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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BASEBALL TAKES ON CROATIAN NATIONAL TEAM PAGE 8B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
》 ONE LOVE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,2007
LEADING THE PACK
PAGE 1B
Receivers create new atmosphere in KU offense
A quick glance at Kansas' all-time receiving records should leave people with two thoughts. First, Mark Simmons, the reception leader with 155, didn't catch too many passes. Texas' all-time leader Roy Williams caught 241 in his career. Kansas State's Kevin Lockett had 217, Baylor even has had four people catch more passes in a career than Simmons.
And it's about time. Receiving yards mean victories in college football. In last season's national championship game, six Florida receivers caught passes for 214 yards. The loser of that game, Ohio State, only caught a KU-like four passes.
Second, only one receiver on the all-time records list, Isaac Byrd, has been selected in the NFL Draft in the last 20 years.
That's KU receiving for you. They've dropped passes. They've butchered routes. They've run slower 40 times than Rush Limbaugh. They've been laughably mediocre — until now.
Kansas showed a newfound ability to make plays in the air in its 52-7 blowout against Central Michigan on Saturday night. Check out the numbers: 26 receptions, 308 total receiving yards and five touchdowns. Kansas is ready to keep pace with the rest of college football.
The best recent teams have always had playmasters at wide receiver. Think of the receivers at schools like Texas, USC and LSU.
"We've taken on a whole new mentality, Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "We're going all out."
Edited by Jeff Briscoe
Kansas with Termaine Fulton and Brian Murph doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? Because of that lack of personnel, the Jayhawk passing game had three options in recent years. 1. Shovel pass. 2. Shovel pass. 3. Shovel pass.
Kansas receivers averaged about 17 receptions for 204 yards per game the last three seasons. That's not how you compete for a Big 12 title.
"With me playing DB, I know how hard it is to cover the deep ball." Aqib Talib said. "You have a pretty successful offense the more you throw it downfield."
Talib, a junior, is one of the many receivers who showed how this Kansas team could be different from years past on Saturday night. He had two catches and one was a dazzling 49-yard touchdown reception at the end of the second half. Long receptions were a theme. Senior Marcus Henry caught one for 46 yards. Junior Dexton Fields had a 34-yard.
It's a make-up Kansas has never had until now. They're catching passes so Kansas can catch up with the rest of the country.
This group of players made people forget about the short curl and swing pass routes of years past. They went deep. They caught the ball when Central Michigan shoved them. They made Todd Reesing and Kerry Meier's jobs easier. They gave the team a new identity in one night.
"They're the same faces as before. They just have a different style, a different mental make-up," Mangino said.
In 2006, Kansas never had 26 receptions in a game. Only once did it have more than 300 receiving yards. The Jayhawks are now a passing team.
All the roles are there. The speedsters: Raimond Pendleton and Marcus Herford bolt past cornerbacks like they have V-12 engines in their legs. The consistent tight end: Derek Fine blocks and catches when he needs to. The possession receiver: Fields makes some of his best catches on third down. The vocal leader: Talib speaks longer than Chris Tucker at a wedding toast.
Henry perfectly illustrates how this core of receivers has changed. He caught a disappointing 42 passes the past two years combined. He and other players didn't do enough to help the passing attack. Henry said they practiced harder this summer than they ever had before.
And of course, the go-to-guy: Henry. Although he never admit it, his numbers reveal what his mouth won't. He blew up during the spring game, catching three touchdown passes, and followed it up with his 103-yard performance Saturday. At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Henry is big enough to bang with physical corners but still fast enough to go for the long ball like he did with his 46-yarder against tie Chipewas.
Senior Colby Wissel (right) led the Jayhawks to victory at the Bob Timmons Invitational Saturday at Bim Rock Farm. He was followed by senior Paul Heferson (left). The two finished first and second overall respectively, the opposite of last year's finish when Heferson left in front of Wissel. The team easily outpaced the second place team, placing five runners in the top 22 spots.
Men,women take Rim Rock Farm
Teams run away from competition in Bob Timmons Invitational
Jeff Jacobsen/Kansas Athletics
BY TYLER PASSMORE
tpassmore@kansan.com
Sept. 1 was a day of dominance for KU cross country teams, which devoured their opponents. In the first meet of the year, both the men and women's teams took turns running away with the Bob Timmons Invitational title.
