SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BEARS TOPPLE CHIEFS 20-10
PAGE 12B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2007
SOCCER TEAM DISAPPOINTED PAGE 8B
KANSAS 45,TOLEDO 13
PAGE1B
Talib's leap helps Hawks soar
Airtight pass defense grounds Toledo offense as Kansas moves to 3-0
Kansas players head to the locker room after their 45-14 win against Toledo. Kansas finished the game with more than 550 total offensive yards, and the defense held Toledo to 77 passing yards.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
The first time a Kansas wide receiver dove into the end zone this season, sophomore Raimond Pendleton's aerial act raised the irice of Kansas coach Mark Mangino. This time Mangino didn't have much to vell about.
On Saturday, junior Aqib Talib was the high flyer. After a first-down passing play from the Kansas 42-yard line fell apart, sophomore quarterback Todd Reeing rolled out to his right with a defender in hot pursuit. At the last possible moment, Reeing found Talib standing wide open at the 25-yard line. Once Talib secured the ball, he raced toward the right corner of the field and launched into the end zone from just beyond the 5-yard line. But Talib's touchdown leaped more to necessity than celebration, and he earned praise from his coach.
"Aqib made a lot of plays, and when he gets the ball in his hands, he's a playmaker," Mangino said. "He's a guy that in practice makes plays and then brings it out here to the game field. He's an exciting player and a very, very talented young man."
Talib's touchdown reception gave the Jayhawks a 10-0 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter and helped spark the 45-13 Kansas victory. The Toledo Rockets, who faced a 17-point deficit at halftime, failed to crawl any closer and fell to 0-3 on the season. The win kept the Jayhawks undefeated in 2007 at 3-0.
Though Kansas enjoyed a healthy lead from the start of the second quarter, the Jayhawks got off to a slow start for the second consecutive game. Senior wide receiver Marcus Henry dropped a near-touchdown pass in the first quarter, forcing Kansas to settle for a field goal with 6:01 to play in the first quarter. Several more drops by Kansas wide receivers kept the offense from putting many points on the scoreboard early, despite the Jayhawks' 373 first-half yards.
"It really shows a little bit about our team that we didn't start off strong and we were a little inconsistent in the beginning, but we were able to bounce back," Reesing said. "We made some big plays, guys stepped up, and I think we started the second half a little better and started clicking on offense."
The Kansas offense did not need to strike quickly because of the stinginess the Jayhawk defense showed by allowing only 77 passing yards, the fewest the team has allowed in a single game since 2004. The Rockets did
not score until the final two minutes of the first half, and their lone first-half touchdown was the result of a turnover deep in Kansas territory.
Pendleton misplayed a punt at the 21 yard line, and Toledo linebacker Terrell Willis
line.
recovered. On the next play, Toledo caught Kansas off guard when wide receiver Nick Moore caught a lateral screen pass, then threw it back to quarterback Aaron Opel for a 21-yard touchdown. The role-reversal trick brought Toledo within 10 points, but the Jayhawks answered quickly with a five-play, 60-year drive that finished with a
"I was pretty excited when I realized I caught the ball, and I figured I should probably go for the end zone," Larson said. "It was pretty frustrating not getting in. I kind of put a move on the guy at the end — I guess
"I was pretty excited when I realized I caught the ball, and I figured I should probably go for the end zone."
Reeing touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe.
JOHN LARSON
Junior defensive end
Once Kansas had a substantial lead, the Rockets never threatened. Kansas forced three turnovers on interceptions by Talib, sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey and junior defensive end John Larson. Larson returned his interception 12 yards to the one-yard
I should have just powered my way in. $ ^{29} $
Fortunately for the Jayhawks, senior running back Brandon McAnderson finished what Larson started, scoring a touchdown just one minute later. After McAnderson's touchdown run near the end of the third quarter, Kansas led 38-7. Once the fourth quarter beane.
the Kansas backups trickled in from the sidelines. The second-string players did not fare poorly against Toledo but did allow the Rockets a touchdown with five seconds remaining in the game. Kansas' game on Saturday was similar to its first two of 2007:
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 6B
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Aqib Talib, junior cornerback, runs down the field. Talib played on offense for much of the game and caught two passes for 62 yards, including a 58-victory reception capped by a five-vein leap into the end zone.
COMMENTARY
Offense sputters at times in victory
Saturday's 45-13 victory against Toledo, which looks great in the box score, was awfully painful to watch at times.
For some of the game, the Jayhawks' performance was comparable to the Keystone Cops. Receivers dropped balls, a punt returner fumbled a punt, the offensive line gave up sacks and sophomore Todd Reeseing had problems with his accuracy.
