College Football
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Undefeated teams Kansas State, Texas A&M and Iowa will play ranked opponents for the first time this season Saturday. SEE PAGE 4B
Sports
Pro Hockey
The National Hockey League begins regular-season play tonight.
SEE PAGE 6B
Wednesday
October 1, 1997
Section:
B
Page 1
Pro Baseball
Florida, Atlanta and New York won the first games in the National League series last night.
SEE PAGE 3B
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Heisman picks becoming clear halfway into football season
Years ago, ESPN analyst Beano Cook made one of the boldest — and worst — predictions in college football history.
1. Randy Moss, Marshall wide receiver. He is 6-fee-5-inches tall, has a 39-inch vertical jump and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds. But ignore those numbers because what he does on the football field is more significant.
He said Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus would leave school with a national title and two Heisman trophies. I doubt that my early season projections could be as bad as Cook's, so I have no shame revealing my top five candidates for the Heisman Trophy this season.
Through five games this season, Moss has 38 receptions for 749 yards and 14 touchdowns. And don't bother countering with the small-school and inferior-competition argument because some guy named Jerry Rice hailed from Mississippi Vallev State.
2. Charles Woodson, Michigan cornerback and wide receiver. Woodson wants to become the next Deion Sanders, a two-way player who can smother you on defense and be a play-maker on offense.
But Woodson is a more physical player than Sanders, which allows him to
Gallagher is an Oathe senior in journalism.
Tommy Gallagher
take hits on offense better than "Primetime." If you believe that the Heisman is reserved for the best athlete in the land, Woodson may be your man.
3. Tavian Banks, Iowa running back. Banks has 92 carries for 835 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, although I still am skeptical about those numbers.
4. Ryan Leaf, Washington State quarterback. This season, Leaf has been more consistent and made fewer errors than Peyton Manning of Tennessee.
Although Banks has rushed for more than 200 yards per game, the Hawkeyes have not yet faced a defense ranked higher than No. 91 in the country. Road games against Ohio State and Michigan will test Banks in the coming weeks.
Leaf has completed almost 55 percent of his passes for more than 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns, with only five interceptions. The Cougars are 4-0 and ranked No. 15 in the country.
Former Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe never led the Cougars to the Rose Bowl. That now may be possible because of Leaf's talent.
5. Jacquez Green, Florida wide receiver. He has compensated nicely for the loss of Reidel Anthony and Ike Hilliard. Both passed on their senior seasons and were first-round picks in the NFL draft last spring.
Green has 28 receptions for 427 yards and seven touchdowns this season, but his biggest contribution may be as a stabilizing force. Sophmore quarterback Doug Johnson has had on-the-job training this season and passing to Green eases the learning process.
This list is subject to change during the season. But should Moss play the way he did during September, it would be a crime to deny Moss the Heisman this season.
My honorable mentions include Peyton Manning, Tennessee quarterback; Dameyune Craig, Auburn quarterback and Ron Dayne, Wisconsin running back.
Revamped team faces test
Football game will determine if changes work
By Tammy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
The offensive line has been worked and reworked during spring and fall practices, but Kansas football coach Terry Allen has reshuffled the line again.
Senior offensive lineman Derrick Chandler, who had played left tackle, flopped with freshman Chuck Jarvis to right tackle. For Chandler, the move is just the latest transition in a tough year.
Chandler arrived to fall practice late because of his grandfather's death, and he was slow to learn some of the new offensive schemes.
"My grandpa was like my father," Chandler said. "I could call him real quick and get some advice when I needed it. I was ready for this season, but his death changed my whole mindset."
The offensive line never really has been set this season and has always been subject to change from one week to another. Senior Justin Glasgow, a team captain, moved from right tackle to right guard before the Cincinnati game, making room for Jarvis.
But a change in scheme often requires a change in what the coach looks for in an athlete.
Although former Kansas football coach Glen Mason loved to run the football, Allen loves to pass it. Mason recruited Chandler, who was one of the most sought-after linemen on the Pacific coast.
Allen said the change of schemes was just
"People don't like change, and I didn't like learning a new offense. You have new steps and new calls. After a while, I became a little discouraged and started to doubt. But I looked around the practice field and realized that everyone had to go through the change, not just me."
Derrick Chandler Senior offensive lineman
another hurdle that Chandler had struggled to overcome.
"Chandler had been labeled an underachiever when I got here," Allen said. "For some reason, he hasn't played up to his potential. But to his credit, he has not given up. He's given us everything."
"I want to be the first son to do something in life," Chandler said. "I want to go pro after this season. But even if I don't, at least I will graduate. He became a source of inspiration for me to do well and to succeed."
