FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17,2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE11A
SPORTS
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Kansas vs. Kansas State Saturday, Nov. 18, 2:30 p.m.
FAMILY DIVIDED
Kerry Meier, freshman quarterback, will be on opposite sides of the field'from his brother Dylan Meier, Kansas State's senior quarterback, at the game Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kerry decided to go to Kansas, unlike two of his older brothers who went to K-State.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Two youngest Meier brothers to represent opposing teams
Valerie Meier and Dennis Meier have a tough decision to make this Saturday.
The parents of K-State senior quarterback Dylan Meier and KU freshman quarterback Kerry Meier have had all four of their sons play college football, but never against each other. That's happening for the first time this Saturday for the two youngest Meier brothers. Who will Mom and Dad be rooting for?
"We're rooting for the offenses," Dennis said.
The brothers' first meeting lost some of its appeal several weeks ago when Dylan was delegated to the backup role and K-State freshman quarterback Josh Freeman emerged as the starter, something Dylan has taken in stride.
"I think Dylan handled the situation very well," Kerry said. "That's just the way Dylan is: he's a real strong personality. Whatever is dealt his way, he's going to handle it and he's going to take it no matter what."
A move to second-string might have been a tougher pill to swallow for Dylan had Kerry become a Wildcat. With oldest brother Shad Meier playing tight end for K-State (1997-2000) and Dylan ending up at K-State, former K-State coach Bill Snyder tried to bring one more Meier to Manhattan.
Despite growing up going to K-State games to watch Shad, Kerry decided he needed to make a name for himself somewhere else.
"For the most part, I think he thought it would be better — especially with he and Dylan being at the same position — that he'd probably be better off to find his own path," Dennis said.
Kerry has found a place for himself at Kansas where he was handed the starting job this year after taking a redshirt last season.
Fan photos
Kerry was given a chance to be the starting quarterback his second year at Pittsburg High School as
The Kansan wants your photos from this weekend's game against Kansas State. Go online to Kansan.com/fanphotos beginning Saturday and submit your tailgating photos. The best ones will be printed in Monday's paper. All entries will be available for viewing online at Kansan.com.
well. Dylan took the team to the state championship his senior season with Kerry watching from the sidelines and serving as the team's place kicker. Dylan was his holder. When Dylan graduated, Kerry was ready to take the reins his sophomore year. However, an injury kept him out that entire season and he became the starter as a junior.
Because of his older brothers, his high school coach Merle Clark said Kerry had always been ahead in his progression as a quarterback.
"Kerry grew up around the game," said Clark, who's driving up for the game. "He's been around football since he was a little bitty kid. There's nothing really to intimidate him. He's been around a lot of big games since he was old enough to walk."
It was about that time when football took over the Meier family's life. Dennis and Valerie have been going to games every weekend for years, and this year is no different.
They have gone to one of Kerry or Dylan's games every Saturday this football season, making it to part of both on days where one plays in the afternoon and the other at night. That must make it twice as nice to have to be in only one place at one time this Saturday, right?
"Exactly," Dennis said.
Kerry and Dylan have been talking on the phone every day this week, awaiting the Sunflower Showdown. With bowl eligibility on the line for Kansas and
R-State coming off one of the program's biggest victories of all time, the two have had plenty to talk about.
After Saturday, one of the two is going to have bragging rights, and Kerry would like to see Dylan have a shot to give this game a little more Meier spice than it already has.
up, we were always going at it; we had great battles. It'll be neat if he could, but we'll see how it goes. If the situation arises, it'd be great. But if not, I know Dylan, he'll be all right."
"I'd really love that, to have my brother out there and playing against him," Kerry said. "Growing
Kansan staff writer C.J. Moore can be contacted at cjmoore@kansan.com.
Saturday's game between Kansas State and Kansas is sold out. It's the first sell out this season at Memorial Stadium.
Edited by Shanxi Upsdell
Two U.S. Air Force F-16 jets will fly over the stadium at approximately 2:30 p.m. before kickoff.
Sold out
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Defense, shooting must improve to bounce back
Darnell Jackson, junior forward, attempts to tip the ball during Kansas' 78-71 loss to Oral Roberts on Wednesday. The Jayhawks shot only 2-10 from the perimeter.
KANSAN ELE PHOTO
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Early-season losses are nothing new to returning members of the Kansas basketball team. The trick is bouncing back.
"It's frustrating that we don't quite get it yet," Self said. "Hopefully we will here pretty soon."
When Kansas plays Towson on Sunday night, coach Bill Self and Kansas fans will find out just how this team will respond to its 78-71 loss to Oral Roberts.
Last year, Kansas was 3-4 after its first seven games. The Jayhawks responded by winning 19 of their 22 remaining regular season games, capturing the Big 12 Championship, and receiving a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The moral of the story is that it's way too early to panic, regardless of how disheartening a loss inside Allen Fieldhouse to a mid-major opponent was.
