SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2006
>> TWO POINT CONVERSION
3B
Young football team lacks experience in tight games
BY BRYAN CISLER
KANSAN COLUMNIST
BCISLAN@KANSAN.COM
hang your hat on. know this.
Keep your heads held high, Jayhawk fans. You may still be down from the unbelievable yet somehow all-too-familiar loss to the Baylor Bears but if you want something to
Kansas is one of the better first- half football teams in the Big 12.
Kansas' record in conference play so far is 3-1 at halftime. The defense has only given up 20 points in the first half at Memorial Stadium this season. In the second half though, the defense has given up 87 points at home.
The result is that Kansas has blown more games than the Kansas City Royals bullpen.
So why is this happening? Is Kansas putting in the third string in the third quarter? Or, realistically, is Mark Mangino not making the proper adjustments as the game progresses?
This wasn't a problem last year. The Jayhawks pounded Nebraska in the second half, and won in overtime against Iowa State to go to a bowl game. In those games, Kansas got better as the games progressed.
It's hard to believe that Mangino and the rest of the coaches have changed their styles that dramatically in the past year.
If it isn't the coaching, then why does Kansas look like it has never been in a tight fourth-quarter situation?
For one thing, most of this year's team hasn't. This year's roster has a glaring lack of talented veterans.
If you look back at the 2003 high school recruiting class that Kansas brought in, most layhawk fans would have trouble finding any impact players that are still on the team as seniors or redshirt juniors.
Quarterback Adam Barmann has had a rocky career so far at Kansas. Running back John Randle and wide receiver Moderick Johnson had enough issues off the field to lose their spots on the team.
Part of the reason the layhawks have few upperclassmen is that Mangino spent the majority of his time recruiting junior college players to fill a void in talent from a 2002 team that won only two games.
The team was so bad that year that Mangino couldn't redshirt Nick Reid, Kevin Kane and Mark Simmons of the 2002 class, all of whom would have been redshirt seniors this year.
The only impact player that is still on the team is running back Jon Cornish.
But with strong recruiting classes
from 2004, 2005 and 2006, Kansas finally has the young players that can be a force in the conference in a couple years.
You just have to realize that before long, Meier, running back Jake Sharp and cornerback Aqib Talib will be the veterans, and the great team we see in the first half might just be the same team that finishes games as well.
Bryan Gisler is a Leawood junior in journalism and political science.
- Eddie by Catheter Odsom
- Eddie by Catheter Odsom
MEN'S BOWLING Bowling team places fourth of 18 in tournament
The Kansas men's bowling team placed fourth at the Mid-States collegiate tournament in Wichita on Sunday.
Trent Overbey, Berryton senior and team captain, placed 10th with an average score of 202.
Eighteen teams competed in the weekend's tournament. Wichita State, Newman and Nebraska
took first, second and third places respectively.
Other Big 12 Conference schools Oklahoma and Texas Tech competed.
The tournament was the first of the season for the team.
"It was a good breakout tournament for us," Overbey said. "We can only get better from here."
The Jaynawk bowling team will be in action again next Saturday and Sunday in Fairview Heights, Ill.
State Representative forty-eighth
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