half, firing shots at Miller from all over the field. Miller remained strong between the posts, punching shots over the crossbar and eating up everything that came her way.
Francis said sophomore forward Caroline Smith returned to early season form in Friday's game.
Smith had both of Kansas' goals of the day for her fifth multi-goal game of the season.
Smith also established the school record for goals in a season with her 14th goal of the year. The single-season
record was 12 goals, which Smith set last year.
"Today is the most healthy that she's been in the last month probably," Francis said. "It showed because she was a lot more dangerous."
The first goal came with just more than 15 minutes left in the game. Smith collected a pass from junior midfielder Amy Geha.
The Iowa State goalkeeper came way out on Smith. Smith cut around her and put the ball in the back of the net with her left foot.
Just a minute and a half later Smith struck again. Smith received a pass from midfielder Jessica Smith outside the
Smith said she saw an ISU defender coming across the field at her.
Smith put her foot on the ball and and it dipped under the crossbar, just out of the goalkeeper's reach.
"I was just trying to hit it before she got there," she said.
With the Jayhawks up 2-0, the Cyclones missed a few hurried scoring attempts in the game's final minutes.
The Jayhawks travel to Colorado for a 5 p.m. game against the Buffaloes on Friday, then to Nebraska to play the Cornhuskers at 1 p.m. Sunday.
- Edited by Ashley Marriott
Iowa State goal box.
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