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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
Banerjee
Ann Cudd
h-Hodson
Evanhoe
gan Storm
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
FOOTBALL
Herford helps offense
Freshman QB steps up in debut
BY RYAN COLIAIANNI rcoliaini@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Freshman quarterback Marcus Herford was surprised when he entered the third quarter of last Saturday's victory against Appalachian State.
"I didn't really expect it this game." Herford said. "But I am always happy to get in there and help the team out any way I could."
Herford competed for the
Herford
quarterback spot at the beginning of spring practices, but Mangino switched him to wide receiver and had been practicing there until last week.
Last week was the first time since spring practices that Herford had taken snaps at the quarterback position.
Herford was successful when he saw action, as he rushed for 42 yards. His second carry went for 16 yards and a first down. Herford was perfect on his passing attempts as well, going 2-for-2 for 16 yards.
"I thought it was a pretty good game for me," Herford said. "But it wasn't just me of course."
He added that the offensive line helped out with a solid performance.
While Herford primarily ran the ball last Saturday, he said
was pleased with his ability to throw the football as well.
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
"I felt fine throwing it. I read my reads, I think I did pretty well," Herford said. "They want me to run the ball, and if that's what they want me to do, that is fine. If I have to pass, I'll pass."
It's unclear how many repetitions Herford will see in this weekend's game against Louisiana Tech, but Mangino is pleased with Herford's work.
"We have Marcus Herford, who really can spark our offense and do a lot of really
SEE HERFORD ON PAGE 3B
I felt fine throwing it. I read my reads, I think I did pretty well. They want me to run the ball, and if that's what they want me to do, that is fine."
Marcus Herford Freshman quarterback
Senior middle blocker Josi Lima reaches for a dig, while freshman middle blocker Savannah Noyes and sophomore opposite hitter Emily Brown get in position, during a match against Michigan State last Friday. The volleyball team opens the Big 12 portion of its schedule with a match against Texas A&M at 7 p.m. at Horeisi Family Athletics Center.
VOLLEYBALL
Experienced A&M comes to Kansas
No.15 Aggies bring veterans to Horejsi
BY MATT WILSON
mwilson@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Kansas will have to defend its four-game winning streak against No. 15 Texas A&M in both teams' Big 12 Conference opener tonight.
The Jayhawks enter the contest with an 8-1 record, including three consecutive victories in the Pizza Hut Jayhawk Invitational, held last weekend.
Playing at the Horeisi Family Athletics Center will be an advantage for the Jayhawks. Kansas hasn't dropped any of its last six home matches.
Kansas volleyball coach Ray Bechard said the team's nonconference opponents were good preparation for the early Big 12 competition.
Texas A&M is 7-2 after losing to No. 8 Southern California on Sunday. The Aggies returned five starters from last year's squad, which finished 19-9 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Texas A&M is led by senior outside hitter Laura Jones. Jones, an All-American and a two-time All-Big 12 selection, was last week's conference player of the week. She tied an Aggie record Saturday with 55 kill in a victory against Louisiana State.
Kansas dominated Texas
A&M the last time the two teams met. The 3-0 home victory for the Jayhawks was only their second in the all-time series. The Aggies have won 17 of 19 matches against the Jayhawks. Both KU victories were at home.
After a victory against Temple last Saturday, junior outside hitter Jana Correa said the Jayhawks had displayed improvement in the most recent games.
"Our serves and our defense
were much better than when we played BYU," Correa said. "I think we are ready to play."
Beachard has expressed concern with the Jayhawks' consistency all season. For instance, Kansas committed 25 hitting errors against Temple. Overall, the Jayhawks have been efficient this season though, posting a .262 attack percentage compared with their opponents'.167 mark.
Also, the team's serving was a problem earlier in the year. That is
sue has been slowly corrected. To date, the Jayhawks have served 74 aces against 108 errors.
