BIG 12 FOOTBALL UPDATE
Troy Davis was honored for the second consecutive week as Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. The Iowa State running back rushed for 378 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-31 win against Missouri on Saturday. It was the third-highest rushing game in Division IA history
Texas Tech
linebacker
Robert Johnson
was named
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
XII CONFERENCE
SPORTS
conference Defensive Player of the Week following his performance in a 58-20 win against Utah State. Johnson recovered a fumble, intercepted two passes and was credited with nine tackles.
MLB MANAGERS FREGOSI, KENNEDY FIRED
Just one day after the end of the regular baseball season, the Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Jim Fregosl after three seasons on the job. The Phillies ended the 1996 season with a record of 67-95, the worst in the National
League. Also fired was Boston Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy. The Red Sox won the AL East title last season, Kennedy's first in Boston, but failed to advance this year. See story page 3B.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1996
MLB PLAYOFFS
Baseball playoffs begin this afternoon. Here are the projected starting pitchers for the first game of each series:
American League:
Texas (Burkett, 5-2) at New York (Cone, 7-2).
8:07 p.m., NBC Cleveland (Nagy, 17-5) at Baltimore (Wells, 11-14), 1:07 p.m. ESPN National League:
ton, 15-9) at St. Louis (Stottlemyre, 14-11), 4:07 p.m., ESPN
Atlanta (Smoltz, 24-8) at Los Angeles (Martinez, 15-6), tomorrow, 4:07 p.m., ESPN.
SECTION 2
Falcons quarterback remains unremorseful and suspended
SWANEEN, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons, unable to work out a trade for quarterback Jeff George, plan to extend his suspension because of comments he made to the media.
Coach June Jones said on Monday that George would not return to the
Utah quarterback Dan Fouts eludes Kansas sophomore outside linebacker Patrick Brown. Utah beat Kansas in Saturday's game 45-42.
team this week.
Bobby Hebert remains the starting quarterback.
Jeff George
George was suspended for one game after a sideline confrontation with Jones when the coach benched him in a loss to
Philadelphia last week
George gave his side of the story to reporters, then held a news conference to further address the situation.
Although he said he was still a Falcon, George said he would rather play elsewhere. He also said he would not apologize and that the suspension was unwarranted because any competitor would complain about being removed.
The Associated Press
Jones said, "We'll try to extend the suspension and go on from here."
Seles' win helps U.S. team earn Fed Cup
Seles beat Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday in the Atlantic City Convention Center.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—The U.S. team won the Fed Cup for the first time since 1990, as Monica Seles provided the decisive victory.
Sels' win gave the United States a 3-0 lead in the best-of-five format designed to determine the world's top women's tennis team. The U.S. team also won two games after Sels' win
Doubles partners Mary Joe Fernandez and Linda Wild defeated Garcia and Virginia Ruano-Pascual 6-1, 6-4, to complete the 5-0 score for the United States.
The Associated Press
Her win assured a U.S. victory regardless of the outcome of a subsequent match between Lindsay Davenport and Conchita Martinez, and a doubles match between the countries. Martinez pulled out of the match because of a shoulder injury and was replaced by Gala Leon Garcia. Davenport defeated Garcia 7-5, 6-2.
ST. LOUIS — it's been an unlucky year for Donovan Osborne, but the St. Louis Cardinals believe everything will turn out fine.
Osborne broke some of his ribs in a spring training auto accident, got arrested in a bar incident and cut the thumb of his pitching hand when he grabbed a broken champagne bottle during celebration after clinching the NL Central title last Tuesday.
Hapless Cardinal pitcher to start Game 3 of playoffs
on and Osborne expected to start in Game 3 of the Cardinals' first-round playoff series against the San Diego Padres on Satur
But the bandages are
Edmée Rodriguez / KANSAN day's game 45-42
home is
.Padres on Saturday night
"There's no reason to get too far into it because I'm hoping Donovan will be the pitcher," said manager Tony La Russa.
