WEDNESDAY,JULY26,2006
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 15
SPORTS
BIG 12 (CONTINUED FROM 14)
KANSAN Kansas at the
Despite tearing his ACL in his nonkicking leg, Sepulveda said he plans on being ready for Baylor's season opener against TCU and his coach believes him.
time to
al Four play to cutting
"I didn't think he could do it." Morriss said. "But he, Daniel, is the kind of guy that will make a believer out of you in a hurry."
g to do me this the fall.
Kansas State
journal-
Questions: How much will the program change with Ron Prince at the helm?
How has the program changed so far?
Answers: Prince made his respect for Snyder known from the start and didn't want to think of himself as replacing Snyder. And rather than shake the program up. Prince said returning to what made Kansas State successful in the past is the key.
"The main difference that I can see is that in 2003 Kansas State had a fast team," Prince said. "If you go all the way down the roster, all of the players that played, these players have played at a very fast rate and they were decisive players because they knew exactly how to run the play."
As for how the players have adjusted to the regime change in Manhattan, a younger and more communicative coaching staff has made the transition smooth.
"The biggest thing, I remember coming into his office, sitting down and watching TV with him," senior linebacker Brandon Archer said of Prince. "Just to be able to freely come in, sit down and
just communicate, talk about whatever, it dawned on me that this is going to be good."
Texas Tech
Question: How confident are Leach's players in new starting quarterback, sophomore Graham Harrell?
Answer. As for how Harrell was progressing under center in place of graduated Cody Hodges. Senior offensive lineman Manny Ramirez shared his observations.
"I feel real confident in Graham Harrell, just because of the maturity he's shown and his knowledge of the game," Ramirez said. "The next three years, he's going to be the top dog and for every year that he's here, he's only going to get better."
Kansas
Question: After two bowl games in three years, what's the next step for Kansas football? What's the bigger concern, the youth entering the starting lineup on defense or the possibility of having a freshman starting quarterback in Kerry Meter?
Answers: Mangino didn't get into many specifics as to where hed like to see his team by the end of the season, but he did discuss one area where his team could improve.
"We've played well on the road, but we haven't won as many games on the road as we would have liked to." Mangino said. "That might be another step for the program. Not only play well on the road but get some road victories."
Although quarterback Kerry Meier has yet to play a college down, for junior defensive tackle James McClinton, there's more concern about how the team will find replacements on defense for players such as Charles Gordon, Nick Reid and Charlton Keith.
"I'd say more on defense, there's a lot of youth," McClinton said. "The linebackers, they're all young and haven't really played much. If you get them out there, let them mess up a couple plays, fix that correction and they're going to be really good players. On offense, I think Kerry Meier is going to hold it down."
Questions: With the loss of quarterback Vince Young, how are his possible replacements looking? Has a National Championship changed coach Mack Brown?
Texas
Answers: Texas' leading candidates to replace Young are redshirt freshman Colt McCoy and true freshman Jevan Snead. Despite their youth, Brown was optimistic about their potential and said a year of experience in the system gave McCoy the advantage.
"Colt's just been there longer," Brown said. "So, it's a very difficult thing for Jevan to come in in January and be pushed right into the offense."
On the inside, Brown is certainly relieved to have the National Champion
ship monkey off of his back, but on the outside, his players haven't noticed a difference.
"Coach Brown is the same guy that recruited me however many years ago, since he showed up on my doorstep," senior cornerback Aaron Ross said. "He hasn't changed one bit since we won the National Championship."
Oklahoma State
Question: How potent can the Oklahoma State offense be?
Answer: In 2005, sophomore running back Mike Hamilton rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and senior wide receiver D'Juan Woods accumulated more than 800 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. However, neither接收 any preseason accolades. Nevertheless, senior offensive lineman Corey Hilliard — who was named preseason All-Big 12 — was confident the Oklahoma State offense would turn some heads in 2006. He said it depended on the line blocking for quarterback Bobby Reid and Hamilton.
"If we get in and protect Bobby and make lanes for Mike, I think we'll be one of the best, if not the best offense in the Big 12," Hilliard said.
Colorado
Questions: How have things changed at Colorado since the arrival of coach Dan Hawkins? Will the infamous blue playing surface in Boise State follow Hawkins to Colorado?
Answers: In addition to some X's and O's adjustments, Hawkins has left his fingerprints on Colorado's practice routines.
"When we first started spring ball, he had us lay down and take a two-minute nap during the middle of practice," senior offensive lineman Brian Daniels said. "After practice, held bring golf clubs out and wel have a closest-to-the-pin challenge or wel have an O-line, D-line seven-on-seven competition. Things like that are fun and make practice fun and make people excited to come to practice."
Hawkins' unique coaching philosophies seem to have invigorated his players. In turn, some players have given Hawkins suggestions on how to make Colorado's field as unique as the blue Astro Turf at Boise State where Hawkins last coached.
"I told him he should put in a black Astro Turf with gold lines," Daniels said.
Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, Iowa State coach Dan McCarney, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops are on the docket Wednesday as the Big 12 Media Days wrap up. Issues that are sure to arise today are whether Texas A&M will challenge Texas and Texas Tech for state supremacy, if this is the year Iowa State finally takes the north, how Missouri will fare in 2006 without Brad Smith and whether Oklahoma be atop the South when all is said and done.
- Edited by Janiece Gatson
FOOTALL (CONTINUED FROM 13)
That confidence in youth carries to defense, where a new trio of linebackers will attempt to replace some of the best in Kansas history. The new linebackers, sophomores Mike Rivera and Joe Mortensen, both played limited minutes last season, either on special teams or in a set defensive package. With their athleticism and situational experience, teammates don't expect the new linebacking corps to miss a beat.
"I don't believe there's going to be any drop off," senior offensive lineman David Ochoa said. "Athletically, they're light years ahead of any linebackers we've had. They're faster, they're stronger and that's just a result of good recruiting."
"Confidence comes with consistency and those guys work tough everyday," Ochoa said. "It showed in spring ball, those guys were flying around, hitting guys in the mouth and I have 100 percent confidence in any position that they fill."
Mangino said he's also been impressed with freshman running back Jake Sharp. The Salina native came to Kansas after being one of the state's top high school players last season.
"Confidence comes from consistency and those guys work tough every day."
Ochoa said there's no reason not to have faith.
Kansas kicks off the 2006 season Sept. 2 against Northwestern State at 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Sharp is likely to see action on special teams this season, Mangino said.
Despite inexperience at key positions.
"He's mature beyond his years," Mangino said. "He eats it and sleeps it. He's the hardest working freshman I've ever seen."
DAVID OCHOA Senior offensive lineman
Talib recognized:
Sophomore Aqib Talib was named to the preseason All-Big 12, the conference announced earlier this week. Talib started nine games last season and recorded two interceptions and
Big 12 Media Day
Notes:
54 tackles.
Kansas tabbed fourth: The Jayhawks were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 North, in the conference media poll released earlier this week. Ahead of Kansas was Nebraska, Iowa State and Colorado, with Missouri and Kansas State rounding out the poll. Oklahoma was picked as the favorite in the South division, followed by Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Baylor.
Edited by Adrienne Bommarito
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