10A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2005
Schedule doesn't scare Buffaloes
Barnett says games against Miami and Colorado State draw recruits
Greg Heaggans, then junior wide receiver, attempts to spin past Gerrett Burl, then Colorado sophomore cornerback, while Darren Rus, then junior linebacker, looks to block during the game against Colorado last season. The Jayhawks will travel to Boulder, Colo., Oct. 22 to take on the Buffaloes.
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRITTER
Editor's Note: This is the ninth of 11 articles previewing Kansas' competition in the Big 12 Conference. The articles will run every day from now until Sept. 1. Tomorrow, the Kansan will look at Kansas State.
While some teams in the Big 12 Conference opted for easier non-conference games this season, Colorado did not shy away from difficult opponents.
from distant oppoetn. Colorado will travel to Miami to take on the University of Miami in its third game of the season.
The Buffaloes also open their season with a tough home game against rival Colorado State in a nationally televised contest. Colorado coach Gary Barnett said the hard schedule would prepare his team well for conference play, while also helping with recruiting.
great teams.
Barnett said part of the reason he felt comfortable scheduling difficult games was because of the experience that senior quarterback Joel Klatt would provide.
"It is part of the tradition," Barnett said. "You come to Colorado, you get to play those great teams."
back joel kelt woulgm
Klatt started 12 of the Buffaloes 13 games last season, including the team's appearance in the EV1.net Houston Bowl. He threw for 2,065 yards and nine touchdowns.
"Joel can coach our offensive line," Barnett said. "He has taken all the young guys this summer, coached all the young quarterbacks and receivers. He is literally a coach on the field for you."
for you. Klatt's main target will be senior tight end Joe Klopfen-
stein. Klopfenstein earned second-team All-Big 12 honors last season and caught 28 passes for four touchdowns.
Klatt said he would be looking to throw more long passes this season and avoid missing opportunities in the red-zone.
opportunities in it. "We need to have the ability to strike for touchdowns over 25, 30 yards so that we don't get into the games where all of a sudden we are beating our heads against the wall trying to run the football in the end zone," Klatt said.
said.
The running game will be led by senior tailback Lawrence Vickers, who could see action at running back and fullback. Vickers ran for 248 yards last season and also caught 27 passes for 274 yards.
On defense, the team's biggest strength will be its linebackers. Senior linebacker Brian Iwuh racked up 98 tackles last season and should lead the linebacker unit again this season. He is the team's most experienced defensive player with 16 career starts.
Iwu will be joined by sophomore linebacker Jordan Dizon. Dixon was named the Big 12's Defensive Newcomer of the Year last season, after tallying 82 tackles. Junior linebacker Thaddaus Washington will also return after starting much of last season.
A weapon that went unnoticed by some college football fans was junior placekicker Mason Crosby. Crosby was named to the Big 12 Preseason Football Team by the media, and has received All-American attention from various publications. Crosby will enter his third season at Colorado already third on its all-time list in field goals made, with 26. He is tied for sixth in scoring by a kicker with 137 points. Crosby also had a 60 yard field goal last year and was
a perfect 15-for-15 from inside the 40 yard line.
the 90 yard line.
"We wouldn't have won eight games last season without Mason." Barnett said. "He is a weapon for us. He is a once-in-a-25-year player."
a 25-year player Colorado will open its conference schedule with a game at Oklahoma State Oct. 1 and will finish the regular season Nov. 25 with a home date against Nebraska.
— Edited by Erick R. Schmidt
COLORADO 2005 SCHEDULE
Date
09/03/2005
09/10/2005
09/24/2005
10/01/2005
10/08/2005
10/15/2005
10/22/2005
10/29/2005
11/05/2005
11/12/2005
11/25/2005
Opponent
Colorado State
New Mexico State
Miami
Oklahoma State
Texas A&M
Texas
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Iowa State
Nebraska
Source: Colorado Athletics Department
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Mizzou plans to honor player
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Aaron O'Neal, who died July 12 during a voluntary summer football work-out, will never step inside the University of Missouri's planned $16 million athletics training center
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
But those who follow in his footsteps will work out, study and watch game films in a renovated building with a room named after O'Neal — one of a series of season-long and permanent remembrances for the backup middle linebacker announced Monday by coach Gary Pinkel.
The Tigers' first two games of the season — Saturday against Arkansas State in Kansas City and Sept. 10 in Columbia against New Mexico — will include a moment of silence for O'Neal. Tiger players will line up at their 25-yard line in honor of O'Neal's uniform number.
They will wear his number on the back of their helmets, display No. 25 on two grassy expanses inside Memorial Stadium and keep his locker vacant until 2008, the year the redshirt freshman from suburban St. Louis was scheduled to graduate.
was sarcastic to my decision at all," said Pinkel. "The players came up with this."
Boone County medical examiner Valerie Rao determined last week that O'Neal, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, died of viral meningitis, a rare inflammation of the tissues and infection of the fluid covering the brain that is rarely fatal. O'Neal's father has filed suit against Pinkel, athletics director Mike Alden and 12 football trainers and strength coaches, alleging negligence in the moments leading up to O'Neal's death.
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