Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Notre Dame Observer columnist Anthony Bianco says Irish coach Bob Davie will be watching his team carefully in tomorrow's game against Kansas.
Sports
Pro Basketball
SEE PAGE 8B
Friday
August 27, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Michael Johnson broke an 11- year old world record in the 400 meters yesterday at the World Championships in Spain.
SEE PAGE 5B
Pro Football
Nebraska quarterback Bobby Newcombe is trying his hands at a different trade — returning punts.
SEE PAGE 4B
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Wegner ready to fight the Irish
By Mike Miller
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
Terry Allen doesn't want a quarterback controversy before the season begins.
And especially not before the Kansas football team travels to South Bend, Ind., to play Notre Dame tomorrow.
Long before the season began, Allen declared that incumbent quarterback Zac Wegner had the job.
"People have been up and down and all over Zac since he's been here," Allen said. "Wegner is our heir apparent, the returning starter and captain. He's still the leader of the offense and he's thrown the ball well."
"I're really just want to take my first hit and get that out of the way." Wegner said. "Everybody's making a bigger deal out of it than it really ought to be. I just want to be like, 'I'm normal, I'm back,' so every-
But, careful to not limit his options, Allen said he wouldn't hesitate to use junior college transfer Dylan Smith in case the offense stalls against Notre Dame.
"It probably scares (Coach) Bob Davie and me, the offensive line," he said.
Now, he just wants to forget about his head and play football.
THE EDDIE ROBINSON
FOOTBALL CLASSIC
Allen knows how critical the quarterback position is for the Jayhawks — especially when dealing with experienced quarterbacks. Jay Alexander didn't make grades, and freshmen Jonas Weatherbie and Jake Letourneau didn't play last season because they were red-shirts.
finger. The concussions were so severe that Wegner's status for this season was in question until late last spring.
Wegner is the only Jayhawk with any game experience, but he has a history of injuries.
Last season, Wegner missed most or all of the final four games of the season because of concussions and a lacerated middle
line and the defensive line. Kansas has three new starters on the offensive line, which concerns Allen. But he knows that Notre Dame has the same problem.
have beaten Notre Dame since 1904, the first time the two teams met. Overall, Kansas is 1-3-1 against the Irish, but it hasn't played since a 52-0 defeat in 1938.
Not the brightest history, but the last time Notre Dame lost a season opener at Notre
that it is a good team again this year.
"Notre Dame's an outstanding football team," Allen said. "But we believe in the football team we're taking up there."
Kansas hopes earlier win will help topple Buffaloes
Kansas defender Natalie Hoogveld slide tackles her opponent from Park College during a preseason game. The Jayhawks open regular season play at 4 p.m. today against the Colorado Buffaloes at SuperTarget Field . Photo by Chad Cummings/KANSAN
By Chris Wristen
cwristen@ukans.edu
Kansas sportwriter
It's finally here.
"We're confident to be playing a conference game the first game of the season," Francis said. "We feel pretty comfortable where we are at right now. As far as the team goes, we'll take anybody on."
While most of campus is anticipating tomorrow's Kansas football game at Notre Dame, there will be another game of importance this weekend. At 4 p.m. today at Super Target Field, the Kansas women's soccer team will kick off its regular season with a Big 12 Conference game against Colorado.
The game signifies the beginning of a new era for the Jayhawks as they play their first regular season game under new coach Mark Francis.
The Jayhawks will be facing a Colorado team that placed eighth in the Big 12 last year, winning only two conference games. That team was led by All-Big 12 goalkeeper Sloane Cox, who since has graduated. The Buffaloes return 16 players from last year's roster, but they have a lot of question marks at many positions. They lack a set group of starting forwards, and they have shifted about their midfield.
The only set position is the defense, which looks to be Colorado's strength. Three starters
"We feel pretty comfortable where we are at right now As far as the team goes, we'll take anybody on."
Mark Francis
return to the Buffaloes' defensive corps, including juniors Allison
First-year soccer coach
"Being from Colorado I know some of their players," said junior forward Meghann Haven. "I know they're going to be tough, but if we put our hearts in it and use strategy, then we can do it."
Even with uncertainty in their opposition's lineup, the Jayhawks aren't overlooking anything.
Colorado didn't have the benefit of playing an exhibition game this
Gausman, Sarah Nowfel and sonhomor Kendall Pata.
See SOCCER on page2B
Volleyball matchup will pit 11 alumnae against current team
By Shawn Hutchinson
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
That's when to 25 former players will return to Lawrence to challenge the current assortment of Jayhawks to an alumnae match. The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Horeisi Family Athletics Center and is free. Of the 25 alumnae, 11 will participate in the match.
The Jayhawk volleyball team will get a slight blast from the past this weekend.
Among those alumnae—1988 Jayhawks Laura Rohde, Moira Donovan and Leslie Berens, who had played under her maiden name Purkepyile.
