14 BIG 12
Words from the Big 12 Writers from around the conference weigh in on their teams
KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
Sold-out crowd expected at first game
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANHATTAN —
I've got to hand it to John Currie. I thought a sold-out crowd for a game against a Division I-AA opponent was too much to ask, but it looks like he'll prove me wrong.
Carson Coffman will start the season at quarterback and Daniel Thomas will start in the backfield against Massachusetts. No big surprises there. Pretty solid tandem in my opinion.
Coffman might take the field first, but don't be surprised when Grant Gregory takes just as many snaps in the first few games. After all, this is a Snyder-coached team. Remember the Ell Roberson-Marc Dunn battle in 2002?
Hanson Sekona is listed as the team's No. 2 defensive tackle. Expect to see Sekona
Kansas State quarterback Carson Coffman looks for a receiver during the first half of the team's game in Manhattan. Coffman will start this season as quarterback.
— a former linebacker who is listed at 230 pounds — be tossed around like a rag doll at the line of scrimmage.
No offense to Sekona, but if the Wildcats are moving linebackers to defensive tackle, they might as well try the kickers out at quarterback.
Speaking of which, Daniel Calvin — a starting defensive tackle a year ago — isn't listed on the two-deep for Saturday. Brandon Harold needs to get healthy quick, or K-State's defensive front four could be in for a long season.
On a lighter note, with Chris Harper and Broderick Smith in the lineup, one could argue that the Wildcats have the most talented scout teams in the conference. Quite promising for 2010.
With Brandon Banks listed as the team's No.1 receiver, as well as the starting kick and punt returner, expect to see some massive, Sproles-like numbers in the North Carolina native's all-purpose category.
IOWA STATE CYCLONES
Fundamentals are key to successful season
By Michael Zogg Iowa State Daily
AMES, Iowa If defense wins championships, it is no wonder the 2008 Iowa State football team didn't end the season with any hardware.
The Cyclones ended the season ranked 112 out of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total defense, yielding 452.83 yards per game. All those yards translated into more than 35 points per game for Iowa State opponents.
The team has said it will need to play better defensively in order to win games this year.
"There are a lot of things we need to get better at, and tackling is definitely one of them," said senior linebacker Jesse Smith.
That theme has been repeated over and over by coaches and players alike. In order to improve its tackling, the team has gone all the way back to the fundamentals.
"Feet, if you're going to be a great tackler, you've got to bring your feet and your
hips all the way to the tackle," head coach Paul Rhoads said. "We refer to it as 'taking the extra step.' You've got to move your feet all the way to the tackle."
The defense will be taught those fundamentals by a defensive coordinator who, though new at Iowa State, has 40 years of experience. That includes nine years as an assistant to Bobby Bowden at Florida State where he helped the Seminoles win a national championship in 1993. For the past seven years, Wally Burnham has been the defensive coordinator for South Florida, culminating in the 10th-ranked defense in the nation last season.
Burnham has given the defense a new mantra for this season: swarm and punk.
"Swarm the football and punish whoever's got it," Burnham explained with a smile.
One of the ways the Cyclones hope to accomplish that is with the blitz.
Burnham likes to blitz for a couple of different reasons.
"I think the kids love it, frankly," he said. "I think it is an aggressive style of defense."
Missouri still has room for improvement before game
By Harry Plummer
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Coach Gary Pinkel saw some things he liked in Missouri's final scrimmage Thursday, but he also spotted room for improvement.
Now, the Tigers have less than a week to "fix things"—as Pinkel put it—before they open the season Sept. 5 against Illinois in St. Louis.
Missouri begins the pursuit of its third straight Big 12 North title having lost impact players at multiple positions.
Six members of the 2008 team were taken in the NFL draft, but the toughest Tiger to replace may be the one who wasn't drafted — quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel, who threw two touchdowns for the Redskins last week in a 17-13 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Daniel's successor at quarterback is sophomore Blaine Gabbert, who led the first-team offense through its repetitions Thursday and will be the starter against Illinois.
Gabbert showed off great athleticism Thursday, making accurate throws and moving in and out of the pocket well. But most importantly, he is inspiring confidence in his receiving corps.
"He can be as good as he wants to be," senior wide receiver Danario Alexander said. "I feel like he's learned the offense and gotten better throughout this camp."
Gabbert was 11-for-14 passing in the scrimmage. His biggest gain of the day was a long ball down the left sideline that Alexander was barely able to snag and stay in bounds.
"We have pretty good communication," Alexander said of Gabbert. "We've been working on this since July."
One position that won't need filling is tailback.
Junior Derrick Washington had 17 touchdowns in 2008 and scored the only touchdown Thursday. Speedy sophomore De'Vion Moore has also drawn attention in camp and picked up a nice fourth-down conversion in the scrimmaage.
"Derrick Washington did some real good things, and so did Moore," Pinkel said.
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 4,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN