THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2005
SPORTS
005
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3B
FOOTBALL
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BY RYAN COLAIanni rcolaianni@kansan.com KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Kansas football coach Mark Mangino wrapped up his team's final two-a-day practices yesterday at the practice
fields behind Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
Mangino said he was pleased with the team's performance throughout training camp.
"I couldn't ask for a camp to go better," Mangino said.
Charles Gordon, junior cornerback, returns a kick during yesterday's practice. Gordon is a preseason all-American.
since they arrived on campus.
Mangino said each of the team's practice sessions had gone very well.
Justin O'Neal/KANSAN
"There have been some moments that may be a sag here and there, but we look at the big picture every day and we got a lot accomplished," Mangino said. "This is how good football teams are supposed to practice."
"The young guys, they are starting to really settle down a little bit now," Mangino said. "They are starting to understand our system. I am very pleased at where we are at, at this point."
Brian can make plays, he just needs to do it on a consistent basis. I get excited every day about Brian, he'll make a great play, and I get fired up. And then 10 minutes later he does something that he knows he shouldn't have done. He is a better ball player than that."
Mangino has been impressed with the newcomers and how they have performed
Mark Mangino Kansas football coach
Senior cornerback Theo Baines was held out of practice yesterday. Mangino said he practiced earlier this week but reaggravated an existing injury.
Baines was expected to start alongside junior Charles Gordon at cornerback, but at this point, Mangino said Baines had been passed on the depth chart.
Ronnie Amadi and Donnie Amadi are competing for the final available cornerback spot. Both saw time last year when Baines was out with an injury at that time.
"Theeo has to fight back and get healthy and compete for it again." Mangino said.
Redshirt freshman Gary Green took snaps during the 11-on-11 portion of practice yesterday and caught a few balls out of the back field. On
defense, Gordon managed to pull down two interceptions: one from junior Adam Barmann and the other from senior Brian Luke.
Mangino has yet to name a starting quarterback, but he said that Barmann was leading the way.
"Brian can make plays, he just needs to do it on a consistent basis," Mangino said. "I get excited every day about Brian, he'll make a great play.
Luke is chasing Barmann for the starting job.
and I get fired up. And then ten minutes later he does something that he knows he shouldn't have done. He is a better ball player than that."
Freshman quarterback Kerry Meier is also in the running. Mangino said.
Sophomore offensive lineman Cesar Rodriguez and brother Jose missed practice yesterday because they were attending their grandfather's funeral. Mangino expects them to return to the team this evening.
Mangino said that he and the coaching staff had created a list of players that they thought may take redshirts this season.
"We have never forced a kid to red-shirt and we have never forced a young man to play here," Mangino said. "Usually they trust our decision. I have been with teams where guys have said, 'No, I want to play,' or 'I definitely want to red-shirt, I don't want to play.' We have begun the process about thinking of who we want to red-shirt."
Freshman linebacker Brandon Duncan is not yet on that list, Mangino said.
Football Note:
The team's annual fan appreciation day has been set for Aug. 24 at Memorial Stadium. The gates will open at 5:30 p.m.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Baylor kicker serves as silver lining
Edited by Tricia Masenthin
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR WRITER/WRIVER
Editor's Note: This is the first of 11 articles, by Daniel Berk, 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 Texas Tech.
The Baylor Bears found out just how tough the Big 12 South division was last year, as the Bears were the only team in the division not to qualify for a bowl game.
Baylor managed just one victory in conference play last season, beating Texas A&M 35-34 in overtime. The team couldn't carry the momentum from beating its rival, though, as the Bears lost their last three
games by a combined score of 126-38.
Baylor could be more competitive this season under third year coach Guy Morriss, who came to Baylor after coaching at the University of Kentucky.
Morriss has managed to win
only six games in his two years as coach and said that in order for the Bears to succeed it starts with recruiting the right players.
"It's imperative we keep our recruits here for five years," Morriss said. "At Baylor we are going to have to win with fourth and fifth-year players."
It might not be a good sign for the Bears that the team's most heralded player is their punter.
Junior Daniel Sepulveda returns as the team's punter after winning the Ray Guy award last year as the nation's top punter.
as a linebacker, but made the switch after Morriss held open auditions for a punter during practice.
As a sophomore, Sepulveda averaged 46 yards per kick and had 26 punts land inside the 20-yard line.
Sepulveda came to Baylor
"We asked if we have anybody out there that can punt a football, and this kid jumps up and down, raises his hand and
I asked him when was the last time he punted, and it was something like junior high," Morriss said. "He picks up the football, and kicks the cover off it, and the rest is history."
Sepulveda isn't the only standout on special teams for the Bears, as senior Willie Andrews was named to the Preseason Big 12 Media Team as a
conference.
The Bears will get a lift on offense this season from Tulane transfer Will Blavlock.
Blaylock, a Texas native, returns to his home state after Tulane encountered a coaching change a year ago.
"We asked if we have anybody out there that can punt a football, and this kid jumps up and down, raises his hand and I asked him when was the last time he punted, and it was something like junior high."
kick returner. Andrews is also a starter on defense at the safety position.
Guy Morriss
Baylor football coach
Morriss said Andrews was not only one of the top return men in the country, but also one of the best safeties in the
Blaylock is expected to be the team's starting center and have an immediate impact on the offensive line.
"He is a kid that is very sharp mentally, and he is our traffic cop," Morriss said. "You never see the guy on the ground. He uses his hands well. I think it starts from there."
3 and open its conference season Oct. 1 at Texas A&M.
The Bears will close out their season Nov. 19 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Edited by Anne Burgard
MLB
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City loses 18th straight game
SEATTLE — One of the Kansas City Royals has even had to change his evening plans.
"I'm embarrassed," righ'thander Jose Lima said. "I'm embarrassed to go into a bar. The people would say, 'They lost 18 in a row. They really stink this year.'"
The Royals lost their clubrecord 18th straight game yesterday, moving within three of matching the longest skid in American League history by falling 11-5 to the Seattle Mariners.
Manager Buddy Bell rejoined the Royals after a two-game absence while attending burial services at Arlington National Cemetery for his Marine nephew, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq earlier this month.
Bell returned to the dugout and watched the Royals get closer to the AL record of 21 straight losses set by the Baltimore Orioles at the start of the 1988 season. The modern major league record for consecutive losses is 23, set by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.
"This is tough." Lima said, packing to get ready to go to Oakland with the rest of the Royals. "This is something we didn't plan. Nothing is going
our way right now."
The Royals start a three-game series at Oakland tomorrow night before returning home to face Boston for three games beginning Tuesday night.
They're 0-3 against the Athletics and Red Sox, with both sweeps coming during their current streak.
Lima lost 1-0 to Mike Maroth in the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit last Sunday. He noted the Athletics, 5-3 losers to Baltimore on Wednesday, have a losing streak of their own at four straight. Like the Royals, the A's are off Thursday.
Lima (4-11) will start tomorrow night for the Royals, with Mike Wood (3-4) going Saturday night and Runeluvs Hernandez (8-11) on Sunday.
He hopes to break his team's losing streak.
"I hope they keep losing."
Lima said of the As. "I've just got to do my job and stay focused like my last game."
Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam in the first inning for the Mariners, and Jamie Moyer (10-4) made the early lead stand up. Seattle's final run came in the eighth when Kansas City reliever Mike MacDougal fielded an easy comebacker with the bases loaded and threw the ball over catcher Paul Phillips' head.
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