THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
9
WAWHL KANSAS
FOOTBALL|8A Defense needs to slow Baylor Quarterback Robert Griffin III and runningback Jay Finley have each had 1,000-yard season
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
PAGE 10A
QUARTERBACK QUANDARY
Pick toughs out broken fibula
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Sophomore quarterback Kale Pick throws a pass against New Mexico State. Pick broke his fibula on his second snap, but kept playing.
Coaches say quarterback has the right attitude in his rehab
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
twitter.com/themattgalloway
When backup sophomore quarterback Kale Pick finally saw the field for the first time in two weeks last Saturday, he would not let a little thing like a broken leg take him out.
On his second snap, Pick suffered a broken left fibula late in the fourth quarter of the Kansas football team's 42-16 rout of New Mexico State on Saturday. Pick opted to stay in the game until the end.
"I've never been taught to stay down on the ground or take myself out," Pick said. "I've always gotten up when I've been hit hard. I'd never take myself
out."
Pick
Pick even rushed the ball once with the injury.
sive coordinator, said. "I knew he was in pain, and he fought through it. I told Kale after the game, that goes a long way with your teammates."
"I thought he displayed great toughness," Chuck Long, offen-
It has been a rough season for the sophomore from Dodge City. After being named the starter for the season opener against North Dakota State, Pick was benched after only three quarters in favor of freshman quarterback Jordan Webb. Word began circulating that he was transferring, rumors that Pick denied on Wednesday
"Its a different experience," Pick said. "Obviously, I want to be out there, but I'm not, so it's tough."
Still, this year has been a series of unfortunate events for Pick. But he said he still was not done competing for the starting job.
Webb admired the toughness shown by the player he replaced.
"That's just a testament to the type of player he is," Webb said. "He's a tough guy, and I think it shows everybody just how tough he is. When he's out there, he's going to give it everything he's got, whether he's 100 percent or not."
Pick said his recovery was going well and he may return earlier than the initial prognosis of three weeks. He knew immediately after he was hit that something had gone horribly wrong.
"I was hoping it was just a really bad ankle sprain," Pick said.
Now Pick will become a student on the sidelines, watching Long and how he coaches the offense. He also hopes to provide advice to the new backup quarterback, junior Quinn Mecham.
Witnessing adversity at the quarterback position is not new for Long, who coached Heisman Trophy winner Jason White when he was out for two seasons rehabbing injuries in both knees. Long has used that example and an inspirational analogy he tells struggling quarterbacks, including Pick.
"Kale's attitude has been really good, even after the injury," Long said. "He's been working with the rehab, trying to get back as fast as he can. And he's young. If he was a senior, it'd be a little tougher deal. But he's only a sophomore."
When he returns to the backup role, there will be no hesitation to run, Pick said. He plans on using the same style that turned heads and earned him the starting job out of fall camp: full speed ahead.
"I'm not going to try favoring it too much." Pick said. "I'm going to come back full tilt like I was before and run hard and aggressive. Hopefully I'm not favoring it too much if it's hurting me."
Edited by Tim Dwyer
Thiry wins home tournament, team takes title
Senior Grace Thirty trees off Monday afternoon at Alvamar Golf Club during the Marilynn Smith Invitational. Kansas won the 12-team event Tuesday afternoon, and Thiry took first place among individuals, firing three consecutive rounds of one-over-par 73.
BY ETHAN PADWAY epadway@kansan.com
Senior golfer Grace Thiry placed first and led the Jayhawks to a first place finish Tuesday in the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational at the Alvamar Public Golf Course. Thiry was consistent, shooting a one-over-par 73 in each round of the tournament.
"Grace has been close for a while now," coach Erin O'Neill said. "She has been playing real consistent. It was just a matter of time. She pulled it off today. She never got
too rattled and kept hanging in there and ended up winning."
Junior Katy Nugent, who transferred from Arkansas and played in just her second tournament as a Iavawk,
"It's really great. I've been looking forward to this tournament since I signed here. It's always fun to play at home and it's great to play well for the team," Nugent said in a press release.
