2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007
Headed toward the goal
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Switzerland's Ludovic Magnin, left, fights for the ball with United States' Michael Bradley, right, during an Euro 2008 test game Wednesday at the St. Jakob-Park stadium in Basel, Switzerland. America defeated Switzerland 1-0.
NCAA FOOTBALL Missouri quarterback key to team's sixth victory
Missouri figures to need a pile of points to beat Texas Tech this week. The Tigers have the right man for the job.
Quarterback Chase Daniel has passed for 300 or more yards in eight of his last nine games, missing a clean sweep by 6 yards against Illinois State. He's fifth in the nation in total offense, spearheading a program that averages 40 points and leads the nation in third-down conversions. And he racks
up the scores against the country's best teams as well as the weak touches, producing 31 points in defeat last week at Oklahoma and ringing up five touchdown passes at Ole Miss.
Daniel joked earlier this week that No. 15 Missouri and No. 22 Texas Tech (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) could combine for 120 or 130 points, while relishing the role he might play trading touchdowns with the Red Raiders' Graham Harrell, who leads the nation in total offense and leads a team averaging 50 points. Both quarterbacks are in the running for the O'Brien Award.
"It will be a fun game," Daniel said.
"Our defense faces us every day in practice, so we're a top-ranked team passing the ball. They're probably 1 or 2, but it should be a fun show."
The Brad Smith years were something at Missouri. He left with 69 school, Big 12 and NCAA game, season and career records.
Daniel, then, is something else. Last year when he took over for Smith — often a one-man show — coach Gary Pinkel liked to say the offense would now be in the hands of a quarterback who would distribute the ball.
Kick the Kansan
Pick games, Beat the University Daily Kansan Staff, win a $25 gift certificate to Jayhawk Bookstore and get your name in the paper.
Week 8
Kansas at Colorado___
Texas A&M at Nebraska___
Texas Tech at Missouri___
Kansas State at Oklahoma State___
Texas at Baylor___
Penn State at Indiana___
Florida at Kentucky___
California at UCLA___
Michigan at Illinois___
Louisville at Connecticut (with score)___
Name: ___
E-mail: ___
Year in School: ___
Hometown: ___
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
- The contest is open to current KU students only. Those selected as winners will be required to show a valid student I.D.
- Contests must submit their selections on the form printed in the University Daily Kansan or to KickTheKansan@kansan.com
- Entry forms must be dropped off at the Kansan Business Office, located at the west end of Staurer Flint, which is between Wescoe Hall and Watson Library, or they can be e-mailed to KickTheKansan@kansan.com. Entries, including those that are e-mailed, must be received by 11:59 p.m. the Friday before the games in question. No late entries will be accepted.
- The winner is the contestant with the best record. Winners will receive a $25 gift certificate to Jayhawk Bookstore.
- The winner will be notified by e-mail the Monday following the games. If a winner fails to reply to the notification by e-mail before midnight Tuesday, the Kansan has the right to select another winner. Only one person will officially be the winner each week.
- The winner will be featured in the weekly "Kick the Kansan" selections the following Friday. Contestants are allowed to win as many times as possible.
- Any decision by the Kansan is final.
Times are changing
- Any decision by the Kansan is final
* Kansan staff members are not eligible
basketball notes
One underlying theme dominated the Big 12 men's basketball media day in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday: change. The 2007 Big 12 player of the year, Texas' Kevin Durant, is gone. So are Texas A&M's Acie Law and Kansas' Julian Wright. All three are toiling as rookies in the NBA. The Big 12's longest tenured head coach used to be Colorado's Ricardo Patton. Not anymore. Jeff Bzdelik. former Air Force coach, replaced him. That's just one of three head coaching changes. Former Kansas player and Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon replaced Billy Gillipie at Texas A&M, and former Kansas State assistant coach Frank Martin has turned Manhattan from Huggieville to Martinville by replacing Bob Huggins, who left for West Virginia.
Some things stay the same
same
Many big-name coaches and star players return, including
texas coach
Rick Barnes
and his star
sophomore
guard, D.J.
Augustin, who
was named Big
12 Preseason
Player of the
Year by the
coaches.
Augustin
Kansas going small
With Brandon Rush still recovering from a torn ACL, Bill Self said he expected to sometimes use senior Roderick Stewart as a small forward. Self also mentioned sophomore Brady Morningstar and senior Jeremy Case would also see more plaving
time. But Self didn't hesitate when asked whether he would play his three smaller guards - sophomore Sherron Collins, junior Chalmers, and senior Russell Robinson
- at the same time.
