The Kansas baseball team signed two players from Garden City Community College, but one of them jumped to the major leagues before ever throwing a pitch for Kansas. Read Alissa Bauer's story about catcher Joe Servais and pitcher Aaron Breit inside.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
8A
SPORTS
PAGE 10A
>>'HORN BORN,'HAWK BRED|
Coach's play calls to blame for losses
BY TRAVIS ROBINETT
KANSAN COLUMNIST
TROBINETT@KANSAN.COM
Want to know why Kansas lost to Toledo? Two words: play calling. Want to know what Kansas should do about it? Five words: Fire offensive coordinator Nick Quartaro. At the very least, stop letting him call the plays.
The offense has flat out stunk during four of the five seasons he has been here, especially on Friday. The offense will be hampered as long as Quartaro is in control.
Think about every close game Kansas has lost recently. Almost all the blame could go to the offense. But Kansas' loss to mediocre Toledo is inexcusable. Toledo had 28 points from turnovers, plus another two from a safety.
I don't even care who replaces Quartaro. Anyone with a shred of football sense could have called better plays for Kansas against Toledo. Decide for yourself whether Quartaro made the right calls:
Kansas was driving — down by one late in the fourth quarter — and in kicker Scott Webb's range. It was third and two. What would you do? Hand the ball off to Jon Cornish, who averages 5.9 yards per carry? Even if he doesn't get the first down, Kansas gets to attempt a field goal. That sounds safe, at least. But Quartaro decided that quarterback Kerry Meier should throw short of the first down and to the wide side of the field to tight end Derrick Fine, who Meier stared down for a good five seconds before he threw. This let the defense know exactly what he was planning to do: a big mistake. The result was an interception and a Toledo touchdown.
> Kansas had just held Toledo without a point in the first overtime. It was first down with 25 yards to the end zone. All Kansas needed was a field goal to win the game. What would you do? Line up in the I-formation, run it straight up the middle three times and kick a field goal for the win? Sure! It worked last year against Iowa State. But Quartaro decided to start out of the shotgun formation, which is designed for passing, and run a draw. A draw? Seriously? Toledo had to have known Kansas would run the ball. Who was Quartaro trying to fool? Maybe it was Cornish, because he didn't know who was supposed to take the ball. The result: a botched hand-off from Meier to Cornish — both of whom were in an awkward position to begin with — and an unnecessary second overtime.
- Kansas was in the second overtime and stuffed on third
SEE ROBINETT ON PAGE 9A
Photo illustration by Jared Gab
'HAWKS PLAY FOR TV TIME
Victories translate to more appearances on national networks
BY C.J. MOORE
The Kansas football team's slogan this year is "Where will you be on game day?"
Fans might be able to answer "watching the game from the couch or a sports bar," because the Jayhawks could see more time on television this season.
Fox Sports Net selected the Kansas at Nebraska game, scheduled for Sept. 30, to be shown on its network at 6 p.m., the KU Athletics Department announced Monday. The game will mark the thirdstraight week the Jayhawks are on
television
If the jayhawks are able to maintain a winning record, FSN or ABC could choose to put one or more of the jayhawks other six games on TV. Associate athletics director Jim Marchiony sees the KU football team as a marketable product for the networks.
With the Nebraska game now slated for television, it brings the number of KU football telecasts scheduled for this season to four.
"I think that networks see a lot of potentia in us," Marchiony said. "Especially coming off the year we had last year."
The two networks have contracts with the Big 12 Conference. The networks choose which games to televise 12 days in advance, ABC selects its one Big 12 game per week first and then FSN picks two other games to televise. ABC has the option three times per year to select a game six days in advance, Big 12 Associate Commissioner Tim Allen said.
"Primarily, teams play their way on or play their way off of television," Allen said.
After a 7-5 season last year and
Kansas on the tube
SEE TV ON PAGE 9A
The Jayhawks have four garnes slated to appear on TV this season.
Sept. 15 - at Toledo (ESPN2)
Sept. 23 - South Florida (FSN)
Sept. 30 - at Nebraska (FSN,
6 p.m.)
Nov. 25 - at Missouri (ABC, 11
(m))
4.
Notes Games played other Sept. 30
may still be televised.
GOLF
Kansas ends day on top at home tourney
BY ASHER FUSCO
As the players put the finishing touches on a long day of golf at the Alvamar Golf Club, Kansas coach Ross Randall was the picture of relaxation.
Randall shared laughs and smiles with players and staff while they waited for the scores to be posted. After the Kansas men's golf team's performance on Monday, Randall had every reason to feel content.
After two rounds of play at the Kansas Invitational, Kansas leads the field with a total score of 574. Big 12 teams Iowa State and Nebraska stand in second and third places with scores of 584 and 589, respectively. While Nebraska is still within striking distance going into the final round tomcrow, Kansas' 10-stroke lead is substantial.
"We played hard and gave a good effort." Randall said. "But with teams like Nebraska and Iowa State behind you, you can never play well enough."
The team is familiar with the Alvamar Golf Club course, which gave the Jayhawks an advantage against the competition on the chilly and often windy first day of play. Senior Gary Woodland, who finished the day in first place overall with scores of 67
SEE GOLF ON PAGE 8A
FOOTBALL
Mark Mangino saw the signs.
Meier hurts arm while playing in Friday's game
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
Mark Hampton saw the sign. His quarterback's throws were off. The strong passes that Kerry Meier tossed earlier in Friday's game at Toledo were gone. In their place, Meier's passes were often short of their intended receivers.
They were short for a good reason, though.
Mangino revealed Monday that Meier suffered an undisclosed injury to his throwing arm. It appeared Meier injured his right arm early in the fourth quarter when he was tackled after running with the football and a Toledo player rolled over his body, driving his arm into the turf.
Mangino attempted to pull Meier from the game, but the quarterback refused.
"He was emphatic and shouted to me, 'I'm fine,'" Mangino said during Monday's Big 12 Football Coaches' Teleconference.
Meier was held out of Sunday's practice, but was expected to practice Monday. He is expected to start Saturday night in Kansas nonconference finale against
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 9A