"I haven't thrown without anything on it, but it looks OK," he said. "I'll go out and do what I can. I a more days and this thing will be fine."
If Osbourne can't pitch, the Cardinals have a couple of options in Danny Jackson and rookie Alan Benes.
The Associated Press
Kansas open to improve
Losing game in Utah serves as wake-up to Jayhawk defense
By Dan Geiston
Kansan sportswriter
There were 32,519 fans who saw the Utah offense put on a scoring clinic on Saturday night.
Make that 32,519 fans and 11 Jayhawk defenders.
Kansas can blame its 45-42 loss to Utah on one thing — the defense, or the lack thereof.
The line put little pressure on Utah quarterback Mike Fouts, who took advantage of his time to throw and ended up burning the Kansas secondary.
"We didn't effectively put pressure on the quarterback," said Kansas Coach Glen Mason. "Even when we did put pressure
on him, he was able to get rid of the ball and find the receiver. That was part of the problem."
Fouts often found his two favorite receivers. Utah wide receivers Kevin Dyson (seven catches for 172 yards) and Rocky Henry (five for 129, including the game-winning touchdown) forced the Kansas defenders to play catch-me-if-you can all night.
Fouts finished with 476 yards — the most any quarterback has ever thrown against a Kansas defense — and four touchdowns.
"It was a combination of them having a good offense and the quarterback having a hot hand, because everything he did seemed to work. (We were) having some breakdowns defensively, and that's why we had a very long night." Mason said.
The old record was 379 by Kansas State's Chad May in a 1994 game.
Utah sophomore running back Chris Fua-
matu Ma'afaala ran for 103 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns as Utah finished with 579 yards of total offense.
But it wasn't the coaching staff that left the
"We had breakdowns," Mason said. "We had fundamental breakdowns that just should not happen. That comes down to coaching, I'm one of those guys that's gonna put the blame on the coaching and not going to put it with the kids."
Mason said the defense played hard and as long as it did that, the blame had to lie with the coaching staff.
"It was bad defense by us, a little bit of good offense for them," Blevins said.
That includes Kansas defensive back Tony Blevins, who blew his zone coverage, which resulted in a 65-yard touchdown pass from Fouts to Dyson and a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.
Utah receiving corps wide open. Three of Fouts' four touchdown passes were for more than 30 yards, with nobody in the secondary close to stopping them.
Blevins and Mason chalked the loss up to an off night. It also was the first time this season that the Kansas defense was seriously tested by an opposing passing game. The good news is that only Colorado and perhaps Kansas State heavily rely on the passing game. But after seeing this defensive debacle, other teams might be more inclined to open up the passing attack.
"This definitely has been a wake-up call for us." Blevins said. "I was kind of surprised they were able to move the ball on us like they did. You line up and take your chances. Sometimes you're gonna get beat. We did."
Kansas defense robs offense of due credit
Today, I wanted to write about the Jayhawks Matt Johner, who has turned out to be one of the finest quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference. I wanted to say how, with his smart and poised play, he has turned me into a believer.
I wanted to tell you about June Henley ... how after his 216-yard performance Saturday he continues to show the country that he just might be the best offensive player in America. As ESPN's Charlie Gilmore said, "No, this man's not hyped — he's the real deal."
I wanted to use this space to tell the Kansas faithful about the gutsy and spectacular play calling of Glen Mason and Golden Pat Ruel Saturday night.
I wanted to apologize to Kansas punter Dean Royal, who I dogged pretty hard last week. Royal made me eat my words as he kicked seven solid punts for an average of 46 yards.
And I wanted to send a few well-deserved valentines to the Kansas offensive line that opened holes that my mother could push a car through.
But I can't give the offense the credit it deserves. I can't because the 11 men that make up the Jayhawk defense left their game at the hotel. Utah — yes, Utah — had 579 yards of offense against the Kansas "D."
I can't because giving up 45 points to an average Western Athletic Conference team, in which the defense had two weeks — two weeks, I said — to prepare for is disgraceful.
