kansan.com
NSAN
Volume 125 Issue 28
Thursday, October 4, 2012
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10/05
Gameday preview for weekend showdown
Page 6B
So when you hear those taunts from K-State fans as the Wildcats score another touchdown on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, take it as a compliment. They know you're going to experience this winter what they only hope to experience in their lifetimes.
It's OK for fans to hope for better while expecting the same. Last time I checked, fans don't have a say in the outcome of games. If they did, I'd be writing this column from Vegas.
Edited by Ryan McCarthy
SUNFLOWER SHOWDOWN
COMMENTARY Embracing basketball superiority
And so what?
As for Kansas football, Charlie Weis may turn things around in a few years and guide Kansas to a few middling bowls before his contract is up. History tells us he won't, though.
It's a scene that's been duplicated for years. Football season starts, Kansas isn't any good, and rival fans recycle what I guess they consider to be a good old-fashioned zinger.
Bill Self just signed a contract extension that will likely keep him on the sidelines for another decade. He'll bring another national championship and a few more Final Four banners to the Fieldhouse in that span while rival programs hope to accomplish a tenth of what Self has already accomplished at Kansas.
"It's OK, it's almost basketball season," people say while pointing and laughing at the scoreboard or a Kansas fan with the "win or lose. we still booze" shirt still prevalent on Jayhawk Boulevard.
THE RIVALRY RETURNS
I'm just wondering why that's considered an insult from our friends at Kansas State or Missouri
I guess it's all a matter of opinion, but does being average instead of awful really do much for a school or fan base?
What advantages does Wisconsin's 28th all-time ranked basketball team have over Pittsburgh's team,ranked 60th in the same ESPN rankings?
What about Iowa football, which is ranked 25th in the all-time AP rankings over Oklahoma State, which is 51st on the same list?
The only school who could claim elite all-time status in both sports is probably Ohio State.
Junior linebacker Huldon Tharpe takes down his opponent from South Dakota State University during a game at Memorial Stadium where the Jayhawks won 31-17. Tharp had six tackles during the game.
There aren't any major advantages, because in college football and basketball, you have a group of a dozen or so elite programs and then everyone else.
Kansas takes advantage of bye week to prepare for in-state battle
And Kansas fans are supposed to be embarrassed that they aren't on par with the Buckeyes?
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Don't run from your one-program dominance.
This probably reads like one of those columns that rivals love to point to while making those clever taunts. I don't care, and neither should you. Late Night in the Phog is eight days away, and Kansas basketball is a top-10 team once again.
Embrace it. For a lot of schools across the country, they're stuck hoping for one of their sports to escape the prison of average for a season or two while only dreaming they had a top-five football or basketball program to follow.
NATHAN FORDYCE
nfordyce@kansan.com
nfordyce@kansan.com
As if playing in-state rival Kansas State wasn't enough to get the Kansas Jayhawks fired up, the fact that the Wildcats are ranked No. 7 in the nation just adds fuel to the fire.
When the in-state rival is one of top teams in the country and having a Heisman hopeful in Collin Klein, it just adds extra motivation.
Kansas senior safety Bradley McDougald said that having
Kansas-Kansas State rivalrv.
thing special is going to happen."
Klein as a potential Heisman candidate and the fact the Wildcats are the No.7 team in country gives them "all the extra reasons to be motivated."
Coming into a big rivalry game, the Jayhawks have a defensive coordinator in Dave Campo that knows a thing or two about rivalries. While he was a member of the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, Campo was part of some of the biggest rivalries in the NFL and even more so within the NFC East.
One of the things that Campo said about the Cowboys and their rivalries was the fact that their was no love lost, and he would like to see that return to the
But Kansas State being ranked as highly as they are doesn't bother McDougald because it's still the in-state rival that is 83 miles west of Lawrence.
"They really could be ranked last in the BCS and we really wouldn't care, it's Kansas State and you have to come with it," McDougald said. "Especially against your rival cause some-
"I'd like to see this one be like that one all the time. I don't think that's been the case over the years," Campo said. "This is our rival and I'm excited to be a part of this big game. And it should be a big game. And if our guys aren't thinking that way, they're making a serious mistake. Because I know Kansas State is thinking that way."
Even though Campo might not see the love lost, based on the Jayhawks' current recordof 0-3 and being outscored 135-38
over the past three years, it still doesn't mean the Jayhawks like the Wildcats anv less.
"Rivalries speaks for themselves and guys understand the history behind it," senior defensive end Toben Opurum said. "You know you have to realize that the team over there doesn't like us too much. And we don't really like them. A whole lot either.
— Edited by Stéphane Rogue
FOOTBALL
UMP FROM PAGE 1A
Equally important is senior Colin Klein, K-State's powerful, run-heavy quarterback whom Kansas will have to stop for a chance at victory.
Klein isn't an elusive runner, but he's strong enough to break away from defenders with ease. Kansas defensive coordinator Dave Campo compared Klein to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his ability to escape tackles and make plays.
To prepare for a quarterback who breaks tackles, Campo's defense needed to practice taking down the signal caller — even if it meant hitting senior quarterback Davine Crist.
"A lot of the guys on defense were excited," senior defensive end Toben Opurum said. "We're used to pulling up and making sure to do anything possible to not touch the quarterback. It was better that we could let loose and tee off."
But Crist wasn't opposed to the hitting. The change in jerseys not only helped Crist practice fullgame speed but also forced him to step up in the pocket under real pressure. Crist said the last two weeks were some of the best practices Kansas has had all year.
Even though Crist was under duress, he didn't have the most
pressure to perform in practice. That rested on the offensive linemen, who now had the responsibility of making sure their top quarterback didn't get injured.
"It really changes the offensive line's sense of urgency." Marongelli said. "We're all out there making sure nothing comes close to the quarterbacks. If you lose your quarterback, that's your season right there."
Campo said the return of the red jerseys is week-to-week, depending on what Kansas will practice to be successful on Saturday.
To be successful against K-State, it comes down to stopping the black-and-blue run game that has become synonymous with Klein and the Wildcats.
"This is not a trickery and deceit team." Weis said of K-State. "They are going to smash it down your throat, and you better be ready to tackle both the quarterback and the running back, because they are going to have the ball in their hands a whole bunch of times."
Senior quarterback Dayne Crist scrambles up the middle for a positive gain during a game against Northern Illinois.
CHELSEY BOUTAN/KANSAN
Defensive backs coach Clint Bowen said that Klein presents a lot of the same challenges that Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch posed two weeks ago. Lynch ended up gaining 372 total yards on the Jayhawks and leading Northern Illinois to a 17-point fourth quarter that wiped away a 10-point Kansas lead.
Which brings Charlie Weis to the other reason he took away the red jerseys: finishing.
According to Weis, hitting in practice is just the remedy.
(    )
"That's part of teaching people how to finish, which has been one of our bigger problems, as is well documented." Weis said, "And I think there's only one way of doing
it and that's old-fashioned football, it's beat 'em up."
- Edited by Ryan McCarthy