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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
SPORTS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19.2004
Tigers should be tops in Border Showdown game
Kansas to extend Big 12 road game losing streak with a loss tomorrow
BY RYAN COLAIANNI
AND JONATHAN KEALING
sports@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTS OUTLET
KANSAN SPORTSWRITERS
Overall
Kansas has lost its past four games. Tomorrow the team must face rival Missouri, which is still in the running to win the Big 12 North.
Missouri has the best defense in the Big 12 Conference, giving up 288 yards per game. That does not bode well for the Jayhawks, who have the worst defense statistically in the conference giving up 308.5 yards per game.
The Jayhawks have struggled on the road with no Big 12 road victories in coach Mark Mangino's three year tenure.
For Kansas to win, it must stop Missouri junior quarterback Brad Smith, the team's second leading rusher with just under 500 yards this season.
The Kansas defense shut him down last
season limiting
Smith to 100 yards of offense. But with the Jayhawks on the road and understaffed at the quarterback and running back positions, look for the Tigers to win.
Edge: Missouri Offensive Line
The Kansas offensive line has struggled with creating holes for the running backs. The team is averaging 2.7 yards per carry. Missouri has done a great job allowing Smith and junior running back Damien Nash to run. Nash is averaging more than five yards per carry. The Missouri offensive line has also done a better job protecting its quarterback, allowing 15 sacks. Kansas has allowed 21. The Kansas offensive line will have a lot to handle with one of the best pass rushes in the Big 12.
Edge: Missouri Running Back
Missouri's running back situation has been a mess lately. Missouri coach Gary Pinkel gave his star running back, Damien Nash, an indefinite suspension for comments Nash made to a newspaper.
row. Enter junior Clark Green. Green has seen more playing time after losing some excess weight he gained during the summer and because Randle has been injured.
Edge: Missouri Wide Receiver
Wide Receiver
Kansas junior wide receiver Mark Simmons caught eight passes for 135 yards last week against Texas.
Both teams have balanced receiving corps. Kansas has seven players with more than 10 catches this season. Simmons and senior wide receiver Brandon Rideau lead the group with 43 receptions each.
The two have combined for more than 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. Missouri junior wide receiver Sean Coffey could be a challenge to Kansas' secondary. Coffey has 513 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. Coffey averages 16.5 yards per catch. Missouri may hold back in throwing long passes because of Kansas.
Kansas
sophomore cornerback Charles Gordon. Even with Gordon's coverage in mind, the Missouri receivers should be successful.
Edge: Missouri Quarterback
Smith started the season as a Heisman candidate but has struggled throughout the season. Smith has struggled to run this season and his passing has become less effective.
Junior Brian Luke should be Kansas' starting quarterback. Luke had considerable playing time last week, throwing for 225 yards and a touchdown. This week, he has prepared in practice to start a game for the first time since coming to Kansas. As a backup, he took no more than 15 snaps a day in practice. This week he's had far more.
Luke should perform better than he did against Texas. Smith is suffering but is still a game-changer.
Edge: Missouri Secondary
Secondary
The Kansas secondary is the best in the Big 12 in intercep-
ing per game compared to Kansas with nearly 225 yards per game.
Despite the yard-
a g e allowed,
t h e Jayhawks are a threat to intercept a pass.
Edge
Kansas
Linebackers
Missouri's defense is No.1 in the Big 12, but there is no denying with the defensive success Kansas has had. The
KU defense has a dangerous quartet of junior linebackers. Junior Nick Reid leads the pack and is second in the Big 12 in tackles with 103. As a group, Kansas' top three tacklers at linebacker average 21.7 tackles per game.
Kansas has 19 sacks and Missouri has 21. Missouri's sophomore defensive end Brian Smith and junior defensive lineman C.J. Mosley are two of the best pass rushers in the conference.
Smith has is tied for No. 1 in the conference in sacks with six and has 44 tackles. Mosley has 5.5 sacks with 30 tackles.
Junior defensive end Jermail Ashley and senior defensive end David McMillan both have four sacks and lead the team.
In stopping the run, Kansas has done a better job than Missouri, allowing just 3.6 yards per carry compared to Missouri's 4.2. The Tigers probably will not defend the run that often because the Jayhawks will be without Randle. With the ability of Kansas to stop the run, the edge goes to Kansas.
Edge: Kansas Special Teams
Kansas has relied on its special teams to keep it in several games this season. Its kickoff coverage ranks third in the Big 12, and its point-after-touchdown kicking has improved since freshman kicker Scott Webb took over the role.
Senior kicker Johnny Beck has become a consistent, successful kicker.
Missouri's kickoff coverage is 10th in the Big 12 and falls short of Kansas in its own kick returns.
Fde: Kenange
Yesterday on Jim Rome's radio show, the angry listener from Portland commented on Mangino's weight.
Edge: Kansas Coaches
Last week, Brad Smith's father, Phillip, called Jason Whitlock's radio program to ridicule Pinkel's ability to call games and the way he makes — or doesn't make — adjustments throughout the game.
The worst Mangino's critics can do is ridicule superficial characteristics. Pinkel has a group of people who criticize his coaching. Mangino has done more with this team than most had expected, while Pinkel has been unable to coach an underachieving team.
Edge: Kansas
—Edited by Anna Clovis
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