Saturday's home game against Oklahoma will be used to determine whether Allen's recent decisions have been wise, for at least one game anyway.
"People don't like change, and I didn't like learning a new offense," Chandler said. "You have new steps and new calls. After a while, I became a little discouraged and started to doubt. But I looked around the practice field and realized that everyone had to go through change, not just me."
Kansas right tackle Derrick Chandler pushes into the Missouri line during the game. With the reorganization of the offense line, Chandler, a senior, switched from left tackle to right tackle. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
Kansas women's volleyball team players run through a drill. The team was practice yesterday in Allen Field House. The team plays Kansas State at 7:30 tonight in Allen Field House. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
Kansas must dig deep for first conference win
Kansan staff report
The Jayhawks lost their first two conference matches to Nebraska and Colorado but will have a chance to get a victory at 7:30 tonight at Allen Field House against Kansas State.
K-State has a four-match winning streak against the Jayhawks.
The Kansas volleyball team hopes its third Big 12 Conference match tonight will be the charm.
"We're definitely looking ahead to our games in the future," said junior outside hitter Mary Beth Albrecht. "We know we're a good team, and we're confident that we can go
The Wildcats are 8-5 overall and have an 0-2 record in Big 12 matches this season. Kansas is 7-8 and will try to end a three-match losing streak.
out there and win a match."
The Jayhawks have a 7-6 record against nonconference teams, and their play earned them two second-place finishes at invitations.
This season, Kansas has a winning record against nonconference opponents for the first time since its 1993 record of 11-5.
"Lately, we've had a great deal of trust on the floor that if the ball got by the block, someone has been able to bring it up and get back into transition," said Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise.
The match against K-State will conclude a 10-game homestand for the Jayhawks, who opened the season with seven matches on the road.
Attendance at the Nebraska match was a season-high 1,050.
Volleyball tonight
The Kansas volleyball team
The Kansas volleyball team plays in-state rival Kansas State at 7:30 tonight at Allen Field House.
The Wildcats have a four-match winning streak against the Javahawks.
Tonight's match concludes a 10-game homestand for Kansas.
Five hundred people watched Kansas play Colorado.
Crowds at the Big 12 matches were the two largest of the season.
"It's always great to have a lot of support and a lot of loud fans," Schonewise said.
Kansas, Pepperdine game to follow finals
Committee to consider two exemption requests
By Matthew Friedrichs
matf@ukans.edu
Kansan staff writer
The Kansas men's basketball game against Pepperdine, originally scheduled for Dec. 17, has been rescheduled for Dec. 18.
Associate Athletics Director Richard Konzem, who schedules men's basketball games, said Pepperdine had agreed to change the game because of problems the
The game would have conflicted with finals for as many as 1,400 students.
game would have caused.
Tim Wilhelm, associate athletic director at Pepperdine, said the change would complicate the Pepperdine basketball team's travel plans.
Instead of flying to Kansas on Dec. 14 after competing in a tournament at Brigham Young University, the team will fly back to Malibu, Calif. The team will fly to Lawrence on Dec. 16, play Kansas on Dec. 18, fly to California on Dec. 19 and play Boise State on Dec. 20 at home.
"These things come up, but we wish they wouldn't happen to us," Wilhelm said. "We'd be playing Dec. 17."
Carol Holstead, chairwoman of the Calendar Committee and associate professor of journalism, said she had received a request for exceptions to the University rule that does not allow University events
during finals, including Stop Day and Sundays.
A women's basketball game is scheduled against Arkansas State on Sunday, Dec. 14.
A men's basketball game against Massachusetts is scheduled for Dec. 10, Stop Day
Holstead said the rule did not apply to the rescheduled Pepperdine game, which now will be played on the last day of finals, because the game would occur after finals had finished. The rule will apply to the Massachusetts and Arkansas State games, she said.
Holstead she was contacting committee members and would schedule a meeting of the Calendar Committee to decide whether to grant the Athletic Department's request for exceptions for the Massachusetts and Arkansas State games.
Konzem said that the rule, written in 1970, did not reflect accommodations the University had made for games in the past.
The Athletic Department began scheduling games on Sundays during finals to eliminate doubleheaders on Satdays during finals and to promote gender equity by providing a better forum for women's basketball. Konzem said.
The Athletic Department previously scheduled basketball doubleheaders on Saturdays with women's games starting about 4 p.m. and the men's games starting when the women's game ended.
The doubleheaders were problematic because women's fans did not have tickets to the games, and students would arrive early to fill the general admission section, spending the Saturday at Allen Field House.
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