The Jayhawks, who were in first after the first two rounds of the tournament, shot a 300 as a team in their final round Tuesday morning to bring their tournament total to 903. It was 10 strokes better than second place Arkansas-Little Rock, who shot 913 for the Invitational. It is the Jayhawks' first victory since
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
"She pulled it off today. She never got too rattled and kept hanging in there and ended up winning."
the Durmed
Collegiate
in 2009 and
the first time
since 2007
that the
Jay hawks
won the
tournament
they hosted.
ERIN O'NEIL Coach
shot the lowest single round of the tournament with a three-under par 69 on Monday afternoon. She came back Tuesday to shoot even par and finish one stroke behind Thiry for second place.
"It definitely is a good boost to the confidence," O'Neil said. "I think it will help with our rankings. It's always good to win. It will definitely help us the next time we are in that situation because it is always hard to have the lead going into the last
Senior Meghna Bal shot a final round 75 to finish in a tie for sixth place in the tournament. Her low round for the Invitational came when she shot even par on Monday afternoon.
Redshirt freshman Fhong Boonraksasat finished the tournament in a tie for 31st place and junior Maria Jackson rounded out the Jayhawks finishing in a tie for 50th.
round. The team did a good job"
positives from it and not try and get too far ahead of themselves," O'Neil said. "It's a long road to postseason so we need to take the good and keep focused."
"Hopefully they will take the
Check out an online photo gallery of the invitational at kansan.com
Edited by Clark Goble
COMMENTARY
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
nicolas@kansan.com
Underdog role might suit Hawks quite well
Two losses shouldn't affect how fans think about the direction
about the direction Turner Gill is taking the Kansas football team. They prove something in college athletics: Talent can be found everywhere. It doesn't matter if you are a FBS, SEC or a Big 12 team. Come the weekend, anybody can win.
Oklahoma, long-time Big 12 powerhouse, has squeaked by teams like Air Force from the Mountain West Conference and Utah State of the Western Athletic Conference. The Sooners only beat Air Force by three points and Utah State by a touchdown.
Virginia Tech is the biggest example of a powerhouse falling to a mid-major team. Losing to Boise State in its season opener is justifiable, but then losing to James Madison of the Colonial Athletic Association justifies the point I am trying to make.
Four weeks ago we had a different starting quarterback, different running backs and a different mindset. The win against Georgia Tech was a North Dakota-like moment for Kansas football, beating a ranked team when everyone thought their worst fears were going to come true.
The struggles of Kansas football are not something to jump ship over and start following Alabama or Florida. For a team in transition with freshmen and sophomores making up a majority of the skill positions, 2-2 is pretty respectable. Sure, the loss to North Dakota State sent deserved shock waves and fearful chills down faithful Jayhawk backs, but that was basically a different Kansas team that day.
Any school around the country can come out and compete on any given day. This was the reason for the NCAA basketball tournament expansion, and it is now happening in football. These small schools have kids who do not have the talent to play at bigger Division 1 schools yet 10 times the heart than some of the prima donnas getting full scholarships and having an NFL career guaranteed.
From now on, Kansas needs to be that team like North Dakota State, a bunch of gritty guys playing the game because they love it and they want to show the Big 12 what a "new" program can do.
That is how I think schools like Appalachian State can beat teams like Michigan. That is how South Dakota holds Nebraska to 17 points last week after the Cornhuskers averaged 46 points in their first three games.
Some of the players from North Dakota State grew up in the middle of nowhere. In the freezing cold winters close to the Canadian border, and probably did some back breaking manual labor around a farm throughout high school. They are the kids who know how to work and they truly know how to give everything to a game and leave it all on the field. They don't play for a spotlight or for ESPN cameras
.
Remember: new coach, new quarterback and anybody can win.
they play because they love the game and they want to topple a major school.
Edited by Clark Goble
4
---