Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Monday August 30,1999
More from South Bend, Ind. where the Jayhawks visited the College Football Hall of Fame on Friday.
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Young prevail
Section:
Kansas won four of five games against a team of volleyball alumnae on Saturday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
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Page 1
Unexpected victories
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The first upsets of the season occurred during the weekend as Miami stunned Ohio State and North Carolina State beat Texas.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Kansas shows heart, promise despite its loss
OK, so that's not exactly how Coach Allen drew it up on the ol' chalkboard.
The Jayhawks went to South Bend, Ind., to do one thing, and one thing only — win a football game.
But we lost 48-13. Huge disappointment, right?
I don't think so. And neither should you. Let's talk about some of the positives. David Winbush — sure, 77 yards in 16 carries isn't earth-shattering, and he did fumble the ball twice early in the game, but Winbush proved to me that he will be one of the premier backs in the Big 12 Conference. And I'm not just saying that because we 5-foot-7 guys have to stick together. The guy can take a hit. He goes through the line look
ing to break some tackles and isn't afraid to stick his hat into somebody. He also made a few jaw-cracking blocks on guys twice his size when Mr. Smith was scrambling.
And how about this jiu- confer with the funny pronunciation? Dylen has some serious athletic ability. It's nice to see Kansas with a strong-armed quarterback who scram-
Matt
James
sports columnist
spoons@kansan.com
and if Saturday's game was any indication,
he's gonna need to
so let me guess. You knew Wegner would complete 10 of 19 passes in the first half for 104 vards and two touchdowns. right? Sure you did.
Well jump aboard, there's still room on the Zac bandwagon right next to me. I have to admit that I was actually hoping that he wouldn't play this season. Not that he would be injured or anything like that, (though I've heard a few students mumbling that they would settle for that) but just that he would hang up the cleats and let us move into a new era.
Here's my fun statistic for the day:
But I guess someone decided he is part of the new era. Despite that one picked-off pass where the defensive back just happened to guess correctly, Wegner played a fantastic game. The guy is one hit away from never putting on a helmet again, or worse, and he's in there taking hits and giving it his all. I was impressed. And I'll bet I wasn't the only one.
Notre Dame was called for three penalties for a total of 24 yards. I know that it was a fairly clean game, but give me a break. A team with four new offensive starting lineman didn't get a single holding penalty in the first game of the season. I saw at least three blast holdings in the first half alone. Of course, I did have that perfect angle from my couch.
And did I miss the press conference where the NCAA determined that Notre Dame players don't actually have to cross the goal line with the ball to score a touchdown? Two touchdowns should have been touchbacks and a third was questionable, although the Irish would have had second-and-goal inside the one.
The referees couldn't throw those touchdown signals up fast enough. I thought I was watching the PGA Tour. "That's close enough, just pick it up from there." My favorite was when the referee walked up to Arnaz Battle and said, "Don't toss away the ball before you get to the end zone, you're making us look bad." OK, so I might have paraphrased a little.
Don't worry Terry, I'm looking into buying us our own national TV station, and all the "perks" that apparently come with it. Somebody has to compete with the Notre dame Broadcasting Company.
James is a Hugoton senior in journalism.
naine Broadway of the negative talk, though. We did get beat. But we also moved the ball fairly easily against one of the nation's elite. And at times played some tough defense. There's not a lot you can do when the offense hands them the ball four times.
offense takes place.
A few other things impressed me as well.
When your starting running back goes to the coach and says, "take me out, I'm hurting the team," you know we have unselfish players.
This 1999 Kansas football team has some serious heart, and Saturday I was proud to call myself a Jayhawk. And because we played a tough team early in the season we are going to be ready for the Big 12 schedule. Mark my words, we will beat two upper echelon conference teams this season.
even I just pray that one of them is wearing purple.
Turnovers lead to Kansas defeat
Jayhawks hold Irish scoreless for a quarter
By Mike Miller sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — To look for the silver lining in Saturday's 48-13 loss to No. 18 Notre Dame, the Kansas football team should focus on the second quarter.
The Jayhawks outgained the Fighting Irish by more than 100 yards and outscored them 13-0 in that quarter. The
Kansas defense blocked a field goal and sacked Notre Dame quarterback Jarious Jackson for a huge loss, which helped set up a Kansas touchdown and intercepted Jackson late in the quarter. After the interception, Zac Wegner threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Terminale Fulton with 2 seconds left in the half, cutting Notre Dame's lead to 20-13.
But Kansas' dominating play stayed in the second quarter. The Jayhawks ended up allowing 452 yards of total offense, including 363 yards rushing.
"It hurts. It really does. We had a golden opportunity to come into this place and we should've capitalized on it," wide receiver Michael Chandler said.
Clearly, the difference was the turnovers and what each team did with the opportunities.
Notre Dame scored 20 points off of Kansas' four turnovers, while the Jayhawks managed only seven points from four Notre Dame gaffes.
Allen kept repeating about how critical
mental mistakes were. His team turned the ball over three times in the first five minutes of the game, regrouped to come within seven points, and then surrendered 28 points in the second half.
"The number of times we shot ourselves in the foot was a factor," he said.
Running back David Winbush, who fumbled five times all of last season, was so upset about his two fumbles in the first five minutes of the game that he asked Allen to be taken out of the game.
