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LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
KUED • SPORTS
AUGUST, 1996 PAGE 63E
.
Kansas to face 2 WAC teams
BY CHUCK WOODLING
JOURNAL-WORLD SPORTS EDITOR
Quick, name the two Kansas non-conference football foes in the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference.
Let's see, Utah is one and ...uh, the other couldn't possibly be Ball State and KU's only other
non-Big
12 Conference
game is
against TCU
That's it.
Texas Christian, located in flat Fort Worth, is in the same WAC division as Utah. That's one of the idiosyncrasies caused by the Southwest Conference going defunct with the arrival of the Big 12.
Texas Christian was one of the four SWC schools that wasn't invited to join the Big 12 so the Horned Frogs jumped to the WAC where they aren't expected to make an impressive football debut.
TCU, which will entertain Kansas on Sept. 14, has been downgraded this season because its two primary offensive weapons of 1995 — quarterback Max Knake and tailback Andre Davis — have departed.
Basil Mitchell, a sophomore who sat out last season, looked good in the spring and is the heir apparent to Davis, a multipurpose back who could catch the ball as well as run with it.
Quarterback is another story. None of the four quarterbacks in the running to replace Knake has shown flashes of the TCU record-setter. Juco transfer Fred Taylor may beat them all out.
The good news is the offensive line, anchored by 6-foot-6, 290-pound Ryan Tucker, is solid. Also, speedy wide receiver John Washington returns.
TCU defensive coordinator Pat Henderson, a former KU linebacker, should have a solid platoon if he can shore up a shaky secondary.
Head coach Pat Sullivan's best player, though, is placekicker Michael Reeder, the nation's best in '95 after making 23 of 25 field goal attempts. Reeder is expected to take on additional duties as the Frogs' punter this fall.
Meanwhile, Utah is generally regarded as the favorite in the WAC Mountain Division which also includes perennial power Brigham Young.
When Kansas plays the Utes in Salt Lake City on Sept. 28, the Jayhawks will be facing a veteran team. Coach Ron McBride has eight returning starters on offense and seven on defense.
Some say Utah does not have a weakness of offense. Quarterback Mike Fouts is small at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, but he can throw and he has two of the WAC's best receivers in Kevin Dyson and Rocky Henry.
Utah's running game is built around alphabet-soup fullback Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala who is built like a nose tackle at 6-foot-1 and 272 pounds.
In '95, Utah crept up on the rest of the WAC. The Utes were the league's surprise team in finishing with a 7-4 record and a share of its first league title in 31 years.
Ball State is another Kansas non-league foe expected to contend for a league championship. The Cardinals, KU's foe in the home opener on Aug. 27, should battle Miami for the Mid-American Conference crown.
Like Utah, Ball State finished 7-4 last season. However, the Cards settled for third place in the league race.
•
BALL STATE
Aug. 29 — at Kansas
Sept. 7 — Miami,
Ohio
Sept. 14 — at
Minnesota
Sept. 21 — Central
Florida
Oct. 5 — at Western
Michigan
Oct. 12 — Ohio U.
Oct. 19 — at Bowling
Green
Oct. 26 — at Central
Michigan
Nov. 2 — at Eastern
Michigan
Nov. 9 — Kent
Nov. 16 — Toledo
SCHEDULES
TCU
Sept. 7 — at
Oklahoma
Sept. 14 — Kansas
Sept. 28 — at New
Mexico
Oct. 5 — at Tulane
Oct. 12 — Texas-El
Paso
Oct. 19 — at Utah
Oct. 26 — Brigham
Young
Nov. 2 — Nevada-Las-
Vegas
Nov. 9 — at Tulsa
Nov. 16 — Rice
Nov. 21 — at SMU
Aug. 31 — at Utah
State
Sept. 7 — at Stanford
Sept. 14 — at SMU
Sept. 21 — Fresno
State
Sept. 28 — Kansas
Oct. 5 — at Texas El-
Paso
Oct. 19 — Texas
Christian
Oct. 26 — Tulsa
Nov. 2 — at Rice
Nov. 9 — at New
Mexico
Nov. 23 — Brigham
Young
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