U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Jayhawk FOOTBALL
KANSAS 23 CINCINNATI 18
SECTION B
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1995
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Red and blue balloons rise over Memorial Stadium before kickoff at the Kansas-Cincinnati game on Saturday. The game was the 1,000th in Kansas history.
SCORES
Colorado 43 Wisconsin 7
Kansas St. 34 Temple 7
Missouri 28 North Texas 7
How the Associated Press Top 25 News—Paper 2.
AP Top 25
Florida State stayed at No. 1 and Notre Dame dropped to No. 25 following their loss to Northwestern. Kansas State enters at No. 21.
The latest scores, statistics and other vital sports statistics — Scores & More, Page 2.
An analysis of opening games for the Jayhawks, Wildcats and Titans—Page 6.
rank team rec pts. pr
1. Florida St. (38) 1-0-0 1518 1
2. Nebraska (14) 1-0-0 1467 2
3. Texas A&M (4) 1-0-0 1361 3
4. Penn State (1) 0-0-0 1298 4
5. Florida (2) 1-0-0 1293 5
6. Auburn (2) 1-0-0 1276 6
7. Southern Cal 0-0-0 1168 7
8. Tennessee (1) 0-0-0 1073 8
9. Ohio State 1-0-0 1018 10
10. Colorado 1-0-0 972 14
11. Michigan 2-0-0 951 13
12. UCLA 1-0-0 922 15
13. Alabama 1-0-0 852 11
14. Oklahoma 0-0-0 641 16
15. Texas 1-0-0 605 18
16. Virginia 1-0-0 554 17
17. Arizona 1-0-0 529 19
18. Washington 1-0-0 388 22
19. Miami 0-1-0 282 12
20. Virginia Tech 0-0-0 265 24
21. Kansas State 1-0-0 203 —
22. Syracuse 1-0-0 195 —
23. N. Carolina St. 1-0-0 191 —
24. Oregon 1-0-0 187 —
25. Notre Dame 0-1-0 157 —
Jayhawks' first win is a nail-biter
KANBAN
Inside:
Olney receiving versus Air Force 136, Georgia 123, Colorado State 118, Northwestern 99, Michigan State 65, Purdue 45, Boston College 32, Baylor 28, Claremont 28, North Carolina 25, Wisconsin 9, California 6, Texas Tech B. Reesburg 6, St. Illinois 9,江苏 San Diego 6, St. Bullard 3, West Virginia 3, Nevada 2, Pittsburgh 2, Southern Nine. 1
The Associated Press
Despite the victory, Mason not happy with team's performance
By-Robert Sinclair Kansan sportswriter
Kansas junior running back June Henley (20) has the ball jarred loose by a Cincinnati defender in Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium. Henley and the Jahvahws were able to hold onto the game, however, winning 23-18.
The Kansas football team's 23-18 victory against Cincinnati on Saturday was a game of ups and downs for the Jayhawk faithful.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
The same also could be said about Kansas senior cornerback Dorian Brew.
After being called for two pass interference penalties earlier in the game, Brew set up the game-winning touchdown by forcing Cincinnati quarterback Eric Vibberts to fumble with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
"I felt like I had to come up with a big play," Brew said. "I only blitzed twice, and that time I got him."
Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Dan Dercher — one of several freshmen who saw significant playing time — scrambled along the ground and recovered the ball on the Cincinnati seven-vard line.
"I was just crawling as quick as I could to get to the ball," he said.
"Dorian came around one corner and I was coming around the other corner, and I saw him deck him. I saw the ball and my first thought was, 'Get to the ball,'" Dercher said. "I was on my knees, and I didn't know if anybody was on my legs. I didn't know if I would have time to get up."
"Our defense struggled at times, but when they had to make the play in the game, they did." Mason said. "It's hard for me to talk about the offense because I didn't recognize that offense out there today."
On the ensuing play from scrimmage, Kansas junior running back June Henley ran around the left end for the score, his second of the game.
While Kansas football coach Glen Mason was pleased with the end result, he wasn't thrilled with his team's performance on either side of the ball.
