4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
>> FANTASY FOOTBALL
Players who should sit, players who should shine
Here are the stars who will shine this weekend, and the players who need to sit on the bench.
ADVANTAGE
» Roy Williams, Detroit wide receiver: Williams had a good game last weekend against a tough Vikings defense. He had seven catches, 111 yards and one touchdown. The Eagles defense has looked humble so far this season, and Jon Kitna should find Williams open on many occasions on Sunday. Eagles safety Brian Dawkins has a neck injury. If he doesn't play on Sunday, Williams will have no problem getting open deep in the Eagles secondary.
BY KELLY BRECKUNITCH
KANSAN COLUMNIST
KBRECKUNITCH@KANSAN.COM
San Diego's LaDanian Tomlinson was held to 43 yards on 18 carries Sunday against the Patriots, but the Packers should pose little threat to the Chargers' running back.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
>> LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego running back: Tomlinson was held to 43 yards on 18 carries last Sunday against the Patriots. He will be running with a purpose this Sunday because he knows no team should be able to shut him down. Tomlinson doesn't need any motivation to have a big game, but running angry against a modest Packers defense should lead to a big day for the Chargers running back.
» Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle quarterback: Derek Anderson threw for 328 yards and five touchdowns against the Bengals secondary. It's safe to say that Hasselbeck is a better quarterback than Anderson, so he should have a good game against the Bengals on Sunday. Last week Hasselbeck threw for 281 yards and one touchdown against an improved Cardinals secondary. Just think about what he'll do to the Bengals.
>> Minnesota defense: Sorry,
Chiefs fans, but it could be a long season. Minnesota has a very good defense. The Chiefs offense has looked — insert your own degrading word here — so far this year. Yes, it will be the Chiefs' first game at home, but the Vikings kept a better Falcons offense to three points and gave up 20 points to the Lions. The Chiefs' woes will continue on Sunday.
DISADVANTAGES
》 J.P. Losman, Buffalo quarterback: Losman only threw for 154 yards against the Pittsburgh defense. This week he takes on the Patriot defense, which has looked like the best in the league. The Patriots pressure the quarterback, get interceptions and stop the run just as well. All of these factors add up to a long day for Losman on Sunday.
Terrell Owens, Dallas wide receiver: Owens faces one of the toughest defenses in the league on Sunday. The Bears' stingy defense
will keep the Cowboys wide receiver in check. The Bears have not let a quarterback throw for more than 200 yards yet this season and they will cause problems for Tony Romo. This could lead to fewer balls thrown in Owens' direction.
Larry Johnson, Chiefs running back: The Vikings run defense has looked stellar so far this year. Detroit's leading rusher, Brian Calhoun, had 22 yards rushing last Sunday against the Vikings and Warrick Dunn only had 55 rushing
yards against the Vikings on the opening weekend. All of this spells trouble for Larry Johnson, who has already struggled so far this season.
Tampa Bay defense: St. Louis is 0-2 right now, but its offense has looked sharp in both games so far. Marc Bulger threw for 368 yards against an improved San Francisco defense last week. Tampa Bay already gave up 20 points to a weaker Seattle offense in their opening game of the season. The Rams offense will roll on Sunday. It's just a
Projected stats
ADVANTAGES
Roy Williams
10 catches
126 yards
1 touchdown
LaDainian Tomlinson
30 carries
131 yards
2 touchdowns
5 catches
42 yards
1 touchdown
Matt Hasselbeck
28/39
334 yards
3 touchdowns
DISADVANTAGES
Terrell Owens
3 catches
30 yards
J.P. Losman
24/37
192 yards
2 interceptions
Larry Johnson
19 carries
47 yards
matter of whether their defense win come to play.
Edited by Rachael Gray
MLB
Royals top White Sox 3-0;
Grienke strikes out 10
Zack Greinke may have ended the debate about whether he should be a starter or reliever.
Greinke struck out a careerhigh 10 and pitched two-hit ball for eight innings, leading the Royals against the White Sox 3-0 Thursday.
Greinke (7-6) made his sixth start since rejoining the rotation on Aug. 24 and allowed just one runner past first base.
He began the season as a starter, but after getting hit hard May 6 in a loss at Detroit, he was shifted to the bullpen with a 1-4 record.
"I feel like I'm a starter, but other people make that decision," Greinke said. "The main thing was to get my pitch count down and go deep into the game."
He became the first Kansas City pitcher to reach double digits in strikeouts since Odalis Perez had 10 at Boston on Sept. 8, 2006.
"That is something I wouldn't have been able to do in the past," Greinke said. "Since I've moved to the bullpen, I've been striking out guys better. Ten is a real lot. I never would have imagined that when the season started, me striking out 10 in a game cause I just couldn't miss that many bats."
Kansas City broke a 21-inning scoreless streak with a two-run sixth.
doubles — the latter on an 0-2 pitch after Pena twice failed to get down a bunt. David DeJesus grounded out, and Esteban German hit a sacrifice飞。
"It's been a while," Buck said of snapping an 0-for-12 rut with two hits. "It's nice to see one of those hit the outfield grass."
Buck and Tony Pena Jr. hit
Jerry Owens doubled for Chicago leading off the fourth and Juan Uribe sacrificed, but Jim Thome and Paul Konerko struck out.
"In the bullpen, I've been pitching in tough situations like that," Greinke said. "I kind of figured on how to get out of jams like that, where in the past I might try to do too much. Thome can really hurt you, but he strikes out a lot, too."
Associated Press
Is the Big 12 burning? Although ESPN's Lee Corso and Kirk Herbsteit will try to persuade you that the conference is down, it is the rise and decadence of programs that is creating the new-look Big 12.
In the past, the Big 12 has been known to produce elite running backs in systems that benefited from run-base attack offenses. But this past year teams in the Big 12 have scored more points, and the quarterbacks have been responsible.
cast aside.
Kansas is putting up more points than it ever has in the Mangino era, and it is no surprise that Todd Reesinger has become the 10th-best passer in the nation according to efficiency. Although analysts like to try to knock on the Jayhawks' strength of schedule and use that to take away from their recent success, the fact still remains that the team has improved and is proving to be a force. From the school in Lawrence to its eastern brethren in Columbia, the known key ingredient to the Tigers' success is quarterback Chase Daniel. Daniel ranks 28th nationally in passer efficiency and, similar to the Jayhawks, the Tigers are off to a 3-0 start.
FOOTBALL
Quarterbacks get credit for Big 12 success
BY TYLER PASSMORE
tpassmore@kansan.com
Although his numbers and voters continue to climb with every victory, it is the gunslinger from Lubbock, Texas, who is being overshadowed. Starting quarterback for Texas Tech, Graham Harrell, has thrown for more yards and touchdowns than Brennan, yet his name is merely whispered to the voters.
the top 15 in the nation in pass efficiency tend to not get the respect they deserve. This year, Colt Brennan from the University of Hawaii is getting Heisman talk because of his production and success.