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ANSAN
2009
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2009
5B
PRESS ippi
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Clemson and Miami'rivals'reunite
Miami quarterback Jacory Harris throws a touchdown pass during the first quarter against Central Florida in Orlando, Fl. Saturday. The Atlantic Coast Conference "invals" Gledson and Miami are meeting for the first time since 2005.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
That tends to happen when four years pass between meetings.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — A few things have changed since Atlantic Coast Conference "rivals" Clemson and Miami last renewed acquaintances.
When these teams last met on Sept. 17, 2005, Miami quarterback Jacory Harris was in 10th grade, Clemson standout C.J. Spiller was coming off a 318-yard, four-touchdown effort for Union County High in north Florida and getting recruited by the Hurricanes, Randy Shannon was Miami's defensive coordinator and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney was working with Clemson's wide receivers.
So now, 1,498 days later, the Tigers (3-3, 2-2 ACC) will visit the eighth-ranked Hurricanes (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday afternoon, a critical game for both teams in the conference title chase.
Of course, that doesn't mean either side knows a whole lot about the other.
"I don't know if it can be a rivalry," said Miami senior left tackle Jason Fox, who'll start his team-best 43rd career game. "I've never played them."
Strange as that sounds for teams in the same conference, it's not entirely uncommon nowadays.
In the 12-team ACC, all schools play eight league games. Five are against divisional rivals, one against a "primary crossover opponent" from the other division — for Miami, it's Florida State; for Clemson, it's Georgia Tech — and two rotating nondivisional opponents.
"To be honest with you, I looked at the schedule a while ago and said, 'Dang, Clemson,' Miami left guard Orlando Franklin said. "Got to worry about them. I've never played them before, but I've
Similar setups prevail in the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12, Conference USA ... almost any league with multiple divisions. Just last week, SEC foes South Carolina and Alabama played for the first time in 1,491 days.
watched their games and they've got a two-deep for D-line and linebackers. That means they won't be tired."
All the Tigers and Hurricanes aren't strangers.
Clemson has 16 players from the talent-rich state of Florida on its roster, with Miami safety Randy Phillips having ties to at least two of them. He and Tigers wide receiver Jacoby Ford essentially grew up together in Palm Beach County, and Phillips hosted Spiller on his recruiting visit to Coral Gables four years ago.
"I know the guys pretty well," Phillips said. "It's going to be a friendly rivalry when we get out there. Should be a great game. A lot of speed, a lot of talent on display, a lot of great individual players on display. The better team is going to win the game, of course."
Like Phillips, Ford is already eager, too.
Miami "is actually where I do want to play as a kid," Ford said. "I grew up a big Miami fan and always wanted to go there when I was smaller. It didn't turn out that way and I wound up in Clemson, which I don't regret at all."
don't play more, because the first two meetings since Miami joined the ACC were classics.
Both needed overtime, Clemson winning 24-17 at the Orange Bowl on Nov.6,2004 and
It's almost too bad these teams
Miami prevailing 36-30 in triple overtime at Death Valley 10 1/2 months later.
"It's going to be a friendly rivalry when we get out there. Should be a great game."
Phillips, linebacker Darryl Sharpton and defensive end Eric Moncur are the only three
remaining Miami players who played in the 2005 game.
For Clemson, the only current Tiger who appears on the stat sheet from the matchup four years ago is running back Rendrick Taylor, who caught one pass for minus-4 yards.
RANDY PHILLIPS Miami safety
"When ACC teams come, you know it's that time," said Shannon, in his third year as Miami's coach. "Players understand, and I've told them this, it's a different season now. We're back in conference play and we've got to win conference games. ... And no matter if it's a couple years ago or now, it's Clemson. It's still a good team."
Miami goes to Clemson in 2010. After that, they won't see each other again until 2014.
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
ers are not going to be happy with their playing time, but those are the players he wants on his team.
"I think if you have guys on your bench that aren't restless if they're not playing, you probably recruited the wrong guys," he said.
Junior guard Conner Teahan said the team talked about the second team being competitive in the Big 12.
"It's fun because the practices are very competitive but it's also frustrating because there are so many good guys and everybody is trying to get on the court," Teahan said.
