THE UNIVERSITY OF HAIRY KANSAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2009
SPORTS
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
On Saturday, with thousands of people filling stadiums and television cameras capturing multiple angles, cornerbacks are exposed like few positions on the football field.
Often times, corners cannot.
"With playing cornerback, if you give up one, everyone sees
Only quarterbacks are more closely magnified and that's simply because the ball rests in their hands so frequently. But even the highly-scrutinized quarterback position can get away with subtle mistakes.
Jackson said. "Usually if a corerback messes up, it results in a touchdown."
Those familiar with the position from Jackson to much of Kansas' starting secondary say the position must be
"With playing conerback, if you give up one, everyone sees it."
played fearlessly. Mistakes are going to be made and receivers are going to make catches.
JE'NEY JACKSON
Cornerback coach
And everyone watching is going to notice.
The best cornerbacks, though, toss the miscues aside, leaving them in the past in order to focus solely on the upcoming play.
Sounds easy, but with only 40 seconds between each snap, the ability to cleanly wipe one's memory must be instantaneous.
Mississippi is that Kansas' secondary will experience its best test of the non-conference season.
"They say you have to have a short memory," senior defensive back Justin Thornton said. "If something bad happens, you have to forget it. We'll talk about it later and go over it in film. But right there, at the moment, it's something you have to forget about and keep playing."
In fairness, that same label was draped on UTEP's offense, which did little to test, let alone challenge, Kansas during the second game of the season.
But at the minimum Southern Mississippi's offense possesses a large, top-notch weapon. Sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Brown is a 6-foot-6, 230-pound physical wonder who caught 67 passes for 1,117 yards and 12
The general consensus entering Saturday's game against Southern
--to form after suffering a broken left leg last season, will fall upon the shoulders of Kansas' secondary.
Senior cornerback Justin Thorton tackles a Duke player during the game last Saturday against Duke. Thorton had a total of six tackles in the game.
1,117 yards and 121
touchdowns as a
freshman.
"He's a big guy and very. athletic," coach Mark Mangino said. "What he is, basically, is a tight end with great athletic skills out in space."
The responsibility of stopping Brown, who is still returning
This season junior cornerback Chris Harris said the Jayhawks have played a high-volume of series using man-to-man coverages, meaning one defensive back is saddled with the job of stopping
"If you're out there playing timid he's going to think "This guy doesn't want to be physical and I'll be able to push him around more," sophomore cornerback Daymond Patterson said. "I'm going to make sure we tell coach that we want to go at him even more."
Jackson and Mangino both said that little will be changed to prepare for the disadvantages offered by Brown's size.
The only change highlighted by most members of the secondary related to the supremely physical approach larger receivers tend to use during games.
one wide receiver.
"When the ball's in the air," senior defensive back Justin Thornton said, "you have to press into him a little bit and just make sure you go up and get it. Because if you don't, I'm sure he will."
If that trend continues Saturday, one of Kansas' defensive backs will be shorter than Brown by, at the very least, five inches.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
The same season Aqib Talib returned an interception against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, Chris Harris was playing corner on the opposite side of the field.
He was just a freshman then,
and was named the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year. As a sophomore, though, Harris played so sporadically that he eventually lost his starting spot. He said he played with fear.
In the world of cornerbacks, confidence is king. Without possessing that trait in large quantities, the position becomes nearly impossible.
"That's the most important thing," jackson said. "Confidence is the most important thing. If a cornerback loses confidence, then it only goes downhill from there."
It's something Jackson preaches to his pupils every day, and something the position strictly demands.
versatile defenders, has played every position in the secondary. And he's played them all for significant portions of time.
Thornton, one of Kansas' most
"When I used to play safety, I'd say it was way harder than corner," Thornton said. "Then when I started playing corner for a little bit it completely changed my mind."
Most plays, then, result in a one-on-one match up, either in coverage or in attempting to make a tackle.
Thornton said that playing in space increases the difficulty of competing tasks such as tackling since the ball carrier has more directional options and subsequent moves to choose from.
"It's pretty lonely during the game," Harris said.
In the pass-happy big 12, where teams routinely use three and four receivers, Kansas' secondary will be challenged and called up each week.
Much of that pressure will rest with the cornerbacks.
"It's crazy because at a lot of the other positions and you mess up, it doesn't get noticed," Thornton said. "But when you're out there at cornerback and a receiver catches a ball, you miss a tackle, you make a mistake, it's out there for everybody to see."
"Every mistake you make is seen"
Penguins player injures groin early in game
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Edited by Jonathan Herme
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sidney Crosby left the Pittsburgh Penguins' 5-2 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets early in the first period Thursday night because of a groin injury that the team said wasn't believed to be serious.