"The locker room was completely silent just now," junior guard Russell Robinson said. "That just shows that everybody felt that loss. This loss is going to help us later on in the season."
Still, the Jayhawks were noticeably stunned after Wednesday's loss.
Kansas will have to find the words to address its shortcomings
RUSSELL ROBINSON
GUARD
"The locker room was completely silent just now. That shows that everybody felt that loss."
from Wednesday in order to not underestimate the Towson Tigers.
Against Oral Roberts, Rush took nearly 15 minutes to score his first point of the game. Wright had 12 rebounds and five blocks, but he was more of a liability on offense than an asset. His six points were equaled by six turnovers.
First and foremost, Kansas needs its all-conference sophomores — Brandon Rush and Julian Wright — to get involved on offense early and often.
As a team, Kansas' shooting was poor. Its perimeter shooting was nonexistent in the second half and the Jayhawks were anything but solid from the free-throw line, hitting only five of 13.
"We made 29 field goals, I guarantee you 24 of them were inside of three feet," Self said. "Just pitiful shooting."
Kansas will also have to become more disciplined on defense after being abused by Oral Roberts. Golden Eagles Caleb Green and
Kansas can expect more of the same from Towson. The Tigers shot 46.2 percent from the field in their season opener.
Marchello Vealy combined for 42 points and shot 9-for-11 from three-point range and had plenty of support from their teammates. Oral Roberts shot 46.6 percent from the field.
Tubbs made six of nine shots in his first game on his way to 15 points and also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. Neal only made a pair of three-point shots in his first game, but he obviously felt capable behind the arc, putting up nine attempts. He led all scorers with 20 points.
If Kansas wants to know who Towson's versions of Green and Vealy are, it can look to no further than forward Winstonn Tubbs and guard Gary Neal.
Containing these two should be priority No. 1 on defense for Kansas.
Kansas hasn't lost consecutive home games since 1988-89 and the Jayhawks don't want that stat to change. But most of all, they don't want to return to a dead locker room after Sunday's game.
FOOTBALL
Kansan sportswriter Shawn
Shroyer can be contacted at
sshroyer@kansan.com.
Edited by Elyse Weidner
Homecoming victory ends Kansas State's supremacy
Editor's note: This week, The University Daily Kansan looks back at four classic games between the Javahaws and Wildcats.
Oct. 9, 2004 Kansas 31, Kansas State 28
2004 Kansan headline - "Homecoming Kings"
When Kansas defeated Kansas State 31-28 two years ago for the first time in 11 years, the team had a myriad of memorable plays — all in the fourth quarter.
Kansas had a six-play scoring drive to regain the lead on the ensuing series.
James McClinton, senior defensive tackle, remembers Jermial Ashley blocking a Kansas State field goal with 7:02 left in the game. The Wildcats were trying to go up by a touchdown, leading 21-17, but Ashley blocked K-State kicker Joe Rheem's 49-yard field-goal attempt.
Travis Dambach, senior offensive lineman, said he remembered that driver was capped by Mark Simmons, a former Kansas wide receiver, snagging a one-handed touchdown grab. Quarterback Jason Swanson, who replaced Adam Barmann in the fourth quarter, threw the ball to Simmons, who then made the acrobatic catch to give Kansas a 24-21 lead.
John Randle, former Kansas running back, gave the Jayhawks a 10-point lead on a 43-yard touchdown run with 3:16 remaining.
Randle was the star of the game as he rushed for 105 yards, had 51 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns.
The Wildcats needed two scoring drives late in the game, and scored only one late touchdown. They failed to recover the following onside kick.
"The line's blocking was magnifi- cent tonight," he said.
After the game, Randle gave credit to the offensive line for opening up holes.
Before time expired, students rushed the field and tore down the goal posts then headed to either Potter's Lake or Massachusetts Street to continue the celebration.
Kansas State was led by wide receiver Yamon Figurs with 106 yards as a sophomore. Figurs, now a senior, could play tomorrow, although his status is questionable.
The game was one of coach Mark Mangino's most important victories. Although the team finished 4-7, Kansas was competitive in every game and nearly defeated football powerhouses Nebraska and Texas.
At 2:30 Saturday, the Jayhawks and Wildcats will meet for the 104th time. Last season, Kansas lost a low scoring, grind-it-out game 12-3 in Manhattan.
The jayhawks are favored, but remember, it is a rivalry game and anything can happen.
Notes from 2004:
>Charles Gordon had one interception against K-State. For the season, he picked off seven passes leading the Big 12 and was tied for first nationally.
Kansas has never lost in the series when scoring more than 23 points. The official attendance was 50,152, the third largest crowd to a KU vs. KSU game at Memorial Stadium.
The rivalry is the sixth longest uninterrupted series in the NCAA with 95 games in a row. Kansas vs. Nebraska is first, with 101 straight games.
Kansan sportswriter Drew Davelson can be contacted at ddavson@kansan.com.
Edited by Erin Wiley