THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
VOLLEYBALL | 3B
Kansas ready for doubleheader
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10,2010
The volleyball team will host the Kansas Invitational this week and then will move on to conference play the following week. Currently, the Jayhawks are 7-1 for the 2010 season.
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OFFENSIVE STING
PAGE 1B
Coaches familiar with Tech option
Defensive coordinator Carl Torbush talks to members of the media at a press conference before Kansas' season opening game against North Dakota State. The Jayhawks held the Bison to only two field goals, but lost the game 6-3.
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com twitter.com/themattgalloway
When Carl Torbush left Mississippi State University last season, he thought he had seen the last of the Georgia Tech offense.
Now the defensive coordinator for the University of Kansas football team, Torbush is in for a reunion of sorts. Dealing with the unorthodox Yellow Jackets (1-0) this Saturday at Memorial Stadium will not be easy for the Jayhawk defense, but Torbush is looking forward to the matchup.
Last year against Torbush's Mississippi State defense, eight Yellow Jackets carried the ball for a combined 213 yards and four touchdowns. Mississippi State lost to Georgia Tech, with a final score of 42-31.
"It's a fun week in a lot of ways because it makes your players be very,very technique- and alignment- sound," Torbush said.
"I'm old enough that the way I came up in coaching was against wishbone, split-back option," Torbush said. "This is the type of offense you always felt like you coached your best in terms of alignment and assignment football."
Just last week, the Yellow Jackets steamrolled their FCS opponent South Carolina State 41-10 behind senior quarterback Joshua Nessbitt's performance — on the ground. Nesbitt completed only one pass for eight yards, but his 16 rushes for 130 yards and three touchdowns put the other Yellow Jacket rushers (all 11 of them) to shame
"Nesbitt throws the ball well enough that he can get you in trouble not only with the deep ball but the short ball as well," Torbush said. "But the number one thing you have to do is stop the running game or you have no chance."
The jayhawks go into Saturday in quarterback flux. Coach Turner
Gill named freshman Jordan Webb the starter one week after he said sophomore Kale Pick earned the job. Webb replaced Pick late in the Jayhawks' 6-3 loss to North Dakota State last week and went 6 for 11 with 59 yards passing.
Gill and offensive coordinator Chuck Long have said the offense will be tailored to their quarterback's skill set. Webb, who has a
pass-first mentality, does not know how much different the offense will look with him at the helm.
"We don't have our entire game plan in yet, but I'm sure the coaches will have something ready," Webb said after Wednesday's practice.
Perhaps the man most prepared to deal with an option-heavy opponent is Gill, who perfected the craft as a quarterback at
Nebraska in the early '80s. Gill said there are similarities between the double option offense he ran as a Cornhusker and the triple option offense Georgia Tech now sports.
"You're only going to have so many possessions on offense just because of their running attack," Gill said. "You're going to have less time on the clock. We definitely
need to limit their big plays on offense."
Senior cornerback Chris Harris had four tackles and one sack against the more traditional North Dakota State offense. Harris has seen numerous offenses during his 30 consecutive starts for the Jayhawks but nothing like Georgia Tech.
"You have to beat Georgia Tech by being disciplined," Harris said.
"Everybody is going to have a responsibility. A linebacker might have the quarterback this time. Somebody might be watching the pitch. You've got to stay disciplined; you can't try to be the hero. You have to stay focused on your job."
Edited by Lisa Curran
SOCCER
Kansas hopes to start streak in Vegas
Fixing focus errors will be key to a winning weekend in UNLV tournament
Senior midfielder Rachel Morris tries to dribble past a defender during the Jayhawks scrimmage against the KU Men's Club soccer team earlier this year.
Ryan Wagoner/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY MIKE LAVIERI
mlavieri@kansan.com
After going 1-1 in each of the past two weekends, the soccer team is looking for some consistency this weekend in Las Vegas.
Kansas (2-2) will play Cal State Northridge (2-3) today and then face Oregon (2-1-2) on Sunday in the UNLV Nike Rebel Classic.
The Jayhawks are not overlooking CSUN. Coach Mark Francis said the team has not even thought about Sunday's game; it is focusing on Friday.
"Northridge is a very good team," Francis said. "They are going to present a real tough challenge for us."
Francis was pleased with the team's performance in Illinois this past weekend. He said a few players lost focus at times, which allowed Illinois State to break down the defense and score two goals in the Jayhawks' loss.
CSUN defeated Pepperdine 2-1 last weekend, which is the same score from Kansas' win against Pepperdine in last season's opener.
Before the season started, Francis said he emphasized physicality in the middle and offensive thirds of the field.
He liked how the midfield and forwards battled against Northwestern in Kansas' 2-1 victory.
"We've made some progress in that area, the battling and the competing part," Francis said.
This week the team is fine-tuning some of the problem areas,
especially its focus.
The layhawks have a few players who have been kept out with injuries, but have been working and practicing to get back in game shape. Francis hopes to get some of them back for this weekend.
One player that is close to returning is senior midfielder Rachel
Morris. Francis said she had been practicing this week and he'd like to play her as soon as she's ready.
CRESSY RETURNS
The team got some offensive firepower back last weekend when junior forward Emily Cressy took the field for the first time this season. Cressy was out for undisclosed reasons.
Francis is glad to have her back. "She has a lot of confidence and a lot of composure on the ball," Francis said. "I think it's something we really needed up front."
SEE SOCCER ON PAGE 4B
COMMENTARY
I would like to say that we could win this weekend and return to being a successful program. But this is Georgia Tech and we just aren't there yet. I love to root for the underdog, but I would, honestly, be happy if we just made it a competition. I'm not saying it's impossible for us to pull off a win — bigger upsets have happened — but I think that it would prove a lot if we could just keep it within a few touch-downs.
It's been a tough week for Kansas Athletics.
After football's loss to North Dakota State — made worse by the fact that rivals Missouri and Kansas State both won —, the departure of Lew Perkins and a game against No. 15 Georgia Tech looming on Saturday, it seems like this will be a week wed rather forget. And possibly the start of one of the seemingly longest football seasons in recent history.
And we have a chance to do that. One thing that is good for any team is having a chip on its shoulder.
There's nothing more motivational than "can't." When my mom told me that I couldn't have a cookie before dinner, I had to eat the whole jar. When some blond, plastic fashion expert tells me I can't wear white after Labor Day, I go out and buy the whitest pair of
If I were going into a game knowing that everyone thought I couldn't keep up with a team, I would do everything in my power to beat my opponent. If I heard fans boo my efforts on the field, I would make sure I didn't give them an opportunity to do that again.
We have quarterback issues. We have an uncertain offensive line and a brand new coaching staff, but we also have something to prove. And maybe I am giving too much credit to the underdog factor, but I do think it is an important one
BY SAMANTHA ANDERSON sanderson@kansan.com
jeans I can find to wear in the fall. "Can't" is the most motivational word in the English vocabulary.
Right now, all we Jayhawk fans can do is hope that the mistakes we saw last Saturday were first game mistakes, even if they were against a FCS school like North Dakota State. And hope that our team straps on its gear tomorrow with something to prove.
Edited by Dana Meredith
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