THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006
SPORTS
9A
LIBERTY HALL 644 Mass
7:49 1912
FOOTBALL
Jayhawks allow fans to watch open practice at annual appreciation
Maggie Morrison, 3, catches a football tossed by her father last night at the KU football Fan Appreciation and Kids' Day. Excited to take to the field at Memorial Stadium, Morrison has been brainwashed a a Jayhawk fan since birth by her alumni parents.
Jared Gab/KANSAN
BY KYLE CARTER
"When I first got here it wasn't bad, but you can see the loyalty growing," he said.
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"It was good last year, but this year our fans should expect us to win," he said.
Ryan Gleissner, Harrington senior, attended all of the home games last year and shares the team's high expectations.
One trend Green said he hoped would head in the other direction was the nearly weekly tearing down of the goal posts.
After attending last year's Iowa State game with his father, 10-year-old Rick McFarlin couldn't wait to get another taste of KU football
Gary Green, sophomore running back, appreciated the turnout.
another bowl game," he said. "I'll be at all the games again and I'm going to Columbia to see us play Mizzou."
"My dad said that one of us would be happier than the other after the game and it was me," McFarin said, adding that his father was an Iowa State fan.
McFarlin attended Fan Appreciation and Kids' Day Wednesday night along with about 3,000 other fans to catch a glimpse of the team's open practice.
Fans were allowed onto the field after the practice concluded to take pictures with Baby Jay and get autographs from the players.
"I'm hoping we can at least get to
McFarlin took advantage of the opportunity to continue his exciting day. Carrying a football already autographed by some of the team captains, he headed over to Baby Jay to continue the fun.
The crowd mixed students with families and other fans that are normally separated on game day. Children caught complimentary mini-footballs thrown into the stands as the team ran plays on the field. The most audible excitement came in the form of whistles and claps when the offense broke long plays.
"I liked the Hall Mary play," he said. "I use it when I play football on
Mangino and the team captains addressed the crowd after the team finished the open practice. All of the speeches touched on common themes of thanking the fans for coming out, asking them to come back for the opening game against Northwestern State, and promising to work hard toward a successful season.
Playstation."
Kansan sportswriter Kyle Carter can be contacted at kcarter@kansan.com.
Edited by Patrick Ross
TALIB (CONTINUED FROM 12A)
Talib said Kansas special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach Earnest Collins ultimately convinced him to join the Jayhawks because of his honesty with Talib in how he would be used.
"We didn't make the playoffs until my senior year and then we got put out in the first round of the playoffs," he said. "I feel like I didn't get as much exposure as other people did in high school, so I may have got overlooked."
received little interest from Division I football programs. His visit to the University of Kansas was one of only two visits he made. The other was at the University of Wyoming. Nevertheless, Talib understood why more schools didn't show interest.
Aqib's cameo
Coaches had a feeling Talib would some day make an impact for the Kansas defense, but coach Mark Mangino said they just didn't think it would be at cornerback.
The big-time football programs may not have noticed Talib, but the makers of the movie "Friday Night Lights" did.
After Gordon jumped from his cornerback spot at Kansas to the professional level with a year of college eligibility remaining, it's no surprise speculation is surrounding
No NFL vet
In the movie, Carter High School played Talib's Berker team in the
"It's an honor that they voted me, but preseason doesn't really mean anything," Talib said. "Preseason is just what they think you're going to do. I still have to go out and do it."
playoffs, and Talib appears in the scene. However, it isn't exactly the highlight of his high-school career.
On the heels of cornerback Charles Gordon's departure from the team, Talib is the new number-one reason quarterbacks should fear the Kansas secondary.
This year, Talib has already been named preseason first team All-Big 12 by conference media and is on the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski award, which honors the best defensive player in the country.
Turning heads
"They showed me getting beat in the movie because they've got to show Carter's good plays," Talib said of a scene that shows Carter beating Berkner. "It was a real clip of our real playoff game we played against Carter."
"He started at safety, but has such pure coverage ability that we moved him to corner and he has come along nicely." Mangino said. "He is really starting to grasp things and get comfortable at the cornerback position."
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@kansan.com.
Talib, now a sophomore, started nine games last year as a redshirt freshman, intercepted two passes and led the team with eight pass breakups. He was recognized by Rivals, com, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and The Sporting News as one of the top freshmen in the nation.
When talking about Bueltel's talent, Talib said that Bueltel would be sitting right beside him next year getting all the media attention.
Talib and his NFL intentions.
Edited by Catherine Odson
"My college career is not done yet."
If anything can be read into his comments about fellow cornerback, junior Blake Buelt, Talib will still be donning the crimson and blue in 2007.
"I want to play in a BCS bowl and get that experience before I experience an NFL game, and I feel like it's not complete yet," he said.
Talib also addressed his professional aspirations directly. Whether his name and his abilities will be up for grabs in the NFL Draft next spring will depend on Kansas' success this season.
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PHILLIPS (CONTINUED FROM 12A)
This wasn't a half-paced scrimimage, either. Meier has a strong arm, and the defenders used impressive timing to knock down the passes that were floated in toward them.
PESSIMIST: It may not have been a half-paced scrimmage, but it was played on a 15-yard field. As soon as the whole field was opened up, Barmann connected with junior wide receiver Jeff Foster for a long gain.
It's too much to expect the Kansas safeties to learn their assignments while also dealing with
injuries to key players like Jerome Kemp. A good safety unit is exactly that: The teammates play together and know exactly where each other will be at all times.
OPTIMIST: Freshman Angus Quigley will be missed at the running back position, but junior Brandon McAnderson has the tools to fill in for him quite nicely, especially on third downs. Running out of a formation with McAnderson and four receivers, he was able to block for the quarterback long enough to allow three receivers to
get looks, which keeps the whole field in play.
As soon as Cornish leaves the game, defenses will begin to focus their efforts on getting to the quarterback. McAnderson is a good football player, but in a system that looks like it will often have three receivers with tight end Derek Fine,
PESSIMIST: Like many positions on the field, running back will hinge on nothing happening to the starter. Senior Jon Cornish is the Kansas running game and will be counted on to take the pressure off of Meier.
he will be asked to do more than he is capable of.
OPTIMIST: At the conclusion of practice, the children in the crowd were invited to come onto the field in an orderly fashion."
PESSIMIST: Have you ever seen a thousand kids do anything in an orderly fashion?
Kansan sports editor Michael Phillips is a Wichita senior in journalism.
—Edited by Patrick Ross
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