THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
SWIMMING & DIVING | 3B
New assistant reigns at Alumni Meet
Assistant coach Danielle Herrmann won one event and placed second in three others at the inaugural season-opening Alumni Meet.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
GO D.J., THAT'S MY D.J.
Sophomore wide receiver D.J. Beshears celebrates with teammates after scoring his third touchdown against New Mexico State on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.The Jayhawks recorded a season-high 501 yards of total offense in their 42-16 victory against the Aggies.Kansas improved to 2-2 on the season,and will travel to play Baylor this weekend to open Big 12 Conference play.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Beshears excels on offense
BY MATT GALLOWAY
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgaloway@kansan.com
twitter.com/themattgalloway
Last season as a converted defensive backup, sophomore D.J. Beshears did not even suit up in the season's final three games.
Now that he's back on offense, some of his teammates are comparing him to a well-known, unofficial Heisman Trophy winner.
Johnathan Wilson. "He can catch the ball out of the backfield, as a receiver and on special teams."
"He's kind of a Reggie Bush type of guy," said senior wide receiver
Beshears earned every bit of those comparisons on Saturday against New Mexico State. The speedy sophomore rushed for two touchdowns, returned a kickoff for a score and the Jayhawks routed the Aggies 42-16 on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
days off in the long run."
"I felt it coming." Beshears said.
"I just worked hard every day at practice and try to do my job. It
Under former coach Mark Mangino, Beshears was switched to the defensive side during his freshman year. Recruited as a wide receiver, Beshears had to overcome the shock and disappointment of a positional step to step up under coach Turner Gill's new system.
defense my freshman year."
"I really don't know the details of what happened with that." Beshears said. "That was just Mangino's decision; he pulled me. But that was a good experience playing on
Beshears is flattered by the Bush comparisons, but he knows he has a way to go before he can be in the same stratosphere as one of the players he idolized in high school.
"I definitely looked up to Reggie Bush when I was younger, but I really can't model myself as anybody right now." Beshears said. "I'm just me."
While Beshears led the team with three total touchdowns, freshman running back James Sims
dominated on the ground with 115 yards and two rushing touchdowns of his own. In all, the running game accounted for 243 of the layhawks' 501 total yards of offense.
Coach Turner Gill praised the individual performances of his offensive skill players but deferred credit to a developing offensive line that allowed no sacks for the first time this season.
PAGE 1B
"D.J. did a great job," Gill said .
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B
SOCCER
Weekend is an upset with two losses
BY MIKE LAVIERI
mlavieri@kansan.com
The soccer team lost both games in the opening weekend of conference play.
The ball bounced the wrong way in the Border Showdown on Friday night, as the Jayhawks lost to Missouri (3-4-2 overall, 1-0 Big 12) 4-1, in a game that was dominated by the Tigers from the very start.
Senior forward Kaitlyn Cunningham, who was playing in her last Border Showdown, got the Jayhawks on the board first in the fifth minute when she took a pass from junior forward Kelsey Clifton and shot it into the bottom left corner.
Junior forward Kortney Clifton dribbles the ball against Missouri on Friday. Clifton led the Jayhawks with three shots for the game.
Missouri's goal came from the Tigers working the ball around with six different players touching the ball before Collins put the ball in a wide-open goal.
"I thought we had the momentum, but they came back and scored and we lost the momentum from there," Cunningham said.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Kansas' loss in momentum was to Missouri's advantage. The Tigers outshot the Jayhawks 25-6 and were more physical than Kansas. The Tigers had 19 fouls to the Jayhawks 11.
"They are very direct, and we like to keep the ball on the ground and play," Cunningham said. "So, when the ball in the air for half of the game, it's hard to do that."
Kruse gave Missouri the lead for good in the 63rd minute on an assist from junior defender Mallory Stipetich.
Junior forward Kendra Collins tied the game up in the 15th minute on a pass from senior midfielder Krista Kruse.
Missouri's record is not an accurate reflection of how good the team is. The Tigers started the season with five road games, going 0-3-2. Three of their losses, which were on the road, were to ACC opponents No. 8 Maryland, No. 14 Duke and No. 1 North Carolina.
The Tigers added insurance goals in the 74th minute when freshman midfielder Dominique Richardson tapped in a corner kick and the 81st minute when freshman forward Alysia Diggs was assisted by freshman midfielder Danielle Nottingham.
While this is the last Border Showdown game for the seniors, unless the teams meet again in the Big 12 Tournament, it was the first for the freshmen.
"We always play them our last game, so it's a little different this time," Hillis said. "Since it's our first, it's a littler tougher."
The Jayhawks then traveled to Ames, Iowa to face Iowa State (6-32, 1-0), who was playing its first conference game of season.
Freshman midfielder Madi Hillis saw her first action of the historic rivalry.
ISU defeated Kansas 2-0 at ISU Soccer Complex. The game was
She said that after the game she understands more what it means to play against Missouri.
tied at halftime, but the Cyclones scored 3:34 into the second half to take the lead for good. Freshman defender Jessica Stewart scored the game winner and 10 minutes later, in the 59th minute, freshman midfielder Emily Goldstein added the second goal. Freshman forward Jennifer Dominguez assisted both goals.
Edited by Anna Nordling
COMMENTARY
Offense is finally paying dividends
BY COREY THIBODEAUX cthibodeaux@kansan.com
When you feel worse after practice than you do after actual games, it's got to amount to something at some point.
You don't have to tell the Jayhawks their offense stunk the first couple weeks of the season. The result was reps and reps, followed by more reps. Senior receiver Johnathan Wilson wasn't candid about his constant blocking and catching drills.
"I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "Practice has been hard for the last couple weeks. It's way harder than the games."
Freshman quarterback Jordan Webb stretched the field on multiple occasions and that helped open up gaping holes in the running game. The Jayhawks threw the ball for 264 yards and ran the ball for 237 — parity coaches dream of.
With 501 yards of offense in the 42-16 romping of New Mexico State, it seemed to have worked. The Kansas offense looked wide open as opposed to the constricted dink-and-dunk style it showed earlier this season.
"We want to have that balance," coach Turner Gill said, and"I think we are headed in the right direction."
The Jayhawks gashed the Aggies on hand-offs, deep passes, screens and even on kick returns. They could do no wrong.
The question is if this type of offense is going to stick. This is the first we've seen of it and with Big 12 play coming up, Saturday's explosion could have been the outlier.
Then again, the beginning of the season held a whole new coaching staff and most of the position players on offense were new as well. It takes a few games to gel, if not more.
Notice how the defense looked solid even in the first game. There are plenty of upperclassmen at the skill positions, so they've had an easier transition.
It helped on the offensive side that New Mexico State wasn't at the same level as Big 12 teams, but the Jayhawks should be enjoying this regardless.
Without looking ahead, the Kansas offense is right where it wants to be heading into conference play.
"We were just feeling each other out," Wilson said. "I think we're starting to mesh better now"
Wilson said he was frustrated at times for not having the opportunity to make plays because of the contained offensive approach. With the aggressive play calling, Wilson was one of four receivers with a reception that went for more than 30 yards against New Mexico State.
From an offensive standpoint, Saturday was as exciting as it can get for the layhawks.
"It's a different offense," Wilson said.
Edited by Kelsey Nill
---