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SPORTS
14 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
▼BIG 12 FOOTBALL
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2006
Coaches, players prepare for season
James McClinton, junior defensive lineman, answers reporter's questions during the Big 12 Media Days Tuesday morning in Kansas City, Mo. McClinton, along with junior tight end Derek Fine and senior offensive lineman David Ochoa, represented Kansas at the event, which runs through today.
BY SHAWN SHROYER
sshroyer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITTER
Kansas City, Mo. — With the first college football game two months away, Big 12 coaches, players and media joined forces to debate the recently released Big 12 preseason poll and speculate how the chips will actually fall in the conference. Every now and then, the question and answer sessions dabbled in the obscure and absurd.
Nebraska
Questions: Will senior quarterback Zac Taylor flourish in his second season with coach Bill Callahan's West Coast offense? Who will replace graduated running back Cory Ross?
Answers: If Taylor and the Nebraska offense are to return to their days of 40- and 50-point blowouts through the air instead of on the ground, experience will be the key.
"I think experience is something we didn't have a whole lot of last year," Taylor said. "This year, everybody's a lot more comfortable with each other, lot more comfortable in the system. We know what to expect and we've been through all the ups and downs."
As for who Taylor will be handing the ball off to, sophomores Marlon Lucky
and Cody Glenn appear to be the tront runners, but Callahan didn't rule out a running back-by-committee.
"We'll play the best back," Callahan said. "Whether it's by committee, whether it's two, three, four, five, however it shakes out, that's our goal."
Baylor
Questions: What did coach Guy Morriss think about Baylor being picked to finish last in the South? What does senior cornerback C.J. Wilson think of Kansas football fans? Will All-American senior punter Daniel Sepulveda recover from his torn ACL in time for the season opener?
Answers: Morriss made no bones about his displeasure with the Big 12 preseason poll.
"Kind of POed, to be honest with you," Mortiss said. "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I don't think we'll end up in the cellar."
up in the office.
When talking about Baylor's upcoming schedule, Wilson spent some extra time talking about Kansas and its fans.
"I always have liked Kansas," Wilson said. "I've never had the chance to say that publicly, but honestly, those fans are the type of people that keep college football going."
SEE BIG 12 ON PAGE 15
COLUMN (CONTINUED FROM 13)
And this year, well, I gotta say, I feel pretty good about my teams' chances.
Okay, before people start laughing at me, if you haven't already started, I know KU football will not be winning a national championship this year. However, I will accept a Big 12 North Championship as a concession.
I mean let's face it folks, there's not one KU football fan who wouldn't consider a Big 12 North Championship a major accomplishment, especially since the team has never finished above .500 in conference play.
Then there's the Chiefs. I might need another column for this. Seriously, I'm so excited about this year's Chiefs, I don't know where to begin.
dont know where to go. I know, how about the fact that KC has the nastiest running back in the NFL in Larry "Do I have to run against 11 Jesuses to get some respect?" Johnson, the 6-fet-1:230-pound enigma.
son, the 8 assailants. The dude's a freak, on and off the field, and I could care less if Priest Holmes comes back, which he isn't anyway.
Then we've got the aforementioned Ty Law, who gives KC the best secondary in the NFL; Law and Patrick Surtain at the corners. Eat your heart out Denver and Oakland fans, no more picking on our drunk second corner, err, Eric Warfield anymore.
warned anybody
Oh, and finally there's Herm Edwards.
A walking sound bite, this guy knows what it's all about - playing to win the game.
far as he could take them before Jon Gruden came in and won it all in his first year in Tampa. Sounds like a similar situation in Kansas City. Marinate on that.
I'll leave you all with this before moving on... Remember the 2003 Super Bowl Champs? Tampa Bay. Dungy had taken the Bucs as
Finally, KU men's basketball. Whew, what to say, what to say.
This will be brief. You have the most talented KU basketball team, EVER, at least on paper. You replace Moody, Vinson and hit-and-run Hawkins with Darrell Arthur, Sherron Collins and Brady Morningstar. We return our top seven scores. This
is now year four of the Self Regime. We know he can recruit. It's time to show he can coach.
Anything less than a Final Four is a failure. Scratch that, you play to win the game. I better see net cutting in April.
Boys and girls, that's going to do it. Thanks for kicking it with me this summer and I'll see you in the fall. Rock Chalk Jayhawk.
—Davis is a Topeka senior in journalism and english.
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