U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Jayhawk FOOTBALL
KANSAS 72 ALABAMA-BIRM.0
Richard Devinkl / KANSAN
More than 6,000 high school band members from Kansas, Missouri and Illinois participated in the annual Kansas Band Day during a special halftime show at the Kansas and Alabama-Birmingham football game Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
SECTION B
SCORES
Kansas St. 35
Minnesota 0
Colorado 27
Michigan 26
Nebraska 70
Pacific 21
Iowa St. 18
Rice 28
Oklahoma St. 17
Tulsa 0
STANDINGS
Overall
Nebraska 4 0
Colorado 30
Kansas 31
Jayhawks knock out Blazers 72-0
Kansas St. 30
Kansas 31
Oklahoma 21
Oklahoma St. 21
Missouri 12
Iowa St. 04
New AP Top 25
The Top Twenty Five teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 24, and ranking in the previous poll.
rank team record pts. pr
1. Florida (31) 3-0 1,509 1
2. Nebraska (22) 4-0 1,493 2
3. Florida St. (4) 4-0 1,396 3
4. Penn St. (3) 4-0 1,369 5
5. Colorado (1) 3-0 1,334 7
6. Arizona (1) 3-0 1,199 8
7. Michigan 2-1 1,145 4
8. Notre Dame 2-1 1,083 9
9. Auburn 4-0 1,008 10
10. Texas A&M 4-0 935 10
11. Alabama 4-0 906 11
12. Washington 2-1 863 17
13. Miami 2-1 791 6
14. Virginia Tech 4-0 735 14
15. Wisconsin 2-1 674 16
16. Texas 3-0 666 15
17. Wash St. 3-0 515 22
18. N. Carolina 3-0 491 13
19. Southern Cal 2-1 462 19
20. Ohio St. 3-0 430 20
21. Oklahoma 3-0 341 21
22. N. Car. St. 3-0 266 24
23. Kansas St. 3-0 175 —
24. Colorado St. 4-0 71 —
25. Illinois 2-1 64 —
Richard Devinki / XANSAN
Others receiving votes: Kansas 41,
UCLA 39, Utah 34, Duke 26, Georgia
29, Syracuse 18, Virginia 18, Mississippi State 13, Baylor 7, South Carolina 2, Stanford 2, Texas Tech 2, Western Michigan 2, Bowling Green 1.
Source: The Associated Press KANSAN
Senior free safety Kwamie Lassiter tries to strip away the ball from a Blazer wide receiver. The Jayhawks were successful in creating six turnovers in the Saturday victory against Alabama-Birmingham at Memorial Stadium.
Victory is Kansas' third largest point total ever
By Matt Irwin Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas football team defeated an outmatched Alabama-Birmingham team 72-0 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The top two victories were an 86-6 defeat of South Dakota State in 1947 and an 83-0 defeat of Washington University in Missouri in 1923.
The Jayhawks improved their record to 3-1, while the Blazers dropped to 1-3.
Kansas scored 10 touchdowns and kicked one field goal in scoring the third most points and recording the third widest margin of victory in school history.
Junior quarterback poised
Kansas senior defensive tackle Sylvester Wright fell on the ball at the 23-yard line with 10:57 left in the first quarter, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The Division I-AA Blazers did scare the Jayhawks for at least the first four minutes of the game.
Alabama-Birmingham took the opening kickoff and moved the ball 69 yards to the Jayhawk 11-yard line in eight plays. However, on the ninth play of the drive, Blazer senior quarterback John Whitcomb ran into the running back and lost the ball.
By Matt Irwin
In the second quarter, the Blazer's drive was stopped at the Jayhawk 16-yard line when junior linebacker Keith Rodgers intercepted a Whitchpass.
"They moved the ball on the first series, and I thought, 'Here we go again.' Kansas coach Glen Mason said.
Kansansportswriter
Kansas starting running back sophomore June Heney was out with a bruised shoulder. Despite this, the Jayhawk rushing attack ran through the Blazers for 418 yards on 62 carries using six running backs and junior quarterback Mark Williams.
Mason had little to worry about the rest of the game because his team scored 17 points before the Blazers threatened to score again.
Kansas scored eight of its 10 touchdowns on the ground, and the special teams scored the other two.
good job today." Levine said.
"He took charge and did a really
Mark Williams said he was nervous before his first Division I-A game on Saturday, but an Alabama-Birmingham defender helped eliminate the jitters.
Actually, the Blazers defender knocked out all the butterflies.
On the third play of the Jayhawks' first series, Kansas' junior quarterback pitched the ball to sophomore running back Mark Sanders and was forced to the ground by an Alabama-Birmingham defender.
Kansas was led by junior Manoloito '86 yards on nine carries, including a 65-yard run. Both lion L.T.
Junior running back L.T. Levine, who scored three touchdowns against the Blazers, said that Williams came back to the huddle smiling after the hit.
"It was after the first hit on the first series," Williams said in reference to the moment he lost his anxiety.
See JAYHAWKS, Page 6B.
Williams, who started in place of injured senior quarterback Ashelik Preston, passed for 144 yards and completed nine of 11 pass attempts against the Blazers, a Division I-AA team.
Hilver said he also was impressed.
Alabama-Birmingham coach Jim
Preston suffered a partially collapsed lung and a hairline fracture of one rib on Sept. 17 against Texas Christian.
Kansas coach Glen Mason said after the game he could not detect that Williams was nervous about his first start.
"He was a pretty cool customer." Mason said. "He executed and didn't force the ball. He did exactly what we asked him to do."
Preston said that his lung was fine, but that his rib was not.
Although he has not cleared to play, Preston said he may return for the Oct. 6 game against Kansas State.
"I thought he did extremely well, being his first game out," Hilary said. "He was quick and had a good arm."
Williams also ran for 22 yards when he was scrambling away from defenders and trying to find open receivers. "I think that's one of my talents," Williams said.
Williams doesn't like to evaluate himself, but he said he made some good reads when dropping back to pass.
Williams credited the offensive line for his near-perfect completion percentage.
"I think I made pretty good decisions," Williams said. "I want to be perfect in everything I do."
Sophomore tight end Jim Moore agreed. Moore caught three passes for 71 yards.
"Our offense starts up front," Moore said. "And you can't throw if you don't have a good line."
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Sophomore running back Mark Sanders fights off Blazer defenders. Sanders rushed for 61 yards on nine carries. Kansas running backs combined for 418 yards on 62 carries.
Noah Musser/KANSAN
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