Volume 125 Issue 38
kansan.com
Monday. October 29, 2012
Check out how the rest of the conference fared in the Big 12 recap
COMMENTARY
A HEARTBREAKING FINALE
All not lost for football
That's not the case, but he does have talented players who work hard and develop every week.
Edited by Joanna Hlavacek
Despite all the losses, Kansas isn't a lost cause. The program needs time to develop, If coach Charlie Weis entered the program and led the team to the upper tier of the Big 12, he would be a wizard.
Football magic filled the air in Memorial Stadium Saturday as excited fans readied themselves for a Homecoming battle between Kansas and Texas. For 58 minutes, that same magic fueled the Kansas crowd's hope for a victory, with the Jayhawks up by three points with two minutes left.
Sure, Kansas is 1-7. It only win of the season was against an FCS opponent. Kansas lost to a horrible opponent in Rice.
But with 12 seconds left on the clock, the Longhorns scored and escaped with a 21-17 victory, leaving Kansas fans continuing to wonder when their team's Big 12 losing streak would end.
TYLER BIERWIRTH/KANSAN
A FAMILIAR FEELING lavhawks continue to compete at home. but lose on late touchdown,
All of these signs point to a possible victory down the road. Just think that the two Big 12 victories could have been against Oklahoma State and Texas, given the Jayhawks' strong performances in both games. Those teams aren't the best, but still would've been respectable victories considering Kansas' record in the past few years.
No coach in the NCAA can wave a magic wand and turn a losing program into a bowl-eligible team over the course of eight games. Winning programs don't happen overnight.
Kansas' losing ways continue, but that doesn't mean players aren't improving. This Jayhawk team is full of developing talent that will still be there next season.
Against Texas, sophomore linebacker Ben Heeney led the team with 13 tackles. Heeney leads the team in tackles with 69. Junior linebacker Huldon Tharp contributed 11 tackles against Texas and is fourth on the leading tackler list with 41 in seven games. Even freshman linebacker Jake Love recorded six tackles to give him 26 tackles this season.
The team's young talent continues to improve with each game. Starting players earlier in their career usually helps them develop maturity and talent.
Kansas never quit. The defense looks to be anchored by a young and talented linebacker core. The offense continues to run through a loaded backfield.
Linebackers Ben Heeney, sophomore, and Hulden Tharp, junior, tackle their opponent during last Saturday's game against Texas for the 100th anniversary Homecoming game in Memorial Stadium. Despite holding a lead for the majority of the second half, the linebackers lost 21-17.
That was exactly the case against Texas.
The lethal rushing attack has leaders as well. Junior running back James Sims continued his excellent season with 176 rushing yards while averaging 6.3 yards per carry. In only five games, Sims leads the team with 622 yards and has scored five times.
Sophomore running back Tony Pierson helped Sims with 51 rushing yards and scored one touchdown. Pierson trails Sims this season season, but is not far behind, rushing for 437 yards and scoring three times.
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
Not since losing on a last-second field goal to Rice in week two had the Jayhawks come so close to victory.
Had 12 more seconds ticked off the clock, Kansas would be celebrating its first conference win in 17 tries, but Texas wouldn't have it. Case McCoy found D.J. Grant alone in the end zone on third-and-goal to go up 21-17 in the jayhawks' latest defeat.
It was the third-straight home game that Kansas matched up against one of the top offenses in the country and slowed it down to no avail. However, in the early goings, it seemed as if the Jayhawks were playing defense against themselves.
The first quarter highlighted two muffed kickoffs, a 13-yard punt, a fumbled snap, a Longhorns touchdown and a first-and-goal that turned into a fourth-and-29.
Yet, just before the game turned into another blowout, junior running back James Sims broke through the line for a 64-yard run early in the second quarter and looked to
get faster on each carry after.
The junior finished the day with 176 yards — and helped set up both Kansas scores — in large part because of Kansas offensive line was picking up Texas' blitz-heavy defense.
From then on, every time Texas threatened on offense, there was a usually a jayhawk there to make a stop — and more often than not it was sophomore linbacker Ben Heeney.
Heeney led the Jayhawks with 13 tackles, two of which kept Kansas in the lead. After the Longhorns reached the goal line on its first drive of the second half. Heeney nearly stopped them by himself. He first held running back Johnathan Gray on third down, and when Joe Bergeron attempted to run it in, Heeney and Huldon Tharp did the same to him.
"He only knows one speed, and it's full speed." coach Charlie Weis said. "He's one of the guys in that situation who is capable of stopping someone because he's not waiting to wrap you up he's waiting to deliver a blow on you."