When the punter has a good game it usually means that the offense struggled, but senior punter Darrin Simmons made the most of his seven punts by averaging 51.4 yards. He also had a career-long boot of 59 yards and played a key role in preserving the victory.
Perhaps one of the brightest aspects for the Jayhawks was their kicking game.
After Brew intercepted a pass on the Kansas five-yard line with 1:40 left to play, and Kansas failed to pick up a first down, Simmons was sent in to punt from deep in his end zone.
But rather than run the risk of the punt being blocked, he scrambled to waste time and stepped out of the end zone to
take the safety.
take the snowy day.
"It was a chance for me to get my hands on the ball and try to make something happen and try to run as much time off as I can." Simmons said of the play, which used nine seconds. "It worked out. We got lucky we ran just enough time off where there, at the end, the clock expired. It was a lucky win."
Kansas sophomore place kicker Jeff McCord hit a 21-yard field goal, putting the Jayhawks on the board, but he couldn't convert on an extra point attempt after Henley's first touchdown. McCord, however, wouldn't let himself get down and was even comforted by his wife during the game.
"She comes in to watch me warm up, so I know exactly where she's at," McCord said. "She knew that I would end up blaming it on myself, so she just said, 'Keep pressing on.'"
Even though the offense struggled and got off to a slow start, it did come up with a big play with just more than a
"I was looking downfield, and I saw him veer to the right," Williams said. "I just tried to get him the ball before the safety came down and made the hit."
As senior quarterback Mark Williams scrambled to avoid the Bearcat pressure — something he found himself doing most of the day — he saw senior wide receiver Ashaudai Smith break into the open.
minute left in the third quarter.
After catching the ball, Smith continued toward the sideline, turned the corner and scanned 30 yards for the score.
However, Saturday's performance wasn't a sign of things to come. Williams said.
"We started out kind of slow, but as the game moved along, we picked it up," he said. "I got the first-game jitters out of the way. We're going to pick it up. You'll see a much improved offense next game."
Offense shaky in opener
By Matt Irwin
As advertised, there was something new in the air on Saturday when the Kansas football team defeated Cincinnati 23-18 in its home opener.
Kansan sportswriter
But, it wasn't quite what the Jayhawks had in mind. Kansas gained only 149 yards on 14 completed passes.
Kansas offensive coordinator Pat Ruel, who has been given more control of the offense, wasn't proud of the offense's performance.
"With that type of offensive performance, I don't want to take credit for it," Ruel joked. "Whenever you put a brand new system of things in, you're going to have to work out some kinks. I just hope we make a lot of improvement between now and the next game."
Ruel attributed part of the problem to a slow start and a nervous performance by senior quarterback Mark Williams.
Williams completed one out of six pass attempts on the Jayhawks' first two possessions.
Two Buckets, three goals.
After finishing eighth in the nation last season by averaging 247.1 yards rushing a game, the Jayhawks gained only 131 yards on 34 carries against the Bearcats.
But Ruel also thought there were problems with the running game.
"You've got to be able to run better than we did." Ruel said.
The brightest spot for Williams and the Jayhawks occurred with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.
With the ball at the Cincinnati 30-yard line on fourth-and-three, Williams dropped back to pass and was flushed out of the pocket to his right, looking at tight end Jim Moore.
"I was running toward their sideline, and I saw Mark scrambling so I turned back to our sideline and just followed him," said Smith, who led Kansas with seven receptions for 91 yards.
And then senior wide receiver Ashaunal Smith appeared in Williams' field of vision.
Moore was covered, so Williams kept scrambling toward the Jayhawks' sideline while being chased by two defenders.
"That was very uplifting," Williams said. "We were criticized last year for not getting the third-and-long and fourth down plays. So that took a burden off my shoulders."
Smith used his speed to get into Williams' field of vision, and, after catching Williams' pass, he used it to outrun two defenders to the sideline and then the end zone.
After Kansas made the extra point, it led 16-13. The Jayhawks never trailed the rest of the game.
Richard Devinki / NANRAM
Cineinnati senior strong safety Thomas Sappson tackles Kansas senior punter Darrin Simmons as just after he kicks the batt away.
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