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Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kick the Kansan in football
Go to Kansan.com/kickthekansan or send your picks to thewave@kansan.com.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
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FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
Senior quarterback Todd Reesing looks for an open receiver at Saturday's nonconference game against Duke. Kansas will play more difficult teams during its nonconference schedule in upcoming years.
Weston White/KANSAN
Kansas schedules for success
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
PAGE 1B
The plan, at least to begin with, was pretty simple: play against winnable teams and allow the football program to develop after experiencing years of little success.
Those games — against little-known programs such as jacksonville State, Southeastern Louisiana and Florida International — usually resulted in nothing more than a lopsided score and an early exit by much of the crowd.
But as coach Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks continue to demonstrate progress on the football field, their schedule will continue to feature more
Follow Kansan football writer Jayson Jenks at twitter.com/ JaysonJenks.
recognizable programs.
"We needed to give coach time to get the right kind of kids in here," Kansas athletics director Lew Perkins said. "You didn't want to send a team' down to Georgia Tech hypothetically and not give them a chance to win. I don't think that's smart."
Pethaps more than any game on Kansas' upcoming schedules, the scheduled games against Georgia Tech represent a change in philosophy. The Yellow Jackets are competitive in the ACC, a major
BCS conference, year after year, and they are the kind of team the Jayhawks haven't normally faced in recent years.
Kansas plays host to Georgia Tech in 2010 before travelling to Atlanta in 2011. Kansas will play at Southern Mississippi in 2010 and will play home-and-home series with Rice and Northern Illinois in the future.
"As coach Mangino has brought the program to a higher level year in and year out, we're more capable of taking on what would be perceived as some more difficult nonconference games," Larry Keating, senior associate athletics director, said.
But there's more to the story.
The Kansas football program was in shambles when Mangino took over in 2002. The mess wasn't
much better on the administrative side when Perkins and his staff arrived in 2003.
The scheduling situation lacked long-term foresight, which forced Kansas to scramble for opponents
for the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
"Typically in the football scheduling world, the schedules for most of the major schools are almost entirely done three four five
three, four, five
years in advance." Keating said. "Sometimes they're even out further than that."
Now that Kansas has started to schedule its nonconference games
further out — the Jayhawks have the 2010 schedule finished and are in comfortable situations with the 2011 and 2012 schedules — more recognizable programs will face the Jayhawks in upcoming years.
"We needed to give coach time to get the right kind of kids in here."
LEW PERKINS Athletics director
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, for example, normally fills his nonconference
schedule with teams considered to be tough competition. In the past five years alone, Oklahoma
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 5B
VOLLEYBALL
Senior aces in academics, gives unconditional effort' on court
BY BRITT BEASLEY bbeasley@kansan.com
After graduating in 2005 from Franklin High School in Nebraska, Mazour decided to bring her volleyball game to Kansas. Both Kansas and Creighton recruited her before she ultimately decided to come to Kansas, a decision, she said, that was immediately reaffirmed when she arrived here.
Senior middle blocker Paige Mazour knows what it's like to work hard. Mazour has helped the women's volleyball team in many ways for the past three years of her career.
"The community and everything about the coaches and the environment is great," she said.
On the court isn't the only place where Mazour performs. Retaining a 4.0 grade point average, she was one of just five players in the Big 12 selected for the Academic
Follow Britt
Beasley at twitter.
com/bbeasey12.
First-Team All-Big 12 last year.
The future looks bright for Mazour. She will graduate in the spring with degrees in human biology and accounting, and said she planned to go to dental or medial school after graduation.
"It's kind of time management, your priorities and how you want to set yourself up for the future," Mazour said.
She said she had also made time for practice in the kitchen, noting another passion of hers. Desserts are her favorite things to make.
Freshman middle blocker Taylor Tolefree said she had learned a lot from Mazour, and that Mazour was the kind of person who led by example.
"Paige brings energy in a way that she never stops trying." Tole-free said. "She is not the one that you have to ask to try harder."
"Since the day she's got here she has established a work ethic that he's been as good as what I have seen since I have been here," Bechard said. "She has continued to work extremely hard and the work is now paying off."
Coach Ray Bechard said he had been impressed with Mazour from the beginning.
Tolefree said Mazour had a good sense of humor and was easygoing. Bechard said Mazour had had a positive effect on the team.
"For the first couple of years she has given unconditional effort each and every day and now that is showing," Bechard said. "She has created an opportunity for her to impact us offensively and defensively."
— Edited by Jacob Muselmann
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior middle blocker Paige Mazour elevates for a slam at the net. Mazour has kept a 4.0 grade point average and has also been selected for the Academic First-Team All-Big 12.
COMMENTARY
Tight ends the secret for tying loose ends
Play after play I watch the Kansas offense line up in its spread formations, senior
quarterback Todd Reesing lifts his knee, and everybody looks over to the sideline play-callers to give them a new play or the one already called.
The team needs a hand signal to get a tight end in the game, and this is what I have been looking to the sideline for this season.
The advantage of having a threat at tight end is what I believe the team has been missing on its three-and-out series and turnover-on-down drives. The size of a tight end is hard for the defense to defend in short-yardage situations. During Monday night's battle between New York and Dallas, I witnessed genius use of tight ends. New York split its two tight ends out wide in the end zone and used their size advantage against the much smaller cornerbacks, which resulted in first down after first down, and ultimately a victory for New York.
I understand that Kansas' offense has adapted to its players and is loaded with talented receivers. Yet, at the same time, I know the advantages of having a tight end in the game. Too many times I have watched senior running back Jake Sharp and freshman running back Toben Opurum try to run off the tackle and get stopped by a defensive end that a tight end would have easily taken care of. Too many times I have seen a forced pass to a receiver who's short of the first down marker and without the strength that a tight end would have to get past the line.
— first down Kansas. Reeing has yet to complete — or even attempt — a pass to a tight end this year.
Our tight ends at the moment, sophomore Tim Biere and junior Bradley Dedeaux, are on track for a less-than-noteworthy season. Biere only recorded one catch for six yards in the first two games. It came from freshman quarterback Kale Pick on a second and five situation, and guess what happened
Just two years ago, senior tight end Derek Fine was the third leading receiver in the same offense Kansas has now. Fine had 46 receptions and 394 yards receiving in 2007, averaging a little more than eight yards per catch. Granted he is a senior with ample playing experience and hands that were hard to match, but how else is Biere, who started last year and recorded six catches for 65 yards, supposed to grow if he has only played in two games and seen the ball once from a backup quarterback? That's not even mentioning Dedeaux whom I saw for three plays Saturday against Duke.
Kansas could learn a lesson from the similarly uniformed New York Giants. Don't forget about your tight ends. The extended drives that we could see from third down catches by tight ends in the future might mean the difference between a victory and a loss.
Edited by Jacob Muselmann
G
Follow Nicolas
Roesler at
twitter.com/
nroesler8.