4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2007
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Tough games help recruiting
Fierce competition comes from non-conference match-ups
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Texas A&M's first game may have been a 38-7 blow out against FCS, formerly known as Division 1-AA, opponent Montana State, but none of the other Big 12 conference programs opened its season against a FCS team.
Teams in the Big 12 Conference have clearly started scheduling tougher non-conference opponents to open the season. In the first two weekends of college football, Big 12 teams play seven games against fellow BCS-conference programs.
The Big 12 Team's Notable Non-Conference Games:
"When you beat a good football team by that score, obviously you feel real good for your players," he said. "It's a good way to start the season."
"Anytime you are playing in a stadium with 95,000 people it's going to be pretty intimidating," Gundy said. "There was a lot of hype and a lot of emotion put into that game."
That's four more than last season and tied with the Southeastern Conference for the most in the nation. And those seven don't even include Texas and Baylor's games against nationally ranked Texas Christian or Kansas' opener against defending Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan.
Formidable Foes
Week 1:
No. 22 TCU 27, Baylor 0
Kansas 52, Central Michigan 7
No. 13 Georgia 35, Oklahoma
State 14
No. 18 Auburn 23, Kansas
State 13
Week 2:
No. 20 Nebraska at Wake
Forest
Oklahoma State traveled to Athens, Ga., to play then-ranked No. 13 Georgia in its first game. The Bulldogs didn't have much trouble against the Cowboys, beating them 35-14.
Week 3:
Miami (FL) at No. 8 Oklahoma
No. 22 TCU at No. 4 Texas
Colorado at Arizona State
The Jayhaws dismantled the highly-regarded Chippewas, 52-7. Coach Mark Mangino said there was an advantage to starting the season against a difficult opponent.
Iowa at Iowa State
No. 1 USC at No. 20 Nebraska
No. 19 Florida at Colorado
Oklahoma State wasn't the only Big 12 program to make the treacherous trip to the Deep South in the first week of the season. Kansas State played another SEC team, the Auburn Tigers in Alabama.
Week 4:
But Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said the trip to the southeast benefited his team in ways that a game against a smaller program couldn't.
No. 25 Texas A&M at Miami (FL)
No. 8 Oklahoma at Tulsa
Kansas State led for most of the game but suffered a heart-breaking 23-13 defeat in the final minutes. Wildcat coach Ron Prince said the game was not only a great opportunity for his players but also for the Wildcat program.
"Because it's a national television game, we get the chance to go and have the Powercat seen nationally," Prince said. "It's a great opportunity."
The Kansas State vs. Auburn game was shown on ESPN Saturday night, giving the Wildcats national exposure that could help in recruiting. Prince said the game also reflected his personal beliefs as far as formulating a non-conference schedule.
"When we first got here we had conversations about how you would like to schedule and what would be your scheduling philosophy" he said. "To play against and prepare for a national-championship caliber team was one of our goals in non-conference scheduling."
Prince's philosophy seems to be in stark contrast to former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder's. Snyder became well known for advocating scheduling of weaker non-conference opponents in the early 1990s. He displayed profound success implementing the belief and transformed the Wildcats from a perennial loser to a national power.
Some Big 12 coaches still relate
more to Snyder's scheduling techniques. Oklahoma will play the University of Miami, another traditionally successful program, Saturday. Sooner Coach Bob Stoops said that while fans love the pairing of two great teams, he isn't always in favor of it.
"I don't know that we want to be playing each other all the time," Stoops said. "These games are exciting and all but when you want to compete for a national championship it doesn't always make sense scheduling these games."
If the Sooners were to lose to the Hurricanes Saturday, it would put a definite halt on their national championship aspirations.
As for Kansas, its non-conference schedule gets much easier in the coming weeks. The Jayhawks play both an FCS opponent, Southeastern Louisiana, and a FCB team that has lost 14 straight games, Florida International. Mangino said he didn't look too much into the schedule and coached the same way regardless.
"It's my job to get our guys ready to play week after week no matter who the opponent is," he said. "It depends on mental toughness whether you're playing the number one team in the nation or the number 119."
Edited by Ashlee Kieler
>> FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Reesing garners praise for game
TICKET SALES AT ARROWHEAD
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
The Kansas Athletics Department reported it had sold more than 69,000 tickets to the Nov.24 game against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said the figure included season ticket sales. The capacity of Arrowhead Stadium is just over 79,000.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Coach Mark Mangino announced the players of the week on Tuesday. Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing won offensive player of the week for his 20-of-29, 261 yard, four touchdown performance. Junior defensive end John Larson and
junior linebacker James Holt shared the defensive player of the week award. Larson recorded
seven tackles a and sack in his first career start, and Holt led the team with nine tackles. Scott Webb earned the nod for special teams player of
the week. Webb converted all seven of his extra point attempts and a 34-yard field goal. Most importantly, Webb booted three of his nine kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. The scout team players of the week honors went to freshman offensive lineman Alex Smith and freshman defensive tackle Richard Johnson Jr.
Holt
INJURY UPDATE
Mangino said junior safety Tang Bacheyie received little to no playing time against Central Michigan because of a minor injury several weeks prior. He said junior safety Patrick Resby had improved since his arrival at Kansas, and played well as the team's starting strong safety on Saturday.
REESING PUBLICITY
Reesing's stellar game against Central Michigan earned him plenty of immediate attention from regional media. On Tuesday, his performance drew some national interest when Collegesportsreport.com named Reesing its Division 1 FBS Player of the Week. Reesing is ranked 11th in the nation in passing efficiency and did not throw an interception on Saturday.