The finish for the men's squad had a surreal, eerie feeling much similar to something that has been seen before on the majestic Rim Rock Farm course. Chasing their own ghosts of last year's finish, senior All-Americans Colby Wissel and Paul Hefferon emerged from the wooded final leg of the race side by side. If being ahead was not impressive enough, the two were putting even more distance on their opponents
Sophomore Lauren Bonds placed third overall and lead the women's performance Saturday. The women impressely beat the field by more than 40 points.
Unlike last year, this time it was Wissel who got the extra step in to barely edge out his teammate.
While Wissel and Hefferon pushed the tempo, it was the rest of the team that helped win the event. Sophomore Bret Ingrud finished tenth, freshman Nick Caprario finished 17th while sophomore Dan Van Ordsel put the dagger in the competition, finishing 22nd overall. The men outpaced their closest competition by an impressive 43 points.
On the women's side, it was one of the younger members out in front who helped the women's team get their first victory of the year.
far behind Bonds was Senior Alicia McGregor, who finished her strong race eighth overall. Other finishers to just miss the top ten, were
top finishers
Men
1 Colby Wissel
2 Paul Heferon
10 Bret Imgrnd
17 Nick Caprio
22 Dan Van Ordsel
Women
3 Lauren Bonds
8 Alicia McGregor
13 Lisa Morrisey
14 Amanda Miller
15 Hayley Harbert
Sophomore Lauren Bonds was first to cross the line for the Hawks and third overall. Not
senior Lisa Morrisey, 13th freshman Amanda Miller, 14th and senior Hayley Harbert, 15th. The women also beat the second place team with ease, putting 42 points between them.
Although both teams had impressive starts, they hope to continue their success this Friday when the team heads to the Kansas State Wildcat Invitational. The event will take place in Manhattan, with the gun sounding for the women at 6:45 p.m. and the men at 7:15 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
—Edited by Jeff Briscoe
Bechard makes history with 3-1 victory against MSU
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
The Kansas volleyball team fought through an injury and a lineup shuffle to make history on Saturday night.
Coach Ray Bechard won his 151st match at Kansas, passing former coach Frankie Albitz for the most victories by a Kansas volleyball coach, as Kansas scored a 3-1 (30-22, 30-21, 22-30, 31-29) victory against Missouri State in East Lansing, Mich.
Kansas improved to 3-3 on the season, and salvaged a 1-2 record at the Spartan Invitational.
Junior middle blocker Natalie Uhart suffered an injury in the fourth game of a 3-2 (30-16, 26-30, 30-22, 19-30, 15-4) loss to Michigan State on Friday night. The injury sidelined Uhart for the remainder of the tournament, including a 3-1 (22-30, 30-20, 30-27, 30-16) loss to Florida State on Saturday morning.
"We were still in transition a little bit against Florida State, but I think we settled in against Missouri State," coach Ray Bechard
The injury forced Kansas to switch around its lineup for the rest of the tournament.
Kansas vs. UMKC, 7 p.m.
Kansas plays its home opener tonight against the UMKC Kangaroos at the Horesji Family Athletics Center.
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 6B
Kansas carries in a 3-1 record following a 1-2 finish at the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Mich., this past weekend. UMKC is 3-5 this season after consecutive losses to Georgia State and Texas State last weekend.
"I'm sure (UMKC) will come in motivated," Bechard said. "It's an opportunity for us to play at home, and that's not going to guarantee us any points, but it should help our comfort zone."
Kansas swept UMKC 3-0 last season and is 25-1 against UMKC all-time.
FOOTBALL
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Patrick Resby, junior safety, tackles Central Michigan running back Ontario Sneed. Resby had two solo tackles during Saturday's game. The Kansas defense held Chippewa quarterback Dan LeFevour to 172 passing yards.
KU defense ensures bad day for CMU
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer.kansan.com
Central Michigan sophomore quarterback Dan LeFevour came into Saturday's game against Kansas surrounded by as much hype as any young quarterback in the nation.
He left Memorial Stadium after a 52-7 loss with nothing more than bruises and a list of things to work on before the Chippewas' next game.
"The big thing is we just didn't execute," Central Michigan coach Butch Jones said. "When guys were open, we just didn't get it to them."
LeFevour finished the game 19-for-37 with 172 yards — more than 50 yards fewer than his average from 2006 — and many of the yards came when the game was already out of the Chippewas' reach. LeFevour didn't seem to get into any kind of rhythm until late in the second half.
The Jayhawks' secondary washed away memories of a 2006 season that saw the Kansas defense rank last out of 119 NCAA Division I-A teams against the pass. LeFevour said he saw no remnants of Kansas' dreadful defensive backfield of a year ago.
SEEFOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B