But because the team is stacked
this year, said sophomore guard Jordan Juenemann said, the opportunity for garbage time, when the outcome of the game is determined at the end of a blowout
and a coach puts replacements in, may increase for some players.
"We're just helping the guys out in practice, challenging them and making them better," he said. "Maybe they can run up the score and we can get it"
nd we can get in."
last year know they have to step up their game to keep a spot in the rotation.
"I think once practice starts, minutes have a way of figuring themselves out."
Junior guard Tyrel Reed was fifth on the team last season with
BILL SELF
Men's basketball coach
"It's not a big deal."
Reed said. "I love all my teammates.
We have no jealousy towards each other."
20. 7 minutes played per game despite only starting in two games. But his attitude on the extra competition is positive.
Veteran players with larger roles
consider red-shirting to give them the extra year of eligibility. During the Jayhawks' 2008 championship season, Morningstar did not play a minute and it gave him an extra year Self said benefited the whole team in the long run.
Despite the tough decisions the coaches will have to make, there may be one remedy for disgruntled players: Winning.
hone of theyounger players has a chance to start in the future, Self said, then they should
Ifoneoftheyounger
"I think once practice starts, minutes have a way of figuring themselves out," Self said. "Guys may not be happy if they're not playing, but I also think guys are really happy when you win."
Edited by Alicia Banister
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Brown doesn't recall jarring game tackle
"I remember everything but
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Jarrett Brown opened his eyes and saw West Virginia staff members standing over him at Mountaineer Field.
The quarterback has no memory of the jarring tackle that knocked him unconscious in the first quarter last Saturday against Marshall.
the hit," Brown said. "When I opened my eyes, I was like, 'what happened?'"
"I remember everything but the hit. I was like, 'what happened?'
JARRET BROWN West Virginia quarterback
It was a helmet-to-helmet blow not by one, but by two defensive backs coming from different
Brown hasn't had any lasting headaches and is listed as day to day. He took two days off and resumed taking snaps with the first team on Tuesday.
directions. Brown had to go back to the game film to see what took place.
"They want to monitor my head and how I'm feeling," Brown said. "If I feel anything awkward, I would tell them. If my helmet was feeling kind of tight, I would
Coach Bill Stewart's biggest concern is whether Brown has any post-concussion complications during practices.
Brown joined a growinglist of starting quarterbacks, including Florida's Tim Tebow and Michigan's Tate Forcier, to battle through concussions this season.
Despite the concussion, Brown said he feels good enough to play on Saturday when No. 22 West Virginia (5-1, 1-0 Big East) meets Connecticut (4-2, 1-1). He just doesn't know whether he can withstand any hits.
tell them that. But for the most part I felt good."
Forcier played in
in the first series the following week over Delaware State before sitting out the remainder of the easy win.
Tebow took off a week of practice after being hurt against Kentucky on Sept. 26. Florida's next game was Oct. 10 at LSU and Tebow received medical clearance to play hours before it.
SHARP (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
that because it's about helping the team. If I'm out there running a 5.0 forty, it's probably not going to help the team."
He managed just 29 yards on 13 carries as Kansas' run game struggled against Colorado's aggressive, swarming defense.
Sharp, who rushed for 227 yards and three touchdowns in the season's first two games, returns at a time when the Jayhawks need him most.
After the game, Mangino said that the run game's deficiencies reflected the play of the offensive line, not Sharp.
Sharp, who suffered the injury during a non-contact drill in the week leading up to the Duke game Sept. 19, missed two games before returning last week against Colorado.
With Kansas 'entering the toughest part of its schedule, including Oklahoma on Saturday.
After spending much of his time rehabbing his injury — he ran in the therapy pools two or three times a day — Sharp's ready to help a Kansas team coming off its first loss of the season.
"It's fine now. It's good to go." Sharp said. "I'm worried about beating Oklahoma now and getting this team back on track."
"It needs to be there," Sharp said. "No question it's an essential part to our offense. If the run game is going good, that opens up the passing game and things start rolling. It makes it very difficult if we can't run the ball to get our passing game going."
Edited by Sarah Kelly