E UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY.OCTOBER 22.2007
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
9B
Record ensures spot in postseason
BY THOR NYSTROM
tnystrom@kansan.com
A victory against Baylor last Saturday might have made Kansas bowl eligible, but it was the 19-14 triumph against Colorado on Saturday that assured the Jayhawks their spot in the postseason.
Kansas was not selected for a bowl game after finishing 6-6 last season. Although bowl eligible, 6-6 teams must wait behind all teams with winning records during at-large selections if they have not been selected by a conference-affiliated bowl game.
Kansas in bowl games
Last year, 6-6 Alabama State filled the Big 12 last bowl allocation when
2005 Fort Worth Bowl Kansas 41, Houston 13
2003 Tangerine Bowl NC State 56, Kansas 26
1995 Aloha Bowl Kansas 51. UCLA 30
1992 Aloha Bowl Kansas 23, BYU 20
1981 Hall of Fame Bowl Mississippi State 10, Kansas 0
it was selected ahead of Kansas to play in the Independence Bowl.
1975 Sun Bowl Pittsburgh 33, Kansas 19
1973 Liberty Bowl NC State 31, Kansas 18
1969 Orange Bowl Penn State 15. Kansas 14
The Big 12 Conference has contracts with eight bowl games, in order of selection: at least one Bowl Championship Series spot, and then the Cotton, Holiday, Gator (if it selects a Big 12 team). Alamo, Sun (if the Gator Bowl does not select a Big 12 team)). Insight, Independence and Texas bowls.
1961 Bluebonnet Bowl Kansas 33, Rice 7
1948 Orange Bowl Georgia Tech 20, Kansas 14
With 10 Big 12 teams currently 4-4 or better, the conference could send a record number of teams to bowl games this season.
Local and national media have begun making bowl projections, most of which put the Jayhawks in games more prestigious than any they have played in since the 1969 Orange Bowl.
Blair Kerkhof of The Kansas City Star last week projected the lajwahys in the cotton Bowl, a New Year's Day game. Kansas hasn't played in a New Year's Day contest since 1969.
Ivan Malei of ESPN.com predicted Kansas would play against Auburn in the Cotton Bowl, which has a contract with the Southeastern Conference too. His ESPN.com colleague Mark
Schlabach said Kansas would play in the Holiday Bowl against USC, but Scout.com saw Kansas playing California in the Holiday Bowl.
Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said, "We have as much fun projecting as anybody, but you really can't put too much stock in it because so many things can happen between now and the end of the season."
But Marchiony said the Athletics Department was excited about the media attention and bowl projections.
"That people are making those predictions is very exciting because that is where you want the football program to be," Marchiony said. "That is what we are all working for — BCS bowls and championships. We have seen the hard work pay off."
Associate Athletics Director Mike Strauss said representatives from the Fiesta and Insight bowls had already visited Memorial Stadium this season and that more bowl-game representatives were expected at the Nebraska game less than two weeks from now.
Edited by Chris Beattie
>> NFL
Johnson shines in Holmes' return
BY JOSH DUBOW ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, right, catches a 58-yard pass over Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha during the third quarter of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday. Kansas City won 12-10.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Larry Johnson scored the goahead touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and the Chiefs beat the Raiders for the ninth straight time, winning 12-10 Sunday in Holmes' return from a two-year absence.
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Kansas City Chiefs didn't need much production from Priest Holmes to extend their winning streak over the Oakland Raiders.
Holmes, Kansas City's career leader in rushing yards and touchdowns, was activated this week for the first time since suffering a neck injury on a vicious hit from San Diego's Shawne Merriman on Oct. 30, 2005.
Holmes entered the game on the third play of Kansas City's third drive. He caught a screen pass from Damon Huard, but was tackled by Namiql Asomugha for a 6-yard loss. Holmes had no other catches and rushed four times for 9 yards, gaining a key first down with under three minutes left and Kansas City (4-3) protecting a 12-10 lead.
The Chiefs were unable to run out the clock, and the Raiders (2-4) took over at their 26-year line with 1:46
before the game opened up with a few big plays in the second half. Johnson, bottled up early, had a
remaining an one timeout.
D a unte Culpepper completed three straight passes to move the ball to the 44 before Jarrad Page jumped in front of a slant pass to Ronald Curry with 35 seconds left, sealing Kansas City's fourth win in five games.
Larry Johnson scored the the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and the Chiefs beat the Raiders for the ninth straight time, winning 12-10 Sunday.
It was another nail-biting finish for Kansas City against Oakland. Eight of the wins during the Chiefs'
have also lost 17 straight division games.
Johnson on rushed for 112 yards on 24 carries to lead Kansas City. Huard finished 16-for-31 for 177 yards.
Culpepper was 18-for-29 for 228 vards.
while LaMont Jordan was held to 29 yards on 11 carries as Oakland's running game had problems for a second straight week.
Both teams struggled offensively
season-long 54-yard run midway through the third quarter. Kansas City couldn't capitalize when Dave Rayner missed a 30-yard field goal that would have put the Chiefs up 9-0.
The Raiders i m m e d i -
It was another nail-biting finish for Kansas City against Oakland. Eight of the wins during the Chiefs's streak have been by seven points or fewer.
yards before getting 80 on the back-to-back plays.
ately seized the momentum, with Culpepper hitting Jerry Porter on a 59-yard pass on the next play. Culpepper followed with a 21-yard scoring strike to Curry, who had
Early in the fourth quarter, Huard eluded the rush from Warren Sapp on a third-and-10 and flung the ball downfield before Kirk Morrison could
hit him. Dwayne Bowe came up with the 58-yard catch to the Oakland 16-yard line. setting up Johnson's goahead score that made it 12-7.