But I can't give the offense the credit it deserves.
I can't use this space to give the offense the credit it is due because the Kansas defense was an equal opportunity underachiever Saturday night. Not only was the defense unable to consistently shut down the run, but they couldn't stop the pass either.
Speaking of the pass, was it just me or was anyone else disturbed by the Kansas secondary giving up 476 yards to a quarterback who didn't even
SPORTS EDITOR
I can only cringe when I think about how many points a team like Colorado, Kansas State, Nebraska or Texas would have scored against the fragile Kansas defense Saturday.
start in high school? A fellow who has a build similar to Ryan Robertson? A guy who looks as if he's a Diet Coke short of 160 pounds?
The Kansas squeezably soft, Charmin secondary made Utah quarterback Mike Fouts look more like Joe Montana, as he picked it apart at will.
In a game when your offense scores 42 points against Utah, a loss, or even a close score, can only be seen as a complete failure by the defense.
Well, here's something that Notre Dame fans should be used to hearing — it's the first week of October and your Fighting Irish are out of contention for the National Championship.
I got used to hearing Notre Dame fans calling me dumb, stupid and other highly insightful terms that are so much a part of a 3-year-old's vocabulary last week via the Internet.
In front of Touchdown Jesus and in the shadow of the Golden Dome, Notre Dame got manhandled by an Ohio State team that, unlike Texas, wasn't afraid to win.
Looks like I get the last laugh.
In other news, with several ballots already having been cast, Delta Tau Delta's Quentin Hammontree is in the lead for the intramural flag football Heisman. BBLS' Brian File is in second. Rumor is, Hammontree, whose regular position is center, also can play defensive back. Are you listening Coach Mason?
Softball team tests strength at Creighton
By Cameron Heeg Kansan staff writer
In their best outing of the tournament, the Jayhawks claimed a 10-1 victory against South Dakota on Sunday with six stolen bases, one home run and five players recording two or more hits.
The Kansas softball team used its games this weekend in the Creighton Classic in Omaha, Neb., as a testing ground for its speed and hitting power.
"I didn't even know how many hits we got," said sophomore pitcher Sarah Workman. "What we did was execute the important plays. The team got the job done."
Workman pitched four innings, giving up one run. Junior Sara Holland worked the base paths for four stolen bases and went 2 for 3. Junior Sarah McCann and freshman Katie Malone each stole one base and junior Michelle Hubler hit the solo home run.
The Jayhawks went 3-2 overall at the Classic. On Saturday Kansas played three exhibition games and opened with a 4-1 win against Augustana College. Workman retired the side in the first two innings, held the Vikings to one hit and finished the game with eight strikeouts. The team split the nighttime doubleheader, winning 2-0 against College of St. Mary's and losing 8-5 to Missouri-Kansas City.
"The Coach said that we would be stealing more bases this year," Holland said. "It is part of the whole philosophy of coming out and being more aggressive with our play."
"Today was an experimental day for me," said Tracy Bunge, head coach. "I wanted to give everybody a chance to play. We did a pretty good
Sarah Workman
job of executing when we got the chance to run some things. We need to work on our intensity. I saw a little roller-coaster syndrome." Sunday marked
tion to tournament play. The Jay hawks opened up with the win against South Dakota, but their 6-4 loss to Northern Iowa bumped them from tournament play.
Sunday marked the switch from regular compe-
"I think everyone associated with this softball team expected to go a lot further in the tournament, if not win it," Burge said. "To not even make to the semifinals is a disappointment. I saw a lot of good things at the tournament, and those are the things I'm going to focus on."
Key Performances
Pitching: eight strikeouts in first game by Workman, and freshman Heather Hibben, in her first collegiate game, pitched a shutout against St. Mary's.
Base stalking: Holland stole four bases against South Dakota, junior Jennifer Funkhouser stole two against Augustana College and senior Heather Richins stole home against Northern Iowa.
RBI: McCann hit seven overall and six other players recorded one or more.