MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 11A
Barmann leads quarterbacks
BY RYAN COLIAIANNI rcoliaani@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Although Kansas football coach Mark Mangino has not named a starter for this Saturday's game against Florida Atlantic, all signs are pointing to junior Adam Barmann.
le room-
ar 6th &
Barmann started the first eight games last season, before suffering an apparent shoulder injury against Iowa State, ending his season. Barmann has since worked with the first team throughout spring practices and training camp.
ommate.
KU bus
"Adam Barmann has picked up some ground coming out of the summer program. He's probably the most prepared of our veteran quarterbacks," Mangino said. "He still has to continue to improve to win the job."
At the team's annual media day on Aug. 11, Barmann was asked if the starting quarterback job was his. He confidently answered "yeah."
He passed for 1,427 yards with 12 touchdowns over nine interceptions.
Pushing Barmann is senior Brian Luke.
Luke led the team to victory over Missouri last season, yet was listed behind Barmann and senior Jason Swanson on the depth chart when spring practices ended in April.
Since then, Luke went to Mangino and told him he wanted to be the starting quarterback.
"I made it clear that I do not want to be the back-up, that I want to be the starter," Luke
said. "But should I be the backup I will do that with 100 percent pride."
Mangino appreciated Luke talking to him in his office, rather than hearing it from another coach, Luke said.
"I am as confident as I have ever been. I know the offense better than I ever have before," Luke said. "I am definitely looking forward to this season."
Justin O'Neal/KANSAN
Luke saw action in three games last year and his pass-efficiency rating was the highest of any of the team's quarterbacks. He passed for 467 yards and three touchdowns.
Luke also nearly led Kansas to a victory over Texas, the week before the Missouri contest.
"Brian Luke is a very good player who has a great command of the offense," Barmann said. "We have a lot of very good players at the quarterback position and it will make all of us better."
Freshman quarterback Kerry Meier is also still in the mix for the job. Mangino said.
"The young guy, Kerry Meier, each and every day he learns more and more about our offense," Mangino said. "You can see he's an awfully talented guy."
Mangino hasn't said whether Meier wouldn't receive a redshirt this season.
Senior quarterback Jason Swanson, who threw the goahead touchdown against Kansas State last season, apparently is not in the race for the starting job.
"Swanson's been slowed down. He doesn't take many repetitions and has lost a lot of
Junior Adam Barmann is the front-runner for the starting quarterback position. Freshman Kerry Meier and seniors Brian Luke and Jason Swanson are also vying for playing time at quarterback.
Whoever wins the quarterback job will lead an offense that struggled at times last season moving the ball downfield as it averaged just over 300 yards of total offense per game.
ground consequently," Mangino said. "He's got a long way to go to get himself back in the race."
Barmann said that going against one of the Big 12 Conference's top defenses in practice has helped the quarterbacks' progress this offseason.
"Those guys fly around and they have playmakers. To go against every day is a tremendous help to our offense," Barmann said.
— Edited by Nate Karlin
2004 SEASON STATS QUARTERBACK COMPARISON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Injuries affect U.S. Open
TENNIS
NEW YORK Women's tennis and the NFL have one thing in common: injuries galore.
Tennis seems a tame game compared with football's violence, but there's no shortage of aches among the women trooping into the U.S. Open today with their bandages and painkillers, physical therapists and chiropractors.
Attempts Compleitions Interceptions Percentage Yards Touchdowns
Adam Barmann 262 141 9 53.8 1,427 12
Brian Luke 65 40 1 61.5 467 3
Source: Kansas Athletics Department
Kim Clijsters, one of the few top players completely healthy at the moment, has been sizzling this summer and is favored to win her first Grand Slam championship after racking up his tour-leading sixth title. She's rated a better bet than No. 1 seed Maria Sharapova (returning from a strained chest muscle) and the woman set to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the WTA Tour rankings today, Lindsay Davenport (returning from a back injury).
problem last year was a torn tendon in her left wrist, which led to surgery and cost her most of the season, as well as the start of this year. She made a strong comeback when she returned to the tour in February, despite a knee injury in May.
"I know how my body is feeling now and that, for me, is the main reason," Cliisters said of her thoughts of retirement. "For the next two years ... I'll just have to look after my body, make sure I have massages every day, do my knee exercises, my shoulder exercises and my core exercises. There's so much. I need to do all those things if I want to be able to play as well as I have been. That's why, after the U.S. Open, I'm going to have a long break ... just to make sure that everything is right again and that I recover well."
Yet Clijsters, all of 22, spoke yesterday of retiring in two years because of the toll tennis has taken on her body. She's weary of injuries and worried about how they will affect her life away from tennis in the future.
Davenport;29,spoke last year about retiring. She, too, was having enough of foot and back injuries, among others, along with repeated rehabs. But she got a second wind in her career, finished last year No.1 and has occupied the top spot most of this year, albeit without winning a Grand Slam title since the Australian in 2000.
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
Her most serious
WEDNESDAY
♦ Soccer vs. Missouri State, 5 p.m., Jayhawk Soccer Complex
THURSDAY
♦ Volleyball at Utah Valley State (BYU/UVSC Challenge), 8 p.m., Orem, Utah
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
**FRIDAY**
* Volleyball at Montana State (BYU/JVUSC*
* 1.0 m., Provin, Utah*
- Volleyball at BYU (BYU/UVSC Challenge).
8 p.m., P.O. Box, Utah
- SATURDAY
* Cross Country Bob Timmons Invitational, 9
    Rim Rock Farm
- Football vs. Florida Atlantic, 6 p.m., Memorial Stadium
Challenge! 3 p.m., P.O. Box 108
✉ Soccer at Wakasan, 6 p.m., Jayhawk
✉ Soccer at Okayama, 6 p.m., Jayhawk
FOOTBALI
Mangino suspends fullback while incident is investigated
Kansas football coach Mark Mangino indefinitely suspended sophomore fullback Bruce Ringwood on Friday afternoon. Ringwood was arrested Aug. 21 for two counts of assault.
"I have suspended Bruce until we gather all the facts related to this incident." Mangino said. "I'm disturbed that one of our players would be involved in something like this. We have high standards of conduct that we expect from our student athletes. This behavior goes against everything we stand for at the University of Kansas."
Not getting hit on enough? Advertise your website on Kansan.com
Ringwood allegedly punched a woman and her husband at a Kenny Chesney concert at Kemper Arena.
Kemper Arundel
"I would like to apologize to my teammates, coaches and my university for my involvement in this incident," Ringwood said. "I regret that it happened, and my focus now is on doing everything I can do to be a good student and a good football player."
Ryan Colaianni
TALK TO US
Tell us your news. Contact Kellis Robinett or Eric Sorrentino at 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com
Aren't you glad we're not the Union
Jayhawk Bookstore
at the top of the hill
1200 Chester Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19105
GET CONNECTED
Everything you need for high-speed Internet access.
Sign up for the SBC Student Plan SBC Yahoo! DSL Express + Your Local Access Line
as low as $ 30^{75} $
a month for a 9-month term! *Other monthly charges apply.
sbc.com/U 1.888.274.0724 GOING BEYOND THE CALL?
Taxes, other charges and the Federal Universal Service Fund cost-recovery fee extra. For details of additional charges, restrictions and requirements, call 1-866-472-7965 toll-free or visit sbc.com/u. SBC, the SBC logo and other SBC product names are trademarks and/or service marks of SBC Knowledge Ventures, L.P. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. ©2005 SBC Knowledge Ventures, L.P. All rights reserved.
KS
+
]