Beachard said the Jayhawks would have to be sharp to beat the Aggies.
"Texas A&M will be a very experienced top 15, top 20 type of team," he said. "It will be a good challenge for us. We can't afford to have some of the mistakes we've made at times."
TONIGHT'S GAME
Edited by Jonathan Kealing
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Horejsi Family Athletics Center
Opponent: No. 15 Texas A&M Angios
- Free to students with KUID
• $6 for adults
$3 for youth (ages 5 to 17)
Source: Kansas Athletics Department
Defense strives for last year's 'mental edge'
FOOTBALL
Senior linebacker Kevin Kane (left) and junior linebacker Paul Come (right) converge on Appalachian State center Scott Suttle. Kane recorded four solo tackles and one assisted tackle during Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium.
Josh Kirk/KANSAN
PAGE 1B
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWRIVER
After two games, Kansas football coach Mark Mangiino said the defense was not where it was a year ago, and needed to develop last season's mental edge over opponents.
After Kansas's 36-8 victory against Appalachian State, Mangino said the defense played all right, but had room for improvement.
"I'm not down on our defense," Mangino said. "I think our defense is really good. I just think that there is another level of play for them. They are not far off, though."
During the 2004 season, the KU defense did not allow any first-quarter touchdowns in all 11 games.
In the first game of the season this year, the Jayhawk defense allowed two 66-yard touchdown passes to Florida
Manqino
Atlantic.
Senior defensive end Charlton Keith said that limiting big plays was something the defense worked on in practice.
things leading up to the big plays that we need to work on," Keith said. "Everybody knowing their assignments, not cheating on plays, and just being technique-sound. That's the stuff that leads to the big play."
Mangino said he would like to see improvement from his defense in forcing turnovers as well.
During the 2004 season, Kansas led the Big 12 Conference with 27 takeaways. The team also led the Conference with 19 interceptions.
SEE DEFENSE ON PAGE 3B
FROM BIG SKY TO
BIG TIME
Offense improves rushing blocking
TIM HALL
THALL@KANSAN.COM
The pleasant surprise in the running game comes thanks to one man — Jon Cornish. The
Cornish's performance Saturday night proved two things. One is that Cornish not only has bruising size, but tremendous speed as well. Second, he needs more carries and he needs them now.
So far this season the Kansas football team has improved in two vital aspects that were missing from the team last year — a balanced rushing attack and superb blocking from the offensive line.
running game one man junior running back has come out with a bang, averaging more than 10 yards per carry in his first two games.
Cornish's performance Saturday proves he has brusing size and tremendous speed, and that he needs more carries.
The running game couldn't have found more than 400 yards rushing in the first two games without the big fellas up front, though.
Jon Cornish needs to see the football more than 10 times, and he needs to carry the ball on first and second down. Clark Green is still a great receiving back to bring in on third down in the shorter yardage situations.
Matt Thompson, Jake Cox,
David Ochoa, Bob Whitaker
and Cesar Rodriguez have done
their jobs to near-perfection in
providing holes for the backs
and protection for the quarterbacks. If you saw some of the holes Cornish busted through Saturday, you would hope he took the whole line out to dinner. Senior quarterback Brian Luke has been sacked only three times.
But a guy who takes his opportunities with the football and scores three times on 10 carries is sending the coach a message. He's saying that he is ready to go.
It appears the Kansas football squad might be experiencing a baby version of what is happening to the Kansas City Chiefs. I say a "baby version" because Clark Green and Jon Cornish don't quite compare to Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson.
Look for Kansas to continue the rushing attack this Saturday against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs' defense is coming off a shell-shocking 41-3 loss to the Florida Gators in the swamp.
Kansas fans have a lot to be excited about with this rushing game behind an experienced and improved line. Last season the Jayhawks gained more than 1,000 yards rushing. The 2005 squad could have more than half that total come Saturday night.
Hall is a Woodbridge, Va., senior in journalism
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