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SPORTS / TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I've thought about it but I don't know how I'm going to do it tomorrow. I don't know if I'm going to give some guys that didn't start the last game a chance to start. We haven't decided that yet."
--Coach Bill Self on tonight's lineup against Emporia State.
FACT OF THE DAY
Emporia State is also 1-0 in exhibition games on the season after beating Livin the Dream, 99-81.
— KU Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: When is the first time Kansas and Emporia State played?
A: 1904. Kansas leads the overall series 17-3, including 3-0 in exhibitions.
-KU Athletics
NFL
Dallas coach Phillips fired after 1-7 start
INVING, Texas — Less than 10 months after he was given a two-year contract extension, Wade Phillips is no longer the Dallas Cowboys coach, according to sources.
For the first time in team history, the Cowboys have made an in-season coaching change with owner and general manager Jerry Jones handing the interim job to their assistant coach Jason Garrett.
Phillips' job security has been a consistent question even after winning two NFC East titles in three seasons but the Cowboys' 1-7 start forced Jones to do something he has never done before and consistently said this season he would not do.
The Cowboys entered 2010 with the hopes of being the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its own stadium only to see dreams of a spot in Super Bowl XLV crash. The only team with a worse record than the Cowboys is winless Buffalo.
Phillips finished with a 34-22 record, but his time will be remembered more for what the Cowboys were unable to accomplish.
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
NFL
Steelers defense carries team again
CINCINNATI — Antwaan Randle El threw a 39-yard touchdown pass off a trick play Monday night, and the Pittsburgh Steelers turned a fumble, a blocked punt and an interception into points before barely holding on for a 27-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
- Associated Press
Hawks follow hit show's script
MORNING BREW
You may not be familiar with the television show "Friday Night Lights," but you should be - for two
Lights," but you should be - for two reasons. First, it's the best sports drama in the history of television, and that includes the 1990's hit animated series, "Mighty Ducks."
Second, I am convinced that the 2010 Kansas football team is living out the storyline of the fourth season of "Friday Night Lights." The similarities are simply too striking and numerous for there not to be some cosmic tie between this year's Jayhawks and the fictitious television football team.
For starters, the fourth season (which aired on DirectTV's The10 Network last winter) features a high school coach named Eric Taylor who takes over a brand new football program at East Dillon High School. He's charged with building the team from scratch, much like Kansas coach Turner Gill's task of rebuilding the Jayhawks after a disappointing 5-7 in 2009
oil drum in the middle of the lake. Both the lahayaks and the East Dillon Lions suffer terrible starts to their seasons. Kansas lost to Division 1-AA North Dakota State 6-3. The Lions forfeited their first game at halftime after going down 45-0 to the South King Rangers in the first half.
jayhawks after a disapointing Gill attempted to galvanize his team by removing names from the back of players jerseys. Coach Taylor motivated his players by burning his players' old jerseys in an old oil drum in the middle of the field.
BY JOEL PETTERSON
jpetterson@kansan.com
Things only got worse in both teams' seasons, as
gang-related violence Both coaches came under intense scrutiny, too. Many Kansas fans voiced their displeasure with Gill after blowout losses to Baylor, Kansas State and Texas &M. However, he didn't have it as bad as coach Taylor, who had his front yard vandalized by white flags and learned that the school's nerdy science teacher had kissed his wife.
Kansas continued its Big 12 losing streak and the Lions lost their next three games, nearly losing their starting quarterback to gang-related violence in the process.
Devastating injuries marked the low point of the Jayhawks' and Lions' seasons. Freshman quarterback Jordan Webb went down for the Jayhawks with a shoulder injury against Texas A&M and standout Lion running back Luke Cafferty suffered a freak accident on his parents' West Texas farm when a group of cattle rammed him against a metal fence, giving him a nasty muscle bruise that led to an addiction to painkillers.
patkiners Then, when the horizon seemed darkest for both teams, triumph came. Though it was a game between the two worst teams
in the conference, Kansas mounted a miraculous comeback against Colorado for Gill's first Big 12 victory. The plucky Lions also needed a comeback to beat the lowly Campbell Park Timberwolves for their first victory.
victory. These eerie similarities mean one thing: Kansas is destined to beat No. 8 Nebraska on Saturday. See, the Lions concluded season four of "Friday Night Lights" with a stunning victory at coach Taylor's former team: the West Dillon Panthers, the perennial Powerhouse.
Thus, in following the script, Turner Gill and his band of courageous players will earn an emotional, last-second victory over his alma mater, where he also coached as a graduate assistant for one year. It will be beautiful and inspiring, and every member of the team will live happily ever after.
And if not - well, there's always season five.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Oklahoma State climbs in rankings
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DES MOINES, Iowa — The only thing that's ever been close to certain in the Big 12 is that, by the end of November, either Oklahoma or Texas would emerge atop the South division.
That tradition might have been tossed out the window after another wild weekend in league play.
league play. The Sooners suffered their second league loss, this time to up-and-down Texas A&M. Texas continued its freefall with a loss at Kansas State that guaranteed its worst season under coach Mack Brown.
All that chaos helped Oklahoma State more than anyone else. The Cowboys (8-1, 4-1 Big 12) pounded upstart Baylor 55-28 and took control of its own destiny in the South in what many thought would be a rebuilding year.
