Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday October 16, 1997
Sports
Section:
The Kansas mens basketball team will have walk-on tryouts Sunday at 4 p.m. in Allen Field House. Candidates should bring proof of insurance.
Baseball
The Kansas City Royals have the choice to stay in the American or switch to the National League
SEE PAGE 6B
B
Pro Football
Page 1
The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Diego Chargers at 7 tonight at Arrowhead Stadium. The game will be televised on TNT (Ch.2).
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Sports Forum: spiforum@kansan.com
New role for defensive tackle
Kansas left tackle Dan Dercher (No. 90) pursues an Oklahoma ball carrier. Dercher, a junior, was moved by Kansas football coach Terry Allen from defensive tackle to the offensive line earlier in the week because of his athletic ability. Photo by Pam Dishman/Kansas
Allen moves Dercher to position on offense
By Kelly Cannon kcannon@kansan.com Kansan sports writer
Kansas football coach Terry Allen has moved a player on the offensive line again.
But the player came from the defense.
Defensive tackle Dan Dercher, who has played only defense since coming to Kansas, has been moved to the left tackle position on the offensive line.
"You just really have to appreciate the effort of that young man," Allen said. "He's a guy that most definitely will help us in the offensive line, Coach (Walt) Klinker, with his ties to Colorado, is literally working days and nights with him to get it so that he will be ready to play."
Dercher, a junior, has started four games in his career.
He said he played some offense in high school.
Allen said Dercher probably would not start against Colorado on Saturday, but Dercher said later in the afternoon that he would.
Dercher said Allen approached him Tuesday night and asked him to move positions.
"Right now I'm starting," Dercher said. "Mike Lies was at left tackle and they moved him to right (tackle). They moved the two guys at right out."
"I had no idea that I was switching," Dercher said. "I had been playing defense for three years but we've been having troubles on the offensive line. At first I was a little apprehensive — I've been playing defense all my life, and I love defense — but I figured it's going to help the team and I'll get a chance to start, and I'll do it in a second."
Dercher said he was learning Kansas' offensive patterns and getting used to his new position.
"The offense is a lot more sophisticated than what I've been used to," he said. "I'm just trying to learn the different pass sets, the different defenses, read the defenses and the calls the line makes. The calls that I have to make are a lot different."
The position switch is probably a permanent one, Dercher said. Dercher, whose number was 90, had to get a new number so that he wouldn't be confused with defensive linemen.
"I was 90, and I had to switch to 79 because (offensive) linemen can't wear numbers in the 90s," he said. "I think 79 is good. My dad played here and he was 79, and it was my high school number."
His father, Lawrence, played for the Jayhawks from
1965-67.
Allen said Dercher's physical attributes and speed made him a good choice for the position.
"We're trying to do everything we can to shore up the help in the offensive line," Allen said. "And Dan has physical attributes that you need. He's real sharp. He's one of the ones — and you never want to force things upon people — but he's one of the ones who was anxious to step up and say, 'I'll do it if I can help the team.'"
■ Outside linebacker Ron Warner, who set a new single-season sack record for Kansas with 10.5, leads the NCAA in sacks. Warner is on pace to record 19 sacks this season.
"That's nice, that's nice," Warner said. "Coach Allen has stressed all year that he needed a play maker, and he called on me to do it right now."
Allen said free safety Tony Blevins also will be running plays on the offensive side of the ball.
"In special situations, you may see Blevins at wide receiver." Allen said. "We're not asking him to know 15 plays, but one or two or three. But out of position it would be a critical thing if he were to get injured."
Inside linebacker Steve Bratten will start for the Jayhawks against Colorado. Bratten did not make the trip to Lubbock, Texas, for the Texas Tech game because of tonsillitis.
Volleyball team looks for answers
Sophomore outside hitter Amy Myrtle watches the ball after a block attempt at practice. The Jayhawks take on the Tigers tomorrow. Photo by Dan Elsavsky/KANSAN
Weekend games against Big 12 rivals critical
Team members said they thought the downward spiral began after a
By Matt Gardner sports@kansan.com Kansan sports writer
"We feel like we aren't freeing ourselves to play," right-side hitter Kendra Kahler said. "We are thinking too much about what we need to be doing and not having enough fun."
After a 2-1 performance at the Jayhawk Classic in September, Kansas has lost six straight matches and 16 consecutive games.
After stumbling to an 0-6 start in Big 12 play, the Kansas volleyball team is doing a little searching on the mysterious reason for the demise in their play.
"It's not our focus we are worried about," Kahler said. "We just need to have fun. We spend too much time out there thinking about our mistakes."
frustrating loss to Colorado at home on Sept. 27. Since then, they have dropped matches in three games to Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Baylor.
"No one is giving up yet," Blackwell said. "Everyone is still excited to get out there and play each match, but this is probably the most critical point of the season for us."
Several Jayhawk players said they were frustrated because of the losing streak, but weren't giving up hope.
Defensive specialist Stephanie Blackwell said, "We need to figure out what's going on, fix it and get back into the game."
Kansas coach Karen Schonewise said she thought this weekend's matches against Iowa State and Missouri could be a now or never situation for the Jayhawks.
for us," Schonewise said. "Iowa State and Missouri are in the same situation we're in. They each have had success in the early part of the season, but have struggled in conference play."
