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Kick the Kansan in football
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
4 fresh player profiles The introduction of new additions, part 2. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | 6B
AN INHERITED TRAIT
Senior defender Estelle Johnson is one of 10 children in her family. "I'm probably the least athletic in my family." Johnson joked. Johnson's siblings are also athletic and played soccer as children before taking up other sports.
Soccer is family tie for senior
Estelle Johnson learned teamwork with nine siblings
PAGE 1B
BY JOEL PETTERSON jpetterson@kansan.com
If Estelle Johnson looks comfortable sharing the ball with her
10 teammates, it isn't a coincidence. Estelle is one of 10 siblings, so sharing comes pretty naturally to her.
Johnson grewup in Fort Collins, Colo., sharing a house with her parents, Jerry and Djeneba, and her five brothers and four sisters. If it sounds a little cramped, it was. There were bunk beds for the kids in every bedroom, and even as the third-youngest child, Estelle didn't get her own room
until she came to college. But rooms weren't the only things shared in the house.
"The worst part about it was that I never got my own clothes" Johnson, a senior defender, said. "Every single time I had an outfit picked out, my sister would steal the shirt, and then there would be a brawl to see who got it."
Fortunately, that was the worst it got. Johnson and her siblings grew up extremely close to each
other, partly because of their shared love of sports. Most afternoons were spent playing soccer in the backyard with makeshift goals on the fences.
"The neighbor used to get mad because we'd break the fence almost every other day," Johnson said.
Estelle's older sister, Esther Johnson, said the older siblings used to playfully tease Estelle for being skinnier than her sisters.
"She didn't like that as a kid, but it didn't make her any less of an amazing soccer player," Esther said.
All of the Johnson kids played soccer recreationally, but many went on to pursue different sports. Estelle's siblings have played football, volleyball and basketball at the collegiate level. Jerry Johnson never forced any of the kids to
SEE JOHNSON ON PAGE 4B
FOOTBALL
'Pistol' formation a new wrinkle for Jayhawks
jjenks@kansan.com
BY JAYSON JENKS
Kansas unveiled a new offensive formation Saturday against Northern Colorado, and a record 52,530 fans noticed.
But after the fact — after Kansas used the "pistol" formation throughout its 49-3 victory against Northern Colorado — players and coach Mark Mangino provided only murky details surrounding the offense's latest trick.
Then came the breakthrough
"I'm real fast to the line," Sharp said. "That's something we had to work on and (this) way I can read a block. Putting me deeper, I think it really helps out as far as being able to read the blocks the O-line was throwing tonight."
After rushing for 123 yards on 21 carries, senior running back Jake Sharp proved that maybe there's more substance to the pistol than simply providing defenses with different looks.
Offensive coordinator Ed Warriner also added his analysis of the formation. "It's a great formation for Jake Sharp in terms of getting vision and being able to see the field," Warriner said.
In the pistol, the quarterback lines up three to five yards behind the center while the running back is another two to three yards directly behind the quarterback. Essentially, the pistol combines the shotgun with the more run-oriented 1-formation.
"It's our version of the 1-formation." Warriner said.
Follow Kansan football writer Jayson Jenks at twitter.com/ JaysonJenks.
And that's exactly the idea
Former offensive lineman Ryan Cantrell said one of the biggest adjustments Sharp struggled with last season was patience. Instead of waiting for blocks to develop and holes to open, Sharp sometimes rushed to the line of scrimmage on running plays.
By allowing Sharp to receive the ball deeper behind the offensive line, it buys more time for designed plays to unfold.
Weston White/KANSAN
"The whole idea is to be able to get the ball to the back deeper and involve your quarterback in more things such as the play action pass and the misdirection offense", Nevada coach Chris Ault said. "That really is the substance of why we did and why we like it"
Senior running back Jake Sharp cuts in a block during the first half against Northern Colorado. Kansas began running plays out of the pistol formation in the season openers Saturday.
SEE PISTOL ON PAGE 4B
The pistol formation is a cross between the I-formation and the shotgun formation. It allows for a spread passing game, like the shotgun, but also promotes a downhill running attack, like the I-formation.
COMMENTARY
In dream world, stars could play more sports
If Dick Vitale would have been in the press box at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., on Saturday, he probably would have been pounding the tables screaming. "Are you serious?"
And that got me thinking.
Vitale would have been raving about Greg Paulus, one of his favorite Dukies, who looked pretty solid in nearly leading a Syracuse football team to a victory against Minnesota. Despite throwing an interception that effectively lost the game, Paulus seemed in control at quarterback, a position he hadn't played competitively in five years.
And that got the match. Paulus was named the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year after his senior year and had offers to play football at Miami, Fla., and Notre Dame. He spurned them all for a chance to play point guard for Coach K at Duke.
His early success had me drooling about the potential sport switches we could have right here at Kansas
These three are news bulletins I would love to come across;
We've all seen his uncanny ability to get a shot off in the lane amongst the 7-footers of the Big 12. This would translate to an ability to catch footballs in double coverage. He isn't uncomfortable in tight spaces.
Sherron Collins switches from point guard to wide receiver — Collins may not have the height (he's 5-foot-11) to sky for balls in the endzone, but he showed in high school that he could play. In his junior year at Crane Tech Prep in Chicago, Collins played his first year of organized football.
In a game against Carver High, he set a Chicago Public League record with 250 receiving vards.
With Collins going through his annual task of getting his weight down, I see no better option than to let Coach Mangino take him for a week.
Sharp took second place in the Kansas Class 5A 100-meter-dash three years in a row, but since coming to Kansas, he has cut his 40-yard-dash time from 4.53 to 4.38, at least according to a Kansas City Star article last year.
Jake Sharp switches from running back to 100-meter sprinter — We all can see Sharp is fast. But it's his drive to be faster that would make him scary on the track.
UTEP wouldn't be ready for Kerry Meier, Dezmon Briscoe and Sherron Collins.
After seeing professional pitching for four years, Henry would tear the cover off the ball for Kansas. He struck out a ton in the minors, but with an aluminum bat and slower pitching, he could probably take Kansas to the College World Series.
If he just focused on his sprinting ability, he could definitely compete in Big 12 track.
C. J. Henry switches from guard to shortstop — This one isn't really allowed by NCAA rules, considering Henry played four years of minor league baseball. But I'm already dreaming, so let's dream big.
I wish I could see these stories happen. Bill Self and Mark Mangino probably don't.
Edited by Tim Burgess
Follow Kansan sports
writer Clark Goble
at twitter.com/
cgoble89.
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