Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday September 14,1998
Sports
Check out more of the exciting action from this weekend's Kansas and Missouri football game. See Page 8B.
Section:
Kansas Volleyball
SEE PAGE 5B
The KU women's volleyball team won two of three matches this weekend to improve to 7-1.
B
Kansas Soccer
Page 1
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
The Kansas women's soccer team opened their season by splitting a pair of games this weekend.
SEE PAGE 3B
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Perfect day of football becomes bad dream
It was shaping up to be the perfect weekend for college football for me.
My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes were hosting rival Iowa State at 11 a.m. Saturday, and to my delight, those thoughtful men in Bristol, Connecticut aired the game on ESPN2.
In addition to my home-state grudge match, I was looking forward to another
Mississauga and Missouri border battle.
Wilson is a Dos Moines, Iowa, senior in journalism.
Last year's duel epitomized the rivalry, and this year's game promised more.
Column
As if the football gods were smiling on my wide-eyed face, both games were scheduled on national television one after the other.
Kevin Wilson
I could watch the Hawkeyes pulver-
ize the feeble Cyclones before flipping over to witness the Jayhawks' secondstraight win over the Tigers.
At 11:11, the Cyclones kicked off, and my dream weekend was finished.
At 10:45 Saturday morning, I sprung out of bed like a jack-in-the-box and floated to the television. I found the football station, poured a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and hunkered down.
An Iowa State wide receiver by the name of Kevin Wilson (hey, that's my name) blocked the first Iowa punt, and the Hawkeves never recovered.
Running back Darren Davis, Little brother of back-to-back 2,000-yard rusher Troy Doyle, scampered for 244 yards and helped the Cyclones upend the Hawkeyes for the first time in 15 years.
Although my voice was hoarse from yelling and my heart was hanging heavy, I still had faith in Terry Allen.
Maybe next week lady luck will be in my corner.
I had faith in the new and improved Kansas offense. I had faith in the stingy Jayhawk defense that limited the Tigers to seven points last year.
Most of all, I had faith in lady luck. How could both of my teams lose to their hated rivals on the same day?
Alas, lady luck was about to turn sour. Miscues, mishaps and missed tackles haunted Kansas.
The Jayhawks started out right, pounding away at the Tigers' defense with a ground attack spearheaded by David Winbush and Mitch Bowles.
Bowles had an explosive 39-yard touchdown run and Joe Garcia tacked on a field goal to put Kansas up 10.
A blocked punt put up Missouri's second touchdown. Three unnecessary 15-yard penalties fueled a Tiger drive in the first half and helped set the stage for the biggest blunder of the day.
Less than a minute before halftime, Kansas defensive end Dion Johnson scooped up a Missouri fumble and for a brief moment Trejoiced. But before my butt hit the couch, the ball was loose again, and Missouri graciously accepted the gift. Next play: Jones touchdown pass
Missouri 20, Kansas 13.
What was Johnson thinking? What did he think he was going to do, run for a touchdown? Just fall on the ball, big fella, and Kansas rides into the locker room all tied up.
West was unstoppable, running for 319 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns. How does West run for 319 yards against anyone, let alone a Division I defense? Sure, he is big and strong, but 319 yards? Come on.
Despite a brief appearance by lady luck (see HEMI Childs' untouched 79-yard punt return), Kansas could not slow down tailback Devin West and lost 41-23.
Border War
The Kansas run defense has to improve if it expects to tangle with the top dogs, and the Jayhawks must stop beating themselves.
Stumblin' and bumblin' in Columbia
Team takes lead early but falters in 41-23 loss
By Jodi M. Smith
Kansas sportswriter
For the second week in a row, the Kansas Jayhawks shot themselves in the foot.
And it might take a non-conference game with Illinois State on Saturday to break the mistake-riddled losing trend the Jayhawks have created this season.
As in the Oklahoma State loss, the Jayhawks battled hard with Missouri, trading touchdowns until a turnover
his sayawks began a Tiger free-for-all, leading to a 41-23 loss at Missouri on Saturday.
With 13-20 remaining in the game and the Jayhawks losing 27-23, quarterback Zack Wegner had a pass intercepted in the end zone by Missouri free safety Harold Piersey.
It was Missouri's game from there.
It was Missouri's game from there. Following the turnover, the Tigers scored 14 points in the next 13 minutes to make their redemption game — Kansas won last season's game 15-7. a blowout.
Allen: Uset with the penalties his team committed.
"That's where experience shows up," Missouri coach Larry Smith
said of his team. "They went out there and took charge." But if you were to ask a Kansas fan, it looked less like Missouri taking charge and more like Kansas giving up.