Schoonewise said that the Jayhawks needed to keep their heads up, strengthen their overall game and not defeat themselves on the court.
"I think it's just important right now to not look backwards at what has happened." Schoisewite said.
"We just need to stop focusing on one part of our game and just play well on everything," Schonewise said. "It's very important that they don't get discouraged and play a better overall match this weekend."
The Jayhawks are hoping the answers to their questions will be found this weekend.
"This is definitely a key weekend
Hopes for postseason play ends with loss
Kansas will battle Missouri tomorrow in Columbia, Mo. The Tigers are 11-10 overall and 0-6 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks will then face Iowa State Saturday night in Ames. The Cyclones are also 0-6 in conference play and 9-10 overall.
By Harley V. Ratliff
Kansan sports writer
The defeat drops the Jayhawks' record to 3-10-1 overall, 1-7 in conference, and eliminated them frpm contention for the Big 12 Conference postseason tournament.
The Kansas women's soccer team lost 6-3 yesterday to the Missouri Tigers in Columbia, Mo.
"I'm extremely disappointed in the way we played today," said Kansas soccer coach Dan Magner. "I give all the credit to Missouri. They capitalized on every opportunity and we didn't."
The Tigers scored early, making their first goal two minutes, 43 seconds into the game. The Jayhawks answered, however, when freshman Meghan Haven knocked
in a rebound from a Sarah Korpi shot.
Twenty minutes later Kansas took its first and only lead when the Tigers scored a goal on themselves. Sophomore Cynthia Dahle was credited with the assist.
Missouri responded by scoring three more goals before the end of the first half to take a 4-2 lead. The Tigers kept the pressure on in the second half, scoring again to extend their lead to three.
However, the goal was not enough.
The Jayhawks broke Missouri's momentum when Haven got her second goal of the game -her third in the last two games.
Missouri added one more goal with less than 10 minutes to play putting the final score at 6-3.
The Jayhawks play at 4 p.m. tomorrow against the Oklahoma Sooners at SuperTarget Field.
OSU's success on the gridiron proves dawn of apocalypse
The apocalypsse is near. I'm sure of it.
How can I be so certain you ask?
Well, I tell you that it isn't El Nino that tipped me off. Neither is it the upcoming millennium, nor the global catastrophes, nor the fact that I watch those guys on Channel 49 too much. (They're pretty sure the apocalypse is around the corner as well — but for very different reasons.)
Nope, I found a much more convincing reason for you to repent while you can.
Get a copy of The Associated Press' latest college football top 25 poll, start at the top with Penn State and go down 15 notches.
It should read something like this: No. 16 Oklahoma State (6-0).
Are you kidding me?
Harley Ratliff
Are you kidding me?
Looks like Ok.
The answer. No.
This team should be a beckuva lot worse.
homa State program that was picked to finish next to last in the Big 12 Conference, if not the nation, by most preseason prognosticators? Is this the same team that hasn't had a winning season since Barry Sanders and Hart Lee Dykes donned the orange and white in 1988?
So what have Cowboys football coach Bob Simmons and his squad done since?
On the week that the Cowboys' 1997 season was to begin, an already paper-thin squad was made thinner when officials at Oklahoma State kicked 10 players out of the university for not meeting academic requirements. That list of players included the team's leading tackler, linebacker Raymond Cato, and its leading returning rusher, senior Andre Richardson.
They've only insured the 'Pokes of their first winning season and bowl trip in ten years, won with inferior talent, captured the hearts of an entire city and put together one of the most improbable seasons in recent college football history.
And the season is only halfway through.
Either Simmons is the greatest coach alive or the final harbinger of imminent doom. You decide.
Speaking of doom,it's seems like an appropriate place to discuss the Cowboys' defense stone of their success
— the cornerstone of their success.
If you haven't seen an Oklahoma State football game, you are missing a good time. The Cowboys' defense — the mastermind of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan (Yes, he's one of Buddy's sons) — regularly blitzes as many as nine men at a time, leaving its corners in single coverage and creating pandemonium on the field.
So far it's worked. Oklahoma State's defense is ranked near the top of several defensive categories nationally and has baffled offenses from Austin, Texas, to Boulder, Colo.
Yet Oklahoma State's most important defensive player is the one that almost never blitzes — R.W. McQuarters. The safety/cornerback/wide receiver/punt and kick returner/superstar has been the glue that holds it all together. McQuarters' ability to blanket the opposition's top receiver has allowed Ryan's "46" defense to work and the Cowboys to succeed. Not only has McQuarters shined defensively, but he has been a force on special teams, returning several pints for touchdowns. He is one of the nation's most exciting players.
What is happening down in Stillwater is nothing short of an athletic miracle. The Cowboys—with Texas A&M their only quality opponent left—are looking at a very real chance of a 10-1 record. The same program that could barely muster 19 combined wins during the previous six seasons is suddenly one of the few teams defending the honor of the Big 12.
So if you get a chance to catch the Cowboys, make the most of it. They're a quality team, entertaining to watch and you don't have much time left — the end is right around the corner.
I'm sure of it
Ratliff is a Norman, Okla., senior in journalism.