Oklahoma State and Baylor (7-3, 4-2), picked to finish fifth and sixth in the division in the preseason, now own the top two spots in the South.
"I always marvel. Everyone always wants to act like, just because something's been this way for however many years —
Sooners coach Bob Stoops, whose team can still reach the title game if they win out, said Monday that he isn't taken aback by the parity.
every year is different," Stoops said. "Some teams are stronger at different times than others, but it's always going to be that way. So, to me, it doesn't have to be surprising."
Oklahoma State is one of three South schools that's never reached the Big 12 title game.
along with the Bears and Texas Tech.
the Bears and Texas Tech. But if the Cowboys take care of business — and that's a big if with the Sooners looming on Nov. 27 —
after going 34-of-42 passing for 435 yards — both school records
"It's a lot like what we had in '05 when we won the national championship."
— with three touchdowns in a pasting of the Bears.
Next up is a date in Austin with the Longhorns (4-5, 2-4), who have lost three straight and seemingly hit rock bottom. They'll have to try to bounce
they'll be the first team besides Oklahoma or Texas to represent the division in the championship game since Texas A&M beat Kansas State in a double-overtime finale in 1998.
overtime finale. Oklahoma State lost quarterback Zac Robinson, dynamic wide receiver Dez Bryant, four starting offensive linemen and nearly its entire defensive back seven after finishing 9-4 last year.
But the Cowboys offense has been humming behind running back Kendall Hunter, wide receiver Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden, who was named the Big 12's offensive player of the week
MACK BROWN Texas coach
back against the league's best scoring offense, as Oklahoma State is averaging 46.3 points a game with new coordinator Dana Holgorsen at
the helm.
Texas Tech's win on Saturday over Missouri (7-2, 3-2) did more to clear up the North race than the South.
"It's a lot like what we had in '05 when we won the national championship. They're scoring in the 40 points, they're 550 yards a game, because they can score in different ways." Brown said of the Cowboys. "They can beat you in so many different ways. I think it's the best offense I've seen in a long time."
the 18-17 victory, combined with Nebraska's 31-30 overtime escape at Iowa State, gives the Huskers what amounts to a two-game lead over Missouri with
three games to play. Nebraska beat the Tigers 31-17 on Oct. 30.
But it also put Texas Tech one win from bowl eligibility heading into Saturday's game at Oklahoma. The Red Raiders (5-4, 3-4) gained some much-needed confidence as well, rallying from a 17-3 deficit and shutting out Missouri in the second half.
"Each week in this league, it's wide open. So your players have to understand going into the game that they're going to make some mistakes, but they've got to make adjustments as they go along," Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuerville said. "We needed something good to happen for us. Wed played so close in four of our losses."
The Bears will face Texas A&M (6-3, 3-2) on Saturday in a matchup that carries a lot more weight than many thought it might back in August.
Both programs have played a major role in turning the South upside down this season.
"I think there's a little more parity maybe than it was in the past. (Baylor) coach (Art) Briles has done a great job over there at Baylor, and their program is getting better. I hope our program is getting better as well and trying to join up with the top dogs in the conference," Texas A&M coach Mike
2. Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman said, "At this point last year, to say that anybody could win the Big 12 South, I don't know if that was the case."
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS TODAY
TODAY
Men's basketball
Emporia State
7 p.m.
Lawrence
WEDNESDAY
Volleyball
Texas A&M
6:30 p.m.
College Station, Texas
FRIDAY
Men's basketball
Longwood
7 p.m.
Lawrence
SATURDAY
Swimming
Drury/North Dakota
1 p.m.
Lawrence
Football
Nebraska
6 p.m.
Lincoln, Neb.
Cross country
NCAA Midwest Regional
Championships
TBA
Peoria, Ill.
HONDAY
Men's basketball
Valparaiso
7 p.m.
Lawrence
FOOTBALL
Kansas' final home game to air on FSN
Fox Sports Net announced yesterday it will air the Kansas and Oklahoma State game on Saturday. Nov. 7 at 11 a.m.
The matchup will be the final home game for the Jayhawks in 2010. The Cowboys are 16-15 all time in Lawrence.
The Jayhawks travel to Nebraska Saturday to play on a pay-perview basis at 6 p.m. on participating cable providers.
Corey Thibodeau
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Taylor Martinez expected to start
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini says he expects Taylor Martinez to be the starting quarterback against Kansas this week.
Martinez was on the sideline for the No. 9 Cornhuskers' 31-30 overtime victory at Iowa State on Saturday because of an ankle sprain he sustained a week earlier against Missouri. Cody Green started in Martinez's place against the Cyclones.
Associated Press
Who needs a flu vaccine?
a) You
b) You
c) You
d) All of the above
THE FLU ENDS WITH $\textcircled{1}$
For additional information on influenza and the flu clinics, visit www.studenthealth.
KU
STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES
The University of Kuwait
Contributing to Student Success
www.studenthealthku.edu
O
UPCOMING FLU CLINICS
Tuesday, November 9 The Underground, 10 am-2 pm
Wednesday, November 10 Kansas Union, 11 am-3 pm
Thursday, November 11 Watkins Memorial Health Center 2 pm-6 pm
- Payable by cash, check or credit card at the time of service. Only students are eligible to be billed for services. No insurance billing. Medicare/Medicaid are not accepted
** Nasal mist is for ages 18-49 only. Subject to availability.
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