After last year's 37-31 double-overtime loss to Toledo, it's hard to not be impressed with a 45-13 victory, but Big 12 Conference play is just two weeks away. It's time for this Kansas football team to play more consistently on offense.
The game seemed a little too close for comfort in the second quarter when Toledo recovered a punt fumbled by sophomore wide receiver Raimond Pendleton on the Kansas 21-yard line. Following the fumble, Toledo scored on a gimmick play to narrow Kansas's lead to 10 points. Before this touchdown, Kansas had failed to convert on two fourth down conversions, giving the Rockets a chance to stay in the game.
Despite throwing for 313 yards and four touchdowns, Reeing completed only 16 of 35 pass attempts. At times his passes were too long, other times they were too short. Fortunately for Reeing, none of his errant throws were intercepted.
Just when it looked like Kansas was going to allow a Toledo comeback, the offense took possession of the ball with 1:46 remaining in the second quarter.
For close to a minute, a fan behind me acted as the town crier for the announced
Sophomore Jake Sharp led the running attack, carrying the ball 13 times for an impressive 127 yards. Senior Marcus Henry, who dropped a few passes early, made up for his mistakes with seven catches for 133 yards. Junior defensive back Aqib Talib looks like the second coming of Denver Broncos standout cornerback Champ Bailey. He continues to be a threat on offense and defense. His 58-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter might have been the most exciting offensive play so far this season.
crowd of 48,112, repeatedly yelling "Touchdown before halftime!" Kansas answered his demands when Reeing connected with freshman Dezmond Briscoe on a 26-yard touchdown strike, basically sealing the victory for the Jayhawks as they went ahead 24-7.
Three games into the season, Kansas has the No.1 passing defense in the Big 12, allowing just 121.0 yards through the air a game, a significant improvement from last year's average of 269.1 yards allowed per game. The secondary looked ready for conference play, as Talib and sophomore safety
Right now, it looks possible for a Big 12 North title for Kansas, and next week's game against Florida International should be the final tune-up for the Kansas offense before the team faces Kansas State on Oct. 6 in Mahattan, Considering Kansas' inconsistent road record in the recent past and K-State's new tradition of the "Power Towel," the first real test for this year's team is yet to come.
Kansan sports columnist Bryan Wheeler can be reached at bwheeler@ kansan.com
Edited by Chris Beattie
Darrel Stuckey each had an inerception. The Jayhawks' rushing defense, ranked third in the Big 12 and allowing only 85.7 yards per game, makes the defensive unit this team's biggest strength.
Defensive rankings
Big 12 National Stats
Scoring Defense
1 4 6.7 ppg
Rushing Defense
3 24 85.7 ypg
Passing Defense
1 10 121 ypg
Total Defense
2 4 206.7 ypg
VOLLEYBALL
Kansas drops to 0-2 in Big 12
rdodd@kansan.com
BY RUSTIN DODD
Kansas' conference road woes continued in its Big 12 Conference road opener at Oklahoma Saturday.
Kansas has now lost 13 consecutive Big
12 road matches. The last time Kansas wop
a Big 12 road match was Nov. 9, 2005, against the same Oklahoma program that kept the streak alive on a day when Oklahoma defeated Kansas 3-1 (30-24, 30-20, 27-30, 30-17), dropping the Jayhawks to 7-5 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 of the Sooners immei-
Kaiser
to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
"We knew we could compete with them," Jenna Kaiser, junior outside hitter, said. "We just have to be ready to play in a loud environment."
Kansas had early chances to steal game one. Both teams battled through 18 ties and 12 lead changes in a close game. But Oklahoma outside hitter Bridget Laplante notched a kill on an assist from setter Julie Chester to give Oklahoma a 22-21 lead. The Sooners went on an 8-3 run to close out the game 30-24.
17
Once again Kansas stayed close early in game two. Kansas sophomore middle blocker Brittany Williams finished one of her seven kills to give Kansas an 8-7 lead. But Oklahoma won the next four points to take an 11-8 win, winning game two 30-20.
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 4B
Team update
Senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart missed her eight consecutive match on Saturday. Uhart was injured on Aug. 31 against Michigan State and has not played since. Because of NCAA rules, Kansas has not released any information about Uhart's injury.
Injury report
Ekwerekwu Sighting
Oklahoma middle blocker Francie Ekwerekwu's last name might sound familiar to Kansas fans. That's because Ekwerekwu's older brother, Brad, was a wide-receiver at Missouri and spent training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was released at the end of training camp.
Up Next
1.
Kansas travels to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri in the volleyball edition of the border showdown. Missouri is 7-3 and 0-1 in the Big 12 after falling to No. 7 Texas on Saturday. Kansas lost to Missouri twice last season, losing 3-1 at home and 3-1 in Columbia, Mo.