KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2010 / SPORTS
3B
FOOTBALL
Chris Neal/KANSAN
Coach Turner Gill speaks to the football team Sunday night after its scrimmage. The players signed autographs afterwards as a part of Fan Appreciation Night.
Fun, appreciation for fans
Football enthusiasts enjoy a first look at the fall football team at Fan Appreciation Day
BY COREY THIBODEAUX cthibodeaux@kansan.com
About 500 fans came to see the fresh faces on the football team Sunday for Fan Appreciation Day.
Games, goodies and autographs were available to fans who watched an hour-long practice session.
"We're thankful for the KU football program," said coach Turner Gill.
The practice didn't reveal too much. It was no-contact and often ran basic plays. Some involved a literal version of a fake punt, where no defense was present and a quarterback sneak on their own one yard line.
Nick Agnew, a junior from Topeka, enjoyed the facial faces on
the hot day. It was also the first opportunity to see newly anointed starting quarterback Kale Pick.
"He looked
He looked pretty comfortable." Agnew said. "They weren't fully padded, but he looked pretty good."
After the game, players signed autographs for fans. Some of the players, Gill joked, haven't
"We're thankful for them to come on out and support the KU football program."
had opportunities to practice their signature.
"I'm sure there will be fans that
say, 'I can't read this one,' he said. In addition to placing Pick on the starting line, the coaching staff
TURNER GILL Coach
made other changes to the team.
Junior Steve Foster will play defensive end, along with being the starter at fullback.
Unfortunately, Saturday's scrimmage saw the loss of a player.
"He was a guy that was in the
Junior running back Rell Lewis is out for the season
with the knee injury he sustained in the scrimimage.
hunt as far as battling for a starting job," Gill said.
With Lewis listed as third on the depth chart, one would think it might prompt Gill to revert sophomen Toben Opurum back to that running back.
"We are still going to keep him over there at the linebacker spot," Gill said. "We think that he can help us in that situation."
The coaches are confident freshmen Brandon Bourbon, Deshaun Sands and James Sims can contribute right away, but a decision wasn't definite.
"We still have another week that I want to continue to evaluate these guys," Gill said.
Edited by Roshni Oommen
Chris Neal/KANSAN
Sara Miller, junior, and Marvin Miller, freshman from St. Francis, get an autograph from Coach Turner Gill. Both brother and sister are optimistic about this season and are eager to see what happens. "I'm excited to see the change from a different coach." Marvin said.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Georgia's 3-4 scheme provides flexibility on football field
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
ATHENS, Ga. — They've been calling Justin Anderson "Bean" for awhile. For much of the past two seasons, they called him Georgia's starting guard. This year they may be calling him a starting nose tackle.
That's fine with him.
"If they tell me to go to wide receiver, which I know I'd probably be horrible at, I'd still go try it," Anderson said.
That won't be necessary, luckily, since Anderson is 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds. But plenty of big changes have come with Georgia's new 3-4 scheme, including what's basically
a new position — nose tackle — and potentially a brand new player at that position.
Originally, it was going to be DeAngelo Tyson, the junior who played defensive tackle the past two seasons. And it could still end up being Tyson. But Anderson and redshirt freshman Kwame Geathers have done well enough at the nose that Tyson is being flexed out to the end, where he could be a better weapon.
"It all varies," he said. "We've gotta find depth, and if we don't have enough depth, then I guess I
Tyson couldn't put a percentage on how many plays he would see at each position.
have to go nose. Then if we do have depth, then I can go play end. But it's all about who wants to step up and go be a player."
So far Anderson has shown he wants to. He started 12 games at guard his first two years, then was moved to nose tackle during spring practice. But he got hurt right away, so his induction to the nose spot, at least as far as live action, didn't come until preseason practice started three weeks ago.
"Coming onto (playing) defense I was kind of nervous at first," Anderson said. "I knew I was eventually going to do well, but in the past on offensive line I've had trouble with playbooks. That was
probably my biggest - I wouldn't say fright, but I was kind of skeptical on it."
The nose tackle position can be a tough one in the 3-4. That's why Albert Haynesworth, an NFL All-Pro in a 4-3 system, asked for a trade after the Washington Redskins switched to a three-down lineman lineup for this season.
But new Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who imported the 3-4 from the Dallas Cowboys, believes the nose can flourish in his system. He pointed out that Jay Ratliff was an All-Pro and had eight sacks for the Cowboys last season.
The key is whether a nose tackle
has to attack one or two gaps in the offensive line. In the Redskins' new system, for instance, the nose has to attack two, which tends to limit the opportunities to make plays. (Like sacks.)
But in Grantham's system the nose only has to mind the one gap, and has more freedom.
"You can make some sacks as a nose if you've got some initial quickness and some burst," Grantham said.
Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner, a holdover from when the team was using a 4-3, put it another way:
"I guess the 3-4 (scheme) that everyone's so paranoid about, when you have that two-gap, you need that big 350-pound nose guard that can just sit in there and just hold the point at center and play both of them 'A' gaps. And I don't have that."