---
KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 / SPORTS
5B
INTERNATIONAL SOCCER
Rooney carries English side
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
BERLIN _ Wayne Rooney shook off his private life problems as he scored in England's second win in Euro 2012 qualifying, and France finally also had something to smile on the night.
England got its second win in as many games when Rooney opened the scoring in a 3-1 victory in Switzerland. The important win for Rooney, and manager Fabio Capello, came amid newspaper allegations since Sunday against the Manchester United hero.
"Wayne Rooney still has serious domestic issues to address but at least he returns home with the admiration of England's players and supporters for a pedigree display of discipline and dynamism capped by a hugely significant goal," said The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
France won 2-0 in Bosnia-Herzegovina to restore some morale after a winless World Cup
While France redeemed itself, Portugal must be concerned after a 4-4 draw with Cyprus was followed by a 1-0 defeat in Norway in the absence of star Cristiano Ronaldo (injury) and coach Carlos Queiroz (suspension for insulting doping controllers before the World Cup).
exit and a 1-0 humbling by Belarus in the first qualifier last Friday.
With only the group winners qualifying directly for the 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine, Portugal find themselves in an early hole amid media speculation on Wednesday that Queiroz may be axed before the end of the week.
"This soap opera must end as soon as possible. Of course the affair around Queiroz has a negative effect on us. And on the whole of Portugal," said midfielder Tiago
The spicy details continued to pour in from the tabloids on Wednesday but manager Fabio Capello was happy for Rooney after the game.
The Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia were also licking their wounds after losing 1-0 at home to Slovakia and the Czech Republic had definitely hoped to start their campaign in a better than losing 1-0 at home against Lithuania.
"Wayne Rooney played very well. He was okay (mentally) and scoring the goal helped too," said Capello. "The players want to play without other things on their minds."
The so-called minnows are further catching up with the more established powers, with Scotland for instance only holding off tiny Liechtenstein 2-1 in the last minute.
But Italy, Germany, World Cup runners-up Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Slovakia, Montenegro, Ireland and Norway joined England on a maximum six points from two games.
Rooney scored his first England goal in a year as he seemingly managed to focus on the match and shook off the allegations that he had sex with a prostitute seven times last year while his wife Coleen was pregnant.
League backs run wild on historic day
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STILLWATER, Okla. — The Big 12 is ready to run again.
The pass-happy league that's been known in recent years for producing Heisman Trophy finalists at quarterback is now home to the nation's top three rushers.
Oklahoma State's Kendall Hunter, Kansas State's Daniel Thomas and Oklahoma's DeMarco Murray pulled off a rare trifecta in the opening weekend of the season, becoming only the fifth trio in conference history to rush for 200 yards apiece on the same day.
That hadn't happened in a dozen years in a conference that has lately become so passionate about passing. In fact, there had been only three 200-yard rushing performances total over the past two years — much less in the same day.
Texas' Ricky Williams, Oklahoma's DeMond Parker and Kansas' David Winbush were the last Big 12 trio of 200-yard rushers, back on Oct. 24, 1998.
It took until a group of top-notch quarterbacks including 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Chase Daniel and Graham Harrell cycled through the league for it to happen again.
"That's natural." Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "I think you play to your strengths, and when you have guys like that, you play to them."
And the Big 12's running resurgence isn't just the senior trio with the gaudy numbers. Freshman Taylor Martínez had 127 yards in a revival of the running quarterback at Nebraska, and Texas has committed to being more of a run-oriented team, although Week 1 didn't produce any big numbers.
At Oklahoma State, the hiring of new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, a former Mike Leach assistant who created the nation's top passing offense last season at Houston, created visions of a four-receiver spread.
That all changed this summer
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
when Holgorsen approached offensive line coach Joe Wickline with the idea of testing out a full house backfield. The Cowboys designed a new offensive formation with three running backs to feature Hunter, a third-team All-American in 2008 who missed most of last season with an ankle injury.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Mizzou corner breaks out
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Easy as it was for Missouri senior cornerback Carl Gettis to recognize his performance Saturday against Illinois as the best of his volatile career, it didn't obscure his prompt recollection of the low point.
That was last season's nationally televised debacle against Texas, a 41-7 loss in which TV coverage became fixated on Gettis jawjacking with defensive coordinator Dave Steckel.
"They catch everything," said Gettis, managing a smile.
What he called "an immature mistake" came after Steckel emphatically pointed out he was playing the wrong defensive scheme.
and probably wouldn't now.
Instead of accepting the fact he got the signal wrong, Gettis gave Steckel heat.
Asked Monday whether his flak back reflected guts or stupidity, he said. "Stupidity is probably the better word. Not guts."
Steckel was not available to comment Monday, but he said little about the episode last year
"We're still close as can be," Gettis said last week. "It was a tough time for me, because everybody wanted to talk to me about the situation and what happened. But, honestly, it's made me a stronger person today."
That seemed evident to Missouri coach Gary Pinkel even before Gettis' spree of big plays Saturday, most notably a twisting, one-handed interception that was Gettis' first since the 2008 season.
"I think he's just on a mission, and I think you saw that," Pinkel said. "He wants to play at a whole different level than he's been."
As cornerback counterpart Kevin Rutland put it: "He showed it's time to be a new Carl, and he played better than most people have ever seen him play."
There are a few reasons for the apparent change in Gettis, whose start against McNeese State on Saturday will be his 39th in a row over four seasons but who acknowledges he "hidn't respond to the expectations like I wanted to" after cracking the lineup in the fifth game of his freshman year.
Fairly or not, Gettis has come to be seen as representative of a secondary that was considered most responsible for a pass defense ranked 117th and 104th in the nation the past two seasons.
"It's my last go-round," he said. "and we've really got a point to prove in the secondary, so I've been feeding off that."
He's also been drawing off a new mental outlook encouraged and nurtured by outgoing Missouri track coach Rick McGuire, a leading figure in sports psychology.
Gettis said he has worked with McGuire on "thinking the right thoughts" in terms of forgetting about plays gone awry, as well as on "how to keep my cool and certain times to just be quieter and listen."
The issues exposed by his heckling of Steckel, in fact, seemed to lead Gettis to an openness about improving his mind-set.
"I had to work on myself, physically and mentally," he said, "but I stand here today a better football player than a year ago."