Missoula isn't taking charge and more here. "I don't think it was giving up, I don't know if it was fatigue, I don't know what it was," said running back David Winbush, who had 23 carries for 99 yards. "I can't really talk for the defense, but for the offense, we just can't shoot ourselves in the foot, and that's what we did."
Wegner's interception wasn't the Jayhawks' only fatal mistake.
Perhaps the most crucial drive of the game came in the last two minutes of the first half.
With the game tied 13-13, the Tigers began a drive on their 20-yard line then moved downfield thanks to Jayhawk penalties. Two personal foul penalties and a pass
Kansas wide receiver Termine Fulton outreaches Missouri defensive back Carlos Posey to pull in a Zac Wegner pass for a 35-yard gain in the second quarter. Photo by Dane Elavayl/KANSAN
interference call gave the Tigers 45 yards. With the ball at the Kansas 9-yard line, Kansas' Jerome Parks forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive line
David Winbush Kansas running back
man Dion Johnson. Johnson ran the ball two yards, fumbled, and Missouri running back Devin West recovered. Missouri scored on the next play and went into halftime ahead 20-13.
"I thought we showed terrible compose at the end of the first half that gave them the opportunity." Kansas coach Terry Allen said. "We had two ridiculous penalties, and we can't do that because we could have been in position to actually dominate the football game if we'd done things a little bit better."
Dominate the Jayhawks did—early.
Dommite the way they do in Kansas jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead after a 39-yard touchdown run by running back Mitch Bowles and a 34-foot field goal by Jon Carrino.
After the Tigers came back with two touchdowns of their own, another 37-yard field goal kick by Garcia tied the game.
But it wasn't meant to be after that.
The Jayhawks' final stellar play came early in the second half when freshman Henri Childs returned a Missouri punt 79 yards for a touchdown that tied the game, 20-20. Childs was criticized after the Oklahoma State game for allowing a punt to drop and roll 78 yards.
"It's funny," Allen said. "You live by the sword, you die by the sword. That's the same individual that some people questioned last week for not fielding the ball and here he comes out as a true freshman and does a marvelous job." The 6:30 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium Saturday against Illinois State, a Division I-AA school with a 1-0 record, has lower stakes and more possibilities. The Jayhawks are ready to capitalize.
"This is the second week in a row we've come out here and we can play against these guys and probably even beat them, but we've got to find a way to turn it around in the third and fourth quarters," Winbush said. "We have to find a way to turn it around and keep it going. That's the main thing we need to focus on next week."
Missouri running back sets school record
By Sam Mellinger
Kansan sportswriter
Conventional wisdom says that quarterback Corby Jones is the most dangerous man on the University of Missouri football team.
After all, Jones led the Big 12 Conference in total offense last year and is the main reason Missouri's option offense is effective.
So Kansas coach Terry Allen cannot be blamed for wanting to focus his defensive game plan on stopping Jones. But the focus on Missouri's quarterback left the defense vulnerable to another man in the backfield
"They found it, and Devin was obviously blessed enough to take advantage of it."
Much of West's success can be traced to Kansas' concentration on stopping Jones from getting outside.
"He surprised me," said Patrick Brown, Kansas senior linebacker. "Devin came strong."
West rushed for a school-record 319 yards on 33 carries, scoring on 3- and 45-yard runs.
"That was a fantastic performance," said Larry Smith, fifth-year Missouri head coach. "I've coached a lot of years and had a lot of great backs but I've never had a great effort like that."
Missouri tailback Devin West turns upfield while wide receiver Kent Layman prepares to make a block. Photo by Dan Elvsky/KANSAN
Kansas was intent on taking away Jones on the option. Although the plan had modest success on Jones — he was held to 74 yards on the ground and seemed to be hit every play — West on his way to the most productive game in Missouri history.
"We sacrificed the middle," Allen said.
Although West's name will go down in the record books, Missouri's offensive line feels as much a part of the record as West.
"Absolutely," said center Rob Riti. "That's one of the main reasons we play the game, to go out there, make some holes, and help our running back put up numbers."
West's performance was frighteningly consistent. None of his 32 carries resulted in a loss and 13 plays went for eight or more yards. West was quick to credit his blockers.
"It was all the offensive line," West said. "If they don't block, I don't run."
Riti said it was the line's pleasure.
"We know that if we create some holes, he'll make some plays," he said.
West did. He ran 55 yards on an off-tackle play in the second quarter and broke a 45-yard touchdown run up the middle in the fourth quarter.
Angie Kuhn /KANSAN
Jayhawk Invitational
Kevin McGinn,
Kansas senior,
crosses the covered bridge on the Rim Farm Farm cross country course. McGinn finished 38th at the 1998 Jayhawk Invitational Saturday. Full story on Page 4B. Photo by Jeff Severn/Kanser
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