Stewart
"We just put three guys out there that are guards, and two guys out there that are not guards, and basically have at it," Self said. "The key thing is you got to have one of them that's a good rebounder and can defend the other team's three-man, and Russell can do that. He's tough enough, he can do that."
Not surprisingly, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight provided the funniest moments of the day. Knight spent the greater part
Knight Speak
of his 10 minutes in front of the media discussing the American League Championship Series, the Breeders' Cup, and whether Tony
LaRussa could end up managing the Kansas City Royals. Here are a few precious Knight gems:
Asked about whether the Cleveland Indians could
Knight
beat the Colorado Rockies in a potential World Series match-up, Knight said, "If I knew whether the Indians could beat the Rockies or not, George Bush would be asking me, 'How the hell do you get out of Iraq right now?'
And on whether LaRussa could end up managing the Royals in 2008, Knight says,"I think that what LaRussa does I think will depend on what he thinks would be the best situation for him to have a team that can contend, which might leave the Royals out."
Longhorns moving on
Texas understands that you can't replace a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Kevin Durant, but junior A.J. Abrams is getting a little tired of the "How are you going to live without Durant?" questions.
"We're kind of getting sick of it, but we know he was a big part of our team last year." Abrams said. "But we know we got guys coming back, and guys coming in this year as freshmen to help us replace him."
Abrams and Augustin are the two main reason Longhorn fans won't worry too much. Abrams averaged 15.5 points per game last season, while Augustin chipped in 14.4 points per game. Texas also returns sophomore Damion James. Abrams said that James, who scored 7.6 points per game last season, would take on some of the scoring load that Durant shouldered last season.
Missouri goes to work Second-year coach Mike
Anderson
Anderson's Missouri team returns nearly everybody from a team that finished 18-12 and 7-9 in the Big 12. So that's
a positive for Anderson - sort of.
"We have a lot of guys returning; he said. "That's good, and bad, because it's the same guys from last year, but at the same time hopefully they have become better basketball players."
-Rustin Dodd
Clarke & Wilson, LLC For help with:
Attorneys at Law
DUI/OUI
Fake ID
MIP
Drug Possession
Battery/Domestic Battery
Trespassing
Public Consumption
Divorce
785-832-2181
sports quote of the day
"Kansas coming in undefeated coupled with us coming off a tough loss last week just adds to the fire."
Cody Hawkins, Colorado's starting QB
sports fact of the dav
— KU Football media guide.
Kansas football's last victory against Colorado on the road came in 1995, when the undefeated Jayhawks defeated the then-No. 4 Buffaloos 40-24.
sports trivia of the day
KU Football media guide
A: 8-23 since the series began in 1903.
Q: What is Kansas football's record against Colorado on the road?
sports calendar
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Women's Tennis, ITA Central Region Championships, all day, Tulsa, Okla.
Soccer at Colorado, 4 p.m.
Boulder, Colo.
Women's Tennis, ITA Central Region Championships, all day, Tulsa, Okla.
Women's Swimming, Big 12 Relays, all day, Ames, Iowa
SATURDAY
Football at Colorado, 4:30 p.m., Boulder, Colo.
Women's Tennis, ITA Central Region Championships, all day, Tula, Okla.
Women's Swimming, Northern Iowa swim, 1 p.m., Cedar Falls, Iowa
Women's Swimming, Exhibition dive, all day, Ames. Iowa
Volleyball at Nebraska, TBA Lincoln, Neb.
SUNDAY
Soccer at Texas, 1 p.m., Austin, Texas
mlb
AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Friday, Oct. 12
Boston 10, Cleveland 3
Saturday, Oct. 13
Cleveland 13, Boston 6
Monday, Oct. 15
Cleveland 4, Boston 2
Tuesday, Oct. 16
Cleveland 7, Boston 3
Thursday, Oct. 18
Boston at Cleveland, 7:20 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 20
Cleveland at Boston, TBD, if necessary
Sunday, Oct. 21
Cleveland at Boston, TBD, if necessary
NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Thursday, Oct. 11
Colorado 5, Arizona 1
Friday, Oct. 12
Colorado 3, Arizona 2
Sunday, Oct. 14
Colorado 4, Arizona 1
Monday, Oct. 15
Colorado 6, Arizona 4
Colorado wins series 4
.
.