8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
Duke struggles to attain prominence
BY HALLIE MANN hmann@kancan.com
Duke tight end Brett Huffman scores a third-quarter touchdown against Army during a game in West Point, N.Y., Saturday. Duke won, 35-19. Duke, like Kansas, has been traditionally known as a basketball school. Duke will travel to Kansas this weekend in search of a marquee win.
hmann@kansan.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Every Saturday the Duke Blue Devils line up at the Chapel and begin their hike across campus to the Yoh Football Center. The Duke football team instituted this ritual, the Blue Devil Walk, so that fans could see the team before the game, and to encourage a new tradition of football at a legendary basketball school.
The football team, which plays Kansas Saturday, hasn't had a winning season in more than five years, so it doesn't take the spotlight at Duke. The men's basketball team, coached by eight-time national Coach of the Year Mike Krzyzewski, continues to dominate the NCAA tournament. Coach David Cutcliffe has been trying to make a name for Duke football the last two years as head coach but hasn't found the victories he's been looking for.
"We should be a bowl team," Cutcliffe said in an ESPN article earlier this month. "We can be one. We're good enough to be one, and we are."
Even if it is in a slump right now, Duke football has a lot of history behind it that should entice fans and should garner more respect. On Nov 29, 1888, Duke defeated North Carolina in the first college football game played below the Mason-Dixon Line. In 1941, Duke became the only team in history to host the Rose Bowl outside of Pasadena, Calif. Duke became a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953.
Follow Kansan football writer Hallie Mann at twitter.com/halliemann11.
In 1967, Duke earned its 300th victory on the road against Army. Duke football went all the way to Japan for the Coca-Cola Bowl in 1991 to play against Clemson. Even more recently, Duke had
104,772 fans attend a game — the largest crowd it's ever had — against Tennessee in 2003.
Why then, with such a rich history, does Duke football seem to be in the shadows of the ACC and other sports in its own athletic program? Kansas faced a similar situation in years past, when basketball
"We should be a bowl team. We can be one. We're good enough to be one."
from his perspective. Mangino said the coaches from both teams often work together to recruit athletes. Mangino said that Kansas has not been complacent with its athletic programs and a lot has gone into the development of the football program in recent history.
DAVID CUTCLIFFE Duke coach
Duke has also spent time and money in recent
years to build up its football program.
Earlier this year the football program received a donation of $10 million for development of new facilities. In 2002, the Blue Devils built the Yoh Football center which cost more than $22 million and has over 70,000 square feet.
dominated the focus of athletics. After the last few seasons, though, Kansas has become a contender in collegiate football. Kansas coach Mark Mangino said schools that are content with being good at one thing are not stepping up to the challenge.
Mangino has taken the stance that football and basketball at Kansas are not in a conflict with each other; in fact, they're a plus
— Edited by Sarah Kelly
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri is 2-0 heading into Saturday's game against Furman, thanks in no small part to the Tigers' kicking game.
New kicker Grant Ressel and punter Jake Harry IV were solid in the opener against Illinois and played pivotal roles in the 27-20
"I just go out and concentrate on my tempo and kick the ball."
come-from behind win over Bowling Green last Saturday.
Ressel was perfect on two field goal and three extra point attempts. Harry averaged 45.4 yards on seven punts, including a 69-yarder that coach Gary Pinkel called a "game-changer."
Ressel, a redshirt sophomore from the southeast Missouri town of Jackson, is in the difficult spot of replacing one of the most accurate kickers in NCAA history. In three seasons at Missouri, Jeff Wolfert was a two-time All-Big 12 selection who was 185-for-185 on extra point tries and 59-for-72 on field goal tries.
Ressel said his goal is to keep it simple — after all, there's enough pressure from hungry defenders, hopeful teammates, screaming fans.
GRANT RESSEL Missouri kicker
"I just go out and concentrate on my tempo and kick the ball," Ressel said.
So far, so good. He has made all five field goal tries and is 7-for-7
on extra point attempts as the Tigers prepare to host Furman (2-0) Saturday at Faurot Field.
Ressel, who won the job over converted Columbia (Mo.) College soccer goalie Tanner Mills in fall camp, made three first-half field goals in the opener against Illinois in St. Louis, staking Missouri to a 16-3 halftime lead. The Tigers went on to win
On Saturday, with quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the offense sputtering in the first half. Ressel's two field goals kept the Tigers within a touchdown at the break, 13-6.
"Grant obviously has been a huge plus for us," Pinkel said. "Every point matters."
Trailing 13-3 midway through the second quarter and punting from the Missouri 12 yard line, the senior used a rugby style rollout punt that went 69 yards — most of it in the air — and pinned the Falcons to their own 19.
"That was one of the best punts I've ever been associated with," Pinkel said. "It was truly a game-changing field position play."
37-9.
Harry began learning the art of the rugby style line drive punt at the suggestion of the Missouri coaching staff.
"That was probably the best punt I've ever had by far," he said.
LPGA
LPGA Champions fights recurring illness to defend title
SAN DIEGO — Paula Creamle is sick of being sick, so it would make her feel pretty good if she can defend her title in the Samsung World Championship starting Thursday at Torrey Pines.
Creamer battled a mystery illness most of the year and is still looking for her first win of 2009. She said her energy levels are returning to normal and she's getting her distance back.
Still, she's a little bit wary. She got sick after going to Mexico in November for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Doctors did test after test and she was on medication.
"They still have no idea what was wrong with me, which is a
She also had a thumb iniury.
scary thought knowing that it could come back,"Creamer said
"This has been one of my hardest years, because it's something I can't really control. I can't make it better," she said.
"There was nothing that I could do because we didn't know what was wrong. It was, 'How can I put a Band-Aid on this as soon as I can?' We took every precaution that I needed to, but not only that, but my thumb injury. I felt I was getting better, and also something popped up.
"I called it my year of building my character out here because it's been hard. I want to win. I want to be able to compete every week. Golf is hard enough as it is feeling good, feeling prepared. But when you're not feeling prepared, it was very difficult."
Associated Press
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