6B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
KU
KICKOFF
AT A GLANCE
Kansas enters the 2006 season on a wave of optimism after last season's victory in the Fort Worth Bowl. Advancing to a bowl for the second straight season won't be an easy task, though. The Jayhawks are replacing most of last season's senior leaders with freshmen or sophomores, many of whom will be starters. The season will ride on whether those younger players can step up and fill the void. If so, Kansas will be bowling for a second straight season; if not, this year could get ugly.
5 QUICK FACTS
6 — the number of consecutive home victories.
5 — the number of players who will miss Saturday's game because of injury or suspension
60 — the percentage of Kansas' rushing attack that returns this season.
1 — the number of Jayhawks named to the preseason All-Big 12 First team.
4 the number of wins Kansas averages following a bowl season.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Kerry Meiler. All eyes will be on the redshirt-freshman quar
terback as he makes his first start as a Jayhawk. While Meier's passes have looked sharp and on-target in open practices, whether he can continue
that against an opposing defense remains to be seen. Kansas coach Mark Mangino has said he doesn't expect Meier to carry the offense. Instead, Mangino said he's only asking Meier to go out and play quarterback. Because of his ability to run and pass, Meier brings a new style to the Kansas offense not seen since the days of Bill Whittimore.
QUESTION MARKS
Linebackers: Replacing the talent and leadership of Nick Reid, Kevin Kane and Banks Flood-man will be a tough task. Many of their possible replacements have seen playing time on special teams, but have limited experience on defense.
Secondary: With redshirt-freshman Darrell Stuckey out with an injury and senior safety Jerome Kemp questionable, Kansas' secondary could be shaky to start the season. Replacing the injured or suspended players will be either freshmen or redshirt freshmen. They'll have to adjust to the college game while at the same time covering opposing receivers.
THE WAIT IS OVER Season begins Saturday
KANSAS VS. NORTHWESTERN STATE 6 p.m., Saturday, Memorial Stadium
Kansas
Offense
Meler has been the focus of many conversations surrounding the offense for most of the offseason, but left out of that talk are two big reasons why Meler has a chance to succeed. The quarterback is lucky to return nearly every starter on the offensive line and a running back, senior Jon Cornish, who believes he can have one of the greatest rushing seasons in program history. Nearly all of Meler's options at wide receiver are inexperienced, but he has a big target in tight end Derek Fine. Kansas' offense should gain valuable experience against an overmatched Northwestern State squad. This group only has two weeks to get ready for its first true test of the season when on Sept. 15 it will face an experienced Toledo team on the road.
Northwestern State
Offense
There is uncertainty at quarterback as junior Ricky Joe Meeks and sophomore Roch Charpentier will audition for a permanent starting job. Senior tailback Greg Skidmore is the only tailback on this year's team who had at least one carry last season. The Demons do return their top receiver from last year, senior Derrick Dovle, but they are predominantly a running team. The Demons
will have new starters on the left side of the line and at center.
Coming off its first bowl victory and winning season in 10 years, the Kansas football program is on a serious high. Mangino is banking a repeat performance on a number of younger players who will see big minutes. Aside from Meier, younger players will see serious time in the defensive secondary, wide receiver and linebacker. If Kansas hopes to qualify for back-to-back bowl seasons for the first time in history, the pressure rests on their shoulders.
wide receiver and linebacker. If Kansas hopes to qualify for back-to-back bowl seasons for the first time in program history, the pressure rests on their shoulders.
Momentum
Northwestern State finished 2005 on a high note, defeating Stephen F. Austin, 41-21, in its last game. However, the Demons lost two of their last three games to finish the season 5-5 and 3-3 in the Southland Conference. Whether good or bad, this year's team is a shell of the 2005 team. The 2006 Northwestern State squad has just seven seniors on its roster. With such a young team, the Demons will likely take a few weeks to get some momentum going.
Once they do, the expectation is that they will duplicate their results from last season. This preseason, the Demons were predicted to tie Nicholls State for third in the conference by conference coaches. Conference Sports Information Directors picked Northwestern State to tie Texas State for third in the conference.
Ryan Schneider
Shawn Shroyer
NSU
KICKOFF
ATA GLANCE
Kansas' only I-AA foe this season, Northwestern State, comes from Louisiana and the Southland Conference. Last season they finished in the middle of the pack in their conference standings. Look for the Demons' defense to be one of their attributes that test Kansas Saturday. On the other side of the ball, the Demons' offense doesn't return many starters from last year's squad. Like Kansas, Northwestern State has a young team who is looking to gain experience.
5 QUICK FACTS
1 — This is Northwestern State's first meeting all-time with Kansas in football.
T-3 Northwestern finished in a tie for third place in the Southland Conference in 2005.
22 On Saturday, 22 Northwestern State players will take the field for the first time as college football players.
43 — Nonconference opponents outscored Northwestern State by a combined 43 points in 2005.
72 — Northwestern State rushed for 1,742 yards as a team in 2005. Of the tailbacks on this year's roster, only senior Greg Skidmore contributed to that total. His rushing total from 2005 was just 72 yards.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Senior defensive tackle Tory Collins. Collins is one of the few players on the Northwestern State roster who could
be playing at the Division 1-A level. In fact, he nearly did.
Collins attended Louisiana
Collins
State University as a freshman, but redshirted the one year he was there before transferring to Northwestern State. Since taking the field for the Demons, Collins has been a force.
Collins was 12th on the team in tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2003, recording 5.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks. The next season, Collins moved into the starting lineup and increased his total tackles, tackles for a loss and sacks.
QUESTION MARKS
Running game: The Demons lost their top five rushers from last season, and as many as four running backs may see action in Saturday's game.
Quarterback: Northwestern State will be starting junior Ricky Joe Meeks, who played in seven games last year, but is lacking in job security. Before the game is over, fans will also get a chance to see sophomore Roch Charpentier, who is batting Meeks for the top job.
NATIONAL GAMES OF INTEREST
No.9 California at No.23 Tennessee 4:30 p.m.Saturday on ESPN
These two teams haven't met since 1987 when Tennessee won 38-12. This meeting could be quite different.
California will be looking to continue its climb up the college football ranks while Tennessee will be trying to return to old form. The Vols went 5-6 last season, missing a bowl for the first time since the 1988 season.
The Bears are coming off a 35-28 Las Vegas Bowl victory against BYU, which was their third bowl appearance in as many years. California hadn't appeared in three straight bowls since the 1948-1950 seasons.
No. 2 Notre Dame at Georgia Tech,
7 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Although Notre Dame is a serious contender for the National Championship. Georgia Tech is no slouch.
Georgia Tech was picked to finish third in the ACC — behind conference powers Miami and Virginia Tech — by the media, and received one vote to win the conference championship. The Yellow Jackets feature the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, Junior wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
The game will be Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn's first as he embarks on his Heisman Trophy campaign. Last season Quinn set 19 school records in several different categories.
No.11 Florida State at No.12 Miami (FL) 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN
For the second straight year, these perennial powerhouses will meet in their regular season openers on Labor Day night.
The Hurricanes will be looking to start a new winning streak against the Seminoles after Florida State beat Miami 10-7 last year, breaking a six-game losing streak against the Hurricanes.
In last year was any indicator, the winner of this game will have the more successful season. Miami ended up losing 40-3 to LSU in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 30, and Florida State reached the Orange Bowl, a BCS Bowl, losing 26-23 in triple overtime against Penn State.
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