Kansas coach Ray Bechard said he would use the match as a tune-up for the Jayhawks season opener Wednesday against Missouri-Kansas City at the Horejsi Center, the team's new $3.8 million facility.
"We'll get a chance to work on some stuff, but we want to involve our alumni a little bit more than we have in the past." Bechard said.
Bechard said the format would be a best three-out-of-five game match with officials, line judges and scorers.
The festivities will begin at 4 p.m., with a check-in and tour of the Horejsi Center, and warm-ups will begin at 5 p.m. A social immediately will follow the match.
"That's really neat for a lot of them to come," said Jayhawks senior defensive specialist Kristi Kiyabu about the returning alumnae. "We're going to get to show them around the new facility, and I think it'll be a good time for everyone."
Other volleyball notes:
— Sophomore middle blocker Elizabeth Herkeb will be a redshirt this season. Herkeb, who played in just one match in her freshman campaign, is suffering from a nagging back injury that would have severely limited her playing time.
— Freshman walk-on Jennifer Kraft will play for the Jayhawks this season after all. Kraft, a defensive specialist, originally was scheduled to be a redshirt this season, but now will take Herbek's place on the roster.
— Senior middle blocker Anné Kreimer may miss the season opener against UMKC. Kreimer continues to rehabilitate the anterior crucible ligament in her right knee, which she tore during spring drills. Junior college transfer Danielle Geronymo and sophomore Crystal Walker are both candidates to fill in for Kreimer at the beginning of the season.
Edited by Julia Nicholson
Commentary
Jayhawks of today don't have to face Notre Dame of old
This is no time to watch Rudy.
For the next three days, the Kansas football team must denounce Catholicism, forget about Touchdown Jesus, and, for heaven's sake, not watch the premium TV channels or head to Blockbuster.
Many Jayhawks could see themselves as Rudy. Some are walk-on;s, a handful are overachievers, and Kansas is such a long-shot Saturday that landing someone on Mars by kickoff is looking more plausible in comparison.
This is no time to lose the feel-good, inspirational movie starring Sean Astin, the kid from Goonies, that tells the biography of Rudy Ruettiger. Ruettiger, of course, was the low-talent Indiana boy who fulfills his dream of playing for Notre Dame in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium after surviving four years as a walk-on.
"I've seen it," said wide receiver Michael Chandler about *Rudy*. "But it's not something we're going to watch."
Kansas has enough to think about before tomorrow's clash with Notre Dame — and South Bend, Ind. will be quick to offer reminders. The Jayhawks will take a tour of the College Football Hall of Fame, where they will be force-fed the Four Horseman, Knute Rockne, the Golden Dome and NBC, the official network of Notre Dame football.
The fabled coach Rockne died in Kansas in a plane crash. While that was sad, this state should take this opportunity to wreck the Irish again. This is not the same program Rockne ran. Bob Davie, Notre Dame's third-year coach, is far from legendary, and Notre Dame simply isn't that good. Kansas can win this game. But only if it can forget history.
Notre Dame loves to indulge itself in its legacy. The media guide has hundreds of pages devoted to the Notre Dame mystique. There are wonderful biographies on Joe Montana, Raghbil Ismail and — I couldn't make this up if I tried — William Shakespeare.
Sorry, Shakespeare. The past has parted. The old names sound terrific, but how do Jarious Jackson, Tony Driver and Bobby Brown sound? About as threatening as California State-Northridge or a bad 1980s ran group — take your pick.
Notre Dame hates to talk about the present and the future. Currently, the Irish are very typical. Notre Dame is just another program stuck amid booster allegations. The Irish are average at most positions. Jackson, the team's quarterback and biggest Jayhawk threat, threw six interceptions last year.
Its running back, Driver, tallied 125 yards in 1988 while playing mostly defense, and the wide receivers are nonexistent. No ca joling from Davie about the Gipper will turn their receivers into threats.
Notre Dame loves the nostalgia of '66, "77 and '88, past national championship years. Not much is being said about 1999 because Irish eyes can see that the Pope might have better moves than most of the returning Irish.
Kansas coach Terry Allen knows what awaits his team. There will be goose bumps and spine tingles. Somebody is likely to vomit before kickoff. But Allen also knows that playing Notre Dame isn't Kansas' biggest problem.
"The most difficult task isn't playing Notre Dame," Allen said, "but playing them in South Bend."
There is no pressure being laid on Kansas. The Jayhawks are expected to be thumped, but happily so because the school is making a large profit from playing in the Eddie Robinson Classic and because Notre Dame's fans carry the arrogance that their stadium is a shrine nobody can resist visiting.
Allen said at Tuesday's press conference that he couldn't help but recognize the irony that *Rudy* has played on several premium channels the past couple of weeks.
Allen wasn't watching. The only video Allen's team has been watching was of the current Irish, who are nothing like the past.
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Jason Franchuk is a Boulder, Colo., junior in journalism.