WHEELER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Snyder's Wildcats faced in 1994 was the No.2 team in the country at the time.
Bill Snyder's legacy at Kansas State started in his fifth year coaching and lasted 17 years, with a 138-68-1 record. Bill Snyder not only transformed Kansas State into a great college football program, he also gave birth to the careers of many other coaches, including Mangino. Seventeen of his assistant coaches went on to become head coaches at Division I football programs. Most notably, Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, Jim Leavitt at South Florida, Phil Bennett at Southern Methodist University, Bret Bielema at Wisconsin Madison and Mangino.
Before the season began, some may have questioned the improvement Mangino made over Terry Allen. In five seasons, their coaching records were fairly similar, Allen with 20-33 and Mangino with 25-35. Mangino, however, led Kansas football to two bowl games and will go to another this season, which is something Terry Allen did not do. Although the comparison between Allen and Mangino may have been similar at the start of the season, the comparison that should be made is between Mangino and Snyder.
Both of their first seasons were awful, Snyder 1-10, Mangino 2-10, mostly because of inheriting a bad team. Both coaches' teams struggled on the road. Through the first five and a half years of Snyder's career, Kansas State was 5-21 away from Manhattan. Through five and a half years, Kansas is 6-21 under Mangino away from Lawrence.
The formula Bill Snyder used for making Kansas State a national power is also similar to what Mangino did to gain national recognition. Both coaches have added wins to the schedule by playing soft
opponents during the nonconference part of the season. Through five and a half seasons, Snyder's nonconference record was 18-6. Mangino, through the first five and a half seasons of his career, has gone 18-6 in nonconference play.
For a team near the cellar of college football, recruiting can be tricky, and coaches have to find players that marquis schools overlook. Players that come from a junior college or players that are undersized for their position are what Snyder capitalized on and what Mangino is also doing.
On Oct. 22, 1994, the Kansas State Wildcats were 4-2 (1 Big B) under Bill Snyder and went on to finish the season 9-3 (5-2 Big B). They finished the season ranked No.19 in the AP poll, and No.16 in the CNN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. They were nearly a permanent fixture in the rankings for the next ten years.
Today, Oct. 22, 2007, Kansas is ranked No. 12 in the AP poll, No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the BCS poll. Kansas is undefeated at 7-0 under Mark Mangino. Though Bill Snyder was well on his way in establishing Kansas State as a national power five years into his coaching career, it was not until 1998 when Kansas State went 7-0.
Mark Mangino was an assistant coach at Kansas State from 1991-1998 and was around to witness Bill Snyder build a football team from a laughing stock to a national power. Through five and a half years of coaching, both coaches careers look similar. It was clear that Mangino learned a thing or two under Bill Snyder. It will not be surprising to see Kansas football enjoy success similar to that which Snyder brought to Kansas State.
— Edited by Kaitlyn Syring
SHROYER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Anyone who's watched a quarter of Kansas football by now — and, at 7.0, experts ought to be watching — can see that Talib is the straw that stirs the drink. Like Woodson was for Michigan, Talib has been a two-way threat for Kansas.
If Charles Woodson was more deserving than Peyton Manning for the Heisman in 1997, there's no reason Talib shouldn't be part of the Heisman conversation in what I consider a severely watered-down field. Two Texas Tech players are on the Heisman watch, for crying out loud.
Although Talib's primary duties are on the defensive side of the ball, he's been a key component of the No. 3 scoring offense in the country. With only seven receptions, Talib leads Kansas with four trips to the end zone and is the team's fifth-leading receiver with 174 yards.
As the leader of the No. 2 scoring defense in the nation, Talib's three interceptions tie him for the team lead, and he's broken up a team-best five passes. He's also helped the Jayhawk secondary perform an incredible turnaround from last season.
In 2006, Kansas had one of the worst pass defenses in college football, allowing 269.1 yards per game. This season, Kansas is No. 10 in the country, allowing only 178.1 yards through the air.
While Florida Atlantic's Tavious Polo leads the nation with seven interceptions, there's no doubt
Talib would be challenging him if opposing quarterbacks weren't hesitant to throw in his direction.
Two weeks later against Kansas State, Talib helped Kansas seal its first victory in Manhattan since 1989. With the Wildcats just inside Jayhawk territory and trailing by six, Talib picked off a Josh Freeman pass with just more than a minute to play. Game over.
That game-changing ability is what links Talib to Woodson.
Florida International threw Talib's way on the most promising drive of its Sept. 22 game against Kansas and he made them pay the ultimate price, returning it 102 yards for a touchdown. It was the kind of play that elevates college football stars to Heisman status.
In 1997, Woodson had two interceptions against in-state rival Michigan State. Against Ohio State, he picked off a pass and returned a punt for a touchdown. At the time he received the Heisman, Woodson had seven interceptions, two receiving touchdowns and one punt return for a touchdown.
Talib has shown that he, just like Woodson, can excel in the spotlight. If quarterbacks challenge him, he can approach Woodson's interception total. He's already proven to be a more dangerous receiver than Woodson.
All that's left is for Mangino to give Talib a shot at returning punts. He can't do any worse than Anthony Webb.
- Edited by Tara Smith
KU Independent Study
Learn Your Own Way
Study and learn wherever you are Choose from 150 available courses Enroll and begin anytime
785-864-5823
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu
Check with your academic advisor before enrolling.
Want to learn more about security and information privacy but don't know where to start?
Sign up for a free security awareness workshop at http://www2.ku.edu/~workshops! October 23 @ 12:30 (McCook Room, Burge)