The Jayhawks entered the fourth quarter with the lead for the first
time since losing to Baylor 34-31 in overtime last season, and only once did the Kansas momentum waver.
With Texas en route to its second touchdown, Kansas linebackers Jake Love and captain Toben Opurum were injured on the same play. Love didn't return to the game,
while Opurum was limited to only third- and long situations.
Kansas had collapsed many times before in the fourth quarter, but not against Texas.
But instead of folding, Kansas put together one of its best drives on the day. Michael Cummings, who made his second career start, marched the Jayhawks 84-yards, converting to set up Nick Prolago's 29-yard field goal.
Toben, he's one of the best players on defense and it just sucks to see one of your brothers go down like that."
"They showed some mental toughness," Weis said. "We've talked about 'Here we go again,' and that's not how we acted."
Texas came storming downfield, but not before Kansas had a chance to seal a victory. On McCov's first snap of the game-winning drive,
he tossed
an errant
pass that
hit Kansas
cornerback
Greg Brown
right in the
hands and
dropped to
the ground.
"We don't really know if we're heading in the right direction until next week."
BRADLEY MCDOUGALD Senior safety
Five plays later, Kansas was backed up to its goal line. Johnathan Graytried to run in for a score and was again met by Heeney. On Gray's second try, he was found by cornerback Tyler Patton instead.
"I was a flat defender on that play," Brown said. "I looked back at the quarterback, and he had already thrown the ball, but he threw it low. I tried to get low to catch it, but I couldn't secure it."
Weis could have called timeout after stopping the previous Texas
runs, but wanted the defense to keeps its rhythm and momentum. The clock kept ticking and the pressure kept building until the Grant finally found himself alone.
"When you get down to that goal line, especially in the situation we were in, you have that mindset that they can't get in," Tharp said. "That adrenaline builds up in you and it's nice having a coach having that confidence in us to get that stop."
Heeney said if Texas had tried to run, the Jayhawks would have stopped them. Instead, McCoy faked a handoff on third down that the entire defense bit on, leaving D.J. Grant by himself in the corner of the end zone with just 12 seconds left.
"It's going to hurt for a while", senior safety Bradley McDougald said. "We don't really know if we heading in the right direction until next week. The moment that guys can play with consistency, if the players who had great days like today can play like this next Saturday and the Saturday after that, then we're in the right direction."
Edited by Christy Khamphilay
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks defense leads to victory
NATHAN FORDYCE
nfordve@kansan.com
"That's as good as Carolyn has looked, and she's looked good in practice." Henrickson said. "Her 80 percent is better than most people's 100 percent."
Davis only played 15 minutes, and Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said Davis looked great with her eight points and eight rebounds.
It's been eight months since senior forward Carolyn Davis tore her ACL, and on Sunday, she was on the court helping her Jayhaws defeat Washburn 57-35.
"I knew I wasn't going to get that many minutes," Davis said. "But I was just excited to be out there."
Davis said it felt good to get out there, and she knew she had to play hard in her limited role.
Senior point guard Angel Goodrich, who led the team with 11
points and six assists, said it was great to have Davis back in the starting lineup.
"She was so excited and we were excited for her," Goodrich said.
"We turned them over at the top of the key and from there it becomes a track," Heickrison said. "A sprint from the top of the key to the rim, we won that track meet today."
The Jayhawks were able to get out and run in transition, getting 19 points off of 29 forced turn-overs.
The transition game started with Goodrich who had six steals. Henrickson said having a point guard that could create easy opportunities leads to easy baskets in the paint.
"Great point guards can get in the paint, that's what great point guards can do," Henrickson said. "And they make really good decisions and when Angel got in the paint the second half, we started
putting points up."
Sophomore guard Natalie Knight had a good game as she dropped 11 points and came up with four steals. Along with Knight, sophomore Asia Boyd had performed well off the bench as she got in the lane getting some lay-ups on her to an eight point and two rebound game.
Despite the 22-point victory, the lajahawks shot just more than 35 percent. Davis said it was the opposite of what has been the norm of the lajahawks, having the defense play better than the offense.
"I think our defense is a lot better," Davis said. "We have been struggling in practice and in the scrimmage we had. I thought today we came out and picked it up. A lot of people were playing a lot better today than they were in practice."
Edited by Brittney Haynes
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Sophomore guard Natalie Knight falls to the floor in a scramble over the ball on Sunday in Kansas's first exhibition game this season. Kansas defeated Washburn 57-35 at Allen Fieldhouse.
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