"That was the worst half of football that I have personally played since I started playing football," Winbush said.
But Allen would have none of it.
"He was upset and disappointed and
But Allen would have none of it.
He was upset that disapproval and wanted to go crawling home," Allen said. "He was man enough to go back out there."
Not only Winbush, but the entire team came out and started dominating the ball in the second quarter.
The Jayhawks dominated the Irish on both sides of the ball, giving up only 53
yards of offense. The Irish running game had been contained and the Kansas offense started to move the ball.
"You know, we were down 20 and we just said screw it, let's go, let's start throwing it. And we ended up doing some good stuff," Wegner said.
"We were picking up the blitz better, we took some time, made the right reads and things started happening."
Blessed with good field position twice in the final six minutes of the half, Kansas made good on its opportunity with two touchdown passes.
In the end, the Jayhawks showed promise, but that only served to frustrate them more.
"I don't know if you ever get over something like this." Allen said.
"When you have an opportunity such as this, and you can see the things that come from it and you let the things you talk about on a daily basis come up and bite you."
See GAME'S on page 2B
Top: Kansas coach Terry Allen can't watch after a costly penalty. The Fighting Irish defeated Allen's Jayhawks 48-13 in South Bend, Ind., Saturday. Center: Kansas running back David Winbush darts through a hole in the Notre Dame defensive line. Winbush carried 16 times for a total of 77 yards. Bottom right: Kansas defensive end Justin Sands tries to avoid Notre Dame quarterback Jarius Jackson after intercepting a pass late in the second quarter. Photos by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Freshman end surprises coach
Sands seizes day, makes impact
By Mike Miller
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Forced into the starting role Saturday against Notre Dame, redshirt freshman Justin Sands gave the Jayhawks something to smile about for the future.
Sands, a 6-foot-7, 275 pound defensive end, was a bright spot for the Kansas defense. He blocked a punt, intercepted a pass and made six tackles, the fourth highest Kansas total in the game.
"Justin Sands did a good job. He's going to be an outstanding football player," coach Terry Allen said.
Starting in place of senior Dion Johnson, who was suspended along with offensive linemen Gabe Rosalis and Jason Stevenson, Sands played and contributed much
more than Allen thought he would.
"I had no idea. Coach said stay by and I'll put you in," he said.
"We asked him to play too many plays today. It's going to be nice to have some other guys to put in there," he said. The amount of playing time was a bit of a surprise to Sands. He knew would get in some during the game, he just didn't know it would be for most of the game.
Sands, a native of Lawton, Iowa, didn't take much time to reflect on his performance. Instead — like many of his teammates — his surly mood reflected the game's outcome
"I don't know what to think right now," he said. "I'm not very happy."
Whether that was from the game or from the cramps he suffered at the end — mostly because of dehydration — Sands' impact could not be ignored.
His blocked field goal denied Notre Dame their best scoring opportunity in the second quarter, while his interception late in the quarter showcased soft hands for
someone his size—especially for someone who doesn't drop back into pass coverage too often.
“It's not something we work on.” Sands said. “I just dropped back when Coach told me to."
If the Jayhawks do begin to practice having their linemen drop back into coverage, they'll also need to practice returning interceptions. Sands returned the ball ten yards, but was quickly tackled by Irish quarterback Jarious Jackson.
"If I intercept one again, maybe I'll try not to look so confused. Maybe I'll look like I know what's going on," Sands said.
Edited by Jennifer Roush
Taped wrists pump up soccer team for a victory
By Chris Wristen sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwrite
A little bit of tape can make a big difference. The Kansas women's soccer team sported a new look yesterday, wearing white athletic tape around their wrists. The tape boasted one simple word — "WIN."
And the Jayhawks did, pounding the Wyoming Cowgirls 4-1 at Super Target Field, which improved the team to 1-1 for the season.
"We just decided we needed a little pick-me-up when we were on the field," senior midfielder Melissa Downing said. "If we
ever feel it's getting too hard, we're getting too hot or getting too tired, we just look at our wrists and realize why we're out here."
The Jayhawks got off to a quick start as junior midfielder Johanna Larsson was on the receiving end of passes from junior Kylie Watts and senior Cynthia Dahle and put Kansas on the board 1-0 in the third minute of action.
The Cowgirls responded with a goal of their own 17 minutes later. Wyoming forward Laura Micell scored off a corner kick and tied the game. The score would stay the same for the remainder of the half. Micell's goal proved to be the final highlight for the
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Cowgirls: they would not score again.
Ten minutes later Larsson found the net for her second goal of the game. Haven launched a perfect pass from midfield over the heads of the Wyoming defense. Larsson played a control bounce off her chest and
The Jayhawks came out firing again in the second half. They struck in the 51st minute as junior midfielder Colleen Colvin Jr. took a Meghann Haven pass and lofted it just beyond Wyoming goalkeeper Amanda Vandervort's outstretche arm.
Friday's game
BOX SCORES
Colorado 2, Kansas 1 Colorado
(Allison Gausman, Melissa Cartellm)
Kansas (Melanie Schroeder). Records:
Colorado 1-0. Kansas 0-1.
Sunday's game Kansas 4, Wyoming 1. Kansas (Johanna larson 2, Colleen Calvin, Melissa Downing). Wyoming (Laura Micell) Records: Kansas 1-1, Wyoming 0-2.