Crosby played three shifts totaling 1 minute, 37 seconds before skating to the bench about 5 minutes into the game.
Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said he wasn't concerned when Crosby left the bench and walked through the tunnel to the dressing room.
"it's better to stay off it. I'm hoping for just a few days," Crosby said. "I've hurt my groin before. It's not as bad. I think I missed five games with one last year. It's just something you have to be careful with."
"It was more precautionary than anything else," Bylsma said. "It's been tight for a couple of days."
Crosby hopes to play in the final preseason game Sunday at Detroit in a rematch of the last season's Stanley Cup final won by the Benguins.
"Tomorrow (Friday) I won't skate.
but Saturday I'll try to get on the ice for however long and test it out," he said. "It's kind of a day-by-day thing. I'd love to play Sunday. That's what I hope but really don't know with groins. I'm cautious about it but I'm not worried.
"It was sore. We all deal with sore groins this time of the year, especially in camp. Usually once you warm up it gets better. I felt it was getting more sore."
He wasn't sure if the three-hour bus ride to Columbus contributed to the injury.
"When you're sitting there it's tightening up," he said. "It's probably not the best for it but I don't think it's the sole reason. It probably didn't help."
Jakub Voracek, Derick Brassard and Rick Nash each had a goal and an assist, and Michael Blunden and Derek MacKenzie also scored for Columbus, Evgeni Malkin scored the Penguins' first goal and assisted on Nate Guenin's goal.
Columbus left wing Kristian Huselius and defenseman Mike Commordore did not play because of the flu and might miss the final preseason games Saturday and Sunday.
Columbus Blue Jackets' Rick Nash, left, high-sticks Pittsburgh Penguins' Kris Letang during the second period of an NHL preseason hockey game Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MLB
Tigers hand Indians 11th straight loss
ASSOCIATED PRESS
franchise record for futility with a 6-5 win on Thursday night.
CLEVELAND — Justin Verland pitched the Detroit Tigers closer to a division title and pushed the Cleveland Indians within one loss of matching a
Verlander struck out 11 in seven innings and Carlos Guillen had three hits and an RBI as the Tiger handes
11 in a row since setting a club record with 12 consecutive losses in 1931. They can match that mark Friday when Baltimore, losers of seven straight, opens a weekend series at Progressive Field.
The Indians haven't dropped 11 in a row sinve setting a club recort with 12 consecutive losses in 1931.
Cleveland its 11th straight loss.
With the win, Detroit moved three games ahead of the idle Minnesota Twins in the AL's Central Division. The Tigers, who have 10 games remaining, open a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
The Indians haven't dropped
Fernando Rodney earned his 35th save despite allowing a two-run homer to Shin-Soo Choo in the ninth.
Verlander (17-9) entered having lost his last two decisions, but he continued his dominance over the Indians.
He struck out at least one batter in six of his seven innings and struck out the side in the fourth.
He won all four of his starts against Cleveland this year, allowing three earned runs in 30 innings (0.90 ERA).
LPGA
LPGA Former champion takes lead in major tournament
Sophia Sheridan, playing in her third tour event of the year, matched Angela Stanford and Na Ri Kim at 67. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa had five straight birdies in a 68 that left her three strokes back along with 2006 winner Karrie Webb, Shanshan Feng and Kyeong Bae.
DANVILLE, Calif. — Sophie Gustafson took a two-stroke lead after the first round of the CVS/ pharmacy LPGA Challenge.
Gustafson, the Swede who won the last of her four career LPGA Tour victories in 2003, had eight birdies and bogey Thursday on the Blackhawk Country Club course.
Jiyai Shin opened with a 72. She has a tour-high three victories, leads the player of the year and rookie of the year points races and also tops the money list
Defending champion In-Kyung Kim struggled to a 73.
Associated Press
737 New Hampshire THE
BOTTLENECK www.thebottlenecklive.com
The University of Kansas Theatre for Young People
KU UNIVERSITY THEATRE
The University of Kansas
thirteen clocks
A Musical Fairy Tale fun for all ages
Book by Fred Sadoff
Music & Lyrics by Mark Bucci and James Thurber
Based on James Thurber's Fantastic Fairy Tale
10:30 a.m.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
2:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
William Inge Memorial Theatre
Murphy Hall, 1530 Naismith Drive
General admission tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982, and Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.kuheatheme.com. Tickets are $10 for the public, S9 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, and S5 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted for phone and on-line orders.
Performances for fifth and sixth graders from the Lawrence and Douglas County schools will be held at 1:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, September 21 – 25.
The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee; funding is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a national agency.
.
√