Li
Bill player Morritzletic sharpsier Pierce, kind of the one Wh there. He when compre "We far," Se But he able to be as he is." The projec Kansas sawrho Lia and W ward a. The but the The Morri with mamm most of season ward, match "We as a f can se Marcel Marcel and yu The to use cism while erage guard
10 COLUMN
JAYHAWKS STILL LOSING
LARGE LOSS TO K-STATE CREATES LONGING FOR PAST AND INCREASES PRESSURE TO IMPROVE
Before we go any further, let's be frank and call last Thursday's 59-7 loss to in-state rival Kansas State for exactly what it was: a catastrophe and the unofficial end of the 2010 football season here in Lawrence.
Like a flat-lining patient in the emergency room, the Kansas football season died last Thursday at the hands of Kansas State's ole ball coach Bill Snyder. And really, were we that foolish to believe we would see anything different?
With six games left on the schedule, including road games at Nebraska and Iowa State, it would be ludicrous to claim the Jayhawks to win, let alone be a viable competitor. After all, the team has already shown that two weeks of preparation, and a nationally televised game against an in-state rival Isn't enough time to prepare for a mediocre team with a below average starting quarterback in Carson Coffman, and an over-hyped running back in
While those things are obvious, let's just hope it's not the official end of a football program that once seemed to have a promising and prosperous future, and the eventual end for a coach that once made Nebraska fans praise former athletic director Lew Perkins for the hire.
Daniel Thomas.
Turner Gill is the overpaid $10 million dollar man (ranking him sixth highest paid among active Big 12 schools at 2 million a year) with a story that would make any crazed football fan smile. He is a man that that came from a winning tradition at Nebraska, a man that took perhaps the worst coaching job in football at Buffalo and made them
a winner, and a man who took Kansas' hand in marriage and arrived in Lawrence with loftier expectations than any of his predecessors. Most of these claims came on the strength of his words.
"We're gonna recruit, beat Missouri, recruit, win the north, recruit, win the Big-12," Gill said at his introductory press conference back on Dec. 14th. Remember, this was said before Colorado and Nebraska decided to jump ship for conferences that are not ran by Texas, the kid that takes everyone's lunch money, but instead, ones with equal revenue sharing, so we will forgive him for some of his comments. It was hard to foreshadow what would happen at the time. Now, six games into the Gill experiment, I think it's safe to say that not only the fans, but the players deserve better then we have seen.
It's one thing to watch a young team develop during their growing pains. It's another to have to watch a team that has not improved, and has seemingly gotten worse since week two of the season against Georgia Tech, a team that now seems to be a less than impressive win by each passing week.
passing week The crowd at Memorial Stadium was likely the largest crowd the Jayhawks will play for this season. It was the team's chance to silence their critics, but they came out
FO
THE WAVE OCTOBER 22, 2010
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Jaynawks to tight Aggies for conference win
BY KORY CARPENTER k carpenter@kansan.com
Freshman Jordan Webb passes downfield during the third quarter of Kansas game against in-state rival Kansas State at Memorial Stadium Thursday night. The Jayhawks will attempt to earn their first conference in 10 games.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
For Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and Kansas coach Turner Gill, it's a long way from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Sherman was the Green Bay Packers coach for six seasons, and he hired Gill as the Director of Player Development in 2005. After meeting Gill, Sherman was immediately impressed.
"I felt he could relate well to the players and coaches," Sherman said. "He is full of integrity."
Five years later, the two coaches are in the Big 12 Conference, Gill in his first season with the Jayhawks and Sherman in his third with the Aggies.
Both teams have struggled through the first half of the season and both are still looking for their first conference win. The Aggies started the season strong with three consecutive wins, but have dropped the last three, including conference losses to Oklahoma State and Missouri. Kansas has faced similar adversity, dropping the last two games by a combined score of 114-14.
freshman safety Keeston Terry will miss another week with a leg injury he suffered in the second half loss to Southern Miss. Gill confirmed the decision after Wednesday's practice.
Terry played a large part in the upset of Georgia Tech, recording five tackles in the 28-25 Kansas win. His absence the last three games has been noted, as the Kansas defense has given up an average of 43 points per game.
"He's still having trouble. He won't be ready for this ballgame," he said. "We'll have to make the decision next week if he's able to go or not."
If those performances are repeated Saturday night in Memorial Stadium. Homecoming week for KU fans might end on a sour note,
Texas A&M senior quarterback Jerrod Johnson has ruled the air for the Aggies this season. He's averaged 43 passes a game, including a staggering 62 attempts in the loss to Oklahoma State. Johnson is also second in the Big 12 in total offense, second only to Baylor's Robert Griffin III. However, Johnson is capable of making bad decisions. His nine interceptions so far this season are more than he threw all of last season.
as the Aggie offense is 10th in the nation in passing yards per game with an average of 305 per contest.
On offense, Kansas has failed to put up double digits in Big 12 play, only scoring 14 points the last two games. Freshman quarterback Jordan Webb is in his first season running the Jayhawk offense, and it has shown recently. After starting his season with only one interception in four games, he has thrown three in the last two losses.
The three straight losses by the Aggies could be a sign of hope for Jayhawk fans. However, last week Kansas State came to town after an embarrassing loss as well. All they did was put up 460 yards of offense while beating the downtrodden Jayhawks 59-7.
Gill said he wants to have the lead early to a trick play like a reverse or half-back pass, but that obviously hasn't been the case the last two games.
"We always have some plays like that in the game plan," he said. "It's just about finding an opportunity to execute them."
With the offense struggling to score points, Gill didn't rule out the idea of calling a few trick plays Saturday night.
Saturday's loser will be 0-3 in the
— Edited by Abby Davenport
Big 12, with big games still remaining in conference for each squad. Texas A&M still plays Oklahoma and Texas while the Jayhawks have yet to play Nebraska or Missouri. A win by either team would give the respective squad much needed momentum heading into the second half of the season. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
A
Collins, Core Adrich and Xavier Henry.
How do people expect the Jayhawks to win when they lose the winningest player in program history, a big man who bailed anybody out on defense and a versatile scorer?
It's what coach Bill Self calls "Kansas Math."
1
It's the same thing Martin does, but in Manhattan.
It's addition by subtraction. It's not like the NBA where guys can play for the same team from their rookie season to retirement. Guys come and go their first year or stay for four, but in the end they will be replaced.
On paper Kansas State looks like the favorite, but Martin lives in reality and winning on paper doesn't cut it for him.
This is true. Since the 2007-2008 season, when Martin was hired as the Wildcat coach, Kansas has a 42-6 record. Kansas State is 30-18.
His main goal when he became the coach was to win the Big 12 Championship. He has yet to do that because Kansas has won it the last six seasons.
Martin says that this is Kansas' conference because of its dominance.
But Self does not live in the past
"Nobody has beat them on the floor, which is where you decide who wins," Martin said.
He thinks it's difficult to win a national title and it's even more difficult to repeat. He is hungry for another title.
He doesn't look at the preseason polls either. When asked about receiving two first-place votes, he had no idea that Kansas received two votes.
I don't think coaches really care about preseason polls and awards. They don't mean anything if the team isn't cutting down the net in April.
Edited by Abby Davenport
8
---