Edited by Kyle Carter
Cubs hard sale despite winning record
MLB
But whether the Cubs make the playoffs or even manage to capture their first World Series in 99 years, an emerging lineup of deep-pocketed bidders has put Tibune in strong position to net a record sale price for the franchise.
CHICAGO - Five months after Tribune Co. announced plans to sell the Chicago Cubs, the first-place ballclub is making much more noise on the field than its corporate owners have been about the slow-moving sale process.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tribune put the team and historic Wrigley Field on the block in April, saying it would sell the team after the season and intended to do so by the end of the year. But its bankers have yet to send out detailed financial information to prospective bidders and are not expected to do so until mid-September, jeopardizing that timetable.
A source familiar with the sale process said there's no chance of the sale being completed this year, with a more realistic target now baseball's opening day in spring 2008. The source, who declined to be identified out of concern of disrupting the process, said "five or six legitimate groups" have emerged as would-be buyers, but declined to give details.
Tribune, which is in the process of going private in an $8.2 billion buyout being led by real estate magnate Sam Zell, isn't talking about dates, names or numbers. A spokesman for the media conglomerate, Gary Weitman, said the company doesn't want the process to be a distraction to the season.
"Wed like to get the sale done as soon as possible after the baseball season ends," Weitman said. "But I can't and wouldn't predict what the timing will be."
to a slim — and rare — 1.5 game lead in the National League Central Division and trying to get to the World Series for the first time since 1945. They haven't won a World Series title since 1908.
Currently, the Cubs are clinging
That legacy hasn't scared off potential buyers.
While the price remains impossible to peg before the first bid is even placed, sports economists say the expressed interest of several billionaires, among other well-heeled investors, make it a good bet it will exceed the record $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox in 2002 by a group headed by billionaire commodities trader John Henry. The Red Sox broke their own World Series skid in 2004.
The Cubs' package includes not only Wrigley but Tribune's 25 percent stake in the Comcast sports channel in Chicago, fueling widespread speculation the overall value of the deal could reach 1 billion.
FOOTBALL
Junior wide receiver Dexton Fields gains 49 yards as slot receiver during Kansas' home opener Saturday. This was the team's first game under the leadership of new offensive coordinator Ed Warinner.
Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN
Wide receivers key to victory Quarterback Reesing credits teammates with saving play
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
As Kansas players trickled out of the locker room to meet the press after defeating Central Michigan on Saturday, Todd Reesing was clearly the main attraction. Media relations employees guided Reesing to the corner of the room where the note-scribbling hoard surrounded the diminutive quarterback.
Reesing's 261-yard, four-touchdown showing was certainly worthy of attention, but the wide receiving corps may have been an equally
Plavers with multiple receptions Saturday
important cog in Kansas' offensive machine.
"All of us receivers have been pretty good just coming in and adding a spark to the offense," freshman wide receiverDezmon Briscoe said. "The receivers
ed nicely for the Jayhawks in 2007. In its inaugural game under offensive coordinator Ed Warinner, the Kansas offense was unpredictable,
catches yards
Marcus Henry 7 103
Derek Fine 5 30
Dexton Fields 4 49
Raimond Pendleton 3 34
Aqib Talib 2 52
"We want to be able to mix it up with the run and the pass. We need to be a team that can get the ball down the field."
MARK MANGINO Coach
were already good, but we're just building on what they've done. We're just trying to come in and do our part."
Briscoe made an outstanding 16 yard touchdown catch, Ingram started the game and played quite a few snaps and Pendleton returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown and pulled down three receptions.
The influx of young talent at wide receiver and the move toward a wide open offensive scheme have coincid-
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Briscoe is the centerpiece of an explosive and versatile group of young Jayhawk receivers. Briscoe, along with sophomore Raimond Pendleton and redshirt freshman Tertavian Ingram, saw plenty of action in the season-opener.
efficient and nearly perfect.
Most formations included four wide receivers and some involved creative new wrinkles - wide-outs stacked at the line of scrimmage or placed into a diamond-like
group near the sideline. Instead of falling back on more conservative tactics, Kansas used misdirection and draw plays to keep Central Michigan off-kilter.
"We want to be able to attack the field both downfield and horizontally," coach Mark Mangino said. "We want to be able to mix it up with the run and the pass. We need to be a team that can get the ball down the field."
Kansas' flock of young receivers substituted in and out throughout the game to keep a fresh set of legs on the field at all times. While Briscoe and Ingram shared the spotlight on one side of the field, while senior Marcus Henry and junior Dexton Fields remained constants as the other two downfield threats.
Fields was his normally steady self, gaining 49 yards on four catches as the slot receiver. Henry enjoyed his most productive day as a Jayhawk, recording seven catches, 103 yards, one touchdown and a breath-taking circus catch.
Late in the first quarter, Reesing heaved a pass high in the air toward the left sideline, where the 6-foot-4 Henry was matched up against 6-foot outside linebacker Tim Brazzel. The problem was Reesing underthrown his target by several feet. Henry solved the problem by tipping the ball out of Brazzel's outstretched hands, over the defender's helmet and into his own hands. The 21-yard gain gave Kansas a first down.
"On the ball I threw to Marcus Henry — on a fade — I had underthrown the ball and it wasn't the best pass," Reesing said. "It's good to know we can get big plays when I don't make the best of throws."
The most telling testament to the receivers' performance came from Reesing. Surrounded by reporters asking for his thoughts and feelings on his first career start, he tossed some of the credit to his teammates - mainly the ones to whom he tossed the ball just hours earlier.
Edited by Amelia Freidline
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