UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
QUICK COLLEGE CLOSEUPS Jayhawks Bruins
Conference: Big Eight
Location: Lawrence
Founded: 1866
Enrollment: 25,240
Colors: Crimson
and Blue
Athletic Director:
Dr. Bob Frederick
Field: Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 50,250
Surface: Astroturf
Record: 9-2
Ranking: No. 11
Coach: Glen Mason
(Ohio St. '72)
Record at Kansas: 42-47-1
(Eighth season)
Conference: Pacific-10
Location: Westwood,
Los Angeles
Founded: 1919
Enrollment: 34,000
Colors: Blue and Gold
Athletic Director:
Peter T. Dalis
Field: Rose Bowl
Capacity: 102,083
Surface: Natural Grass
Record: 7-4
Ranking: Unranked
Coach: Terry Donahue
(UCLA '67)
Record at UCLA: 144-69-
(20th season)
INSIDE
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1995
Travel — What Hawaii has to offer. Page 2C
Senior tribute Kansas' seniors will be playing in their last game. Pagos 4-5C
KU Band The Kansas cheering crew prepares for sunny Hawaii. Page 6C
Opinion — Kansan sports editor Jenni Carlson gives her prediction. Page 6C
1995 review — A Look back at the Jayhawks' season. Page 7C
SECTION C
Matt Hood / KANBAM
GAME PREVIEW> Jayhawks' game with Bruins full of subplots while Kansas' season was full of surprises
UCLA: An in-depth look at what makes a 7-4 team tick.
SENIOR BELIEP:
Kznasas'
seniors had faith in the Jayhawks.
Parte 3C
Page 3C
By Robert Sinclair Kansan sportswriter
There are more subplots and story lines in the 1995 Jeep-Eagle Aloha Bowl between the No. 11 Kansas football team and UCLA than a week's worth of "All My Children."
"At the beginning of the season, everybody counted us out," Kansas senior outside linebacker Keith Rodgers said. "I think we were a pleasant surprise."
At the beginning of the year, there were no expectations for a young and inexperienced bunch of kids. They wouldn't listen to their critics, though, and rallied behind their fearless leader. Now, after overcoming adversity, the kids are headed to paradise as the sun sets.
Returning only five defensive starters from the year before was a cause of concern for Kansas football coach Glen Mason. Losing senior outside linebacker Ronnie Ward and junior defensive back Tony Blevins to injuries just added to the problem.
Sound familiar?
The fast start and national recognition conjured comparisons with the 1968 Orange Bowl football team for several reasons:
Nevertheless, the Jayhawks started the season by winning their first seven games — including impressive victories on the road against Colorado and Oklahoma — and climbed as high as No. 6 in the Associated Press football poll.
The teams were the last two to win seven consecutive games.
This year's squad got off to the best start since the 1968 team at 7-0.
This year's No. 6 ranking was the highest since 1968 when the team was ranked as high as — what else?—No. 6.
Of course, the fact that both teams were invited to bowl games also begs the question: are the 1996 Jayhawks as good as their 1968 counterparts?
"I think Glen's done a great job," said Pepper Rodgers, who coached the Kansas football team in 1968. "He's taken the Jayhawks and made them into a great football team."
In 1992, the Jayhawks were an optimistic bunch after coming off of their first winning season in almost a decade. That team also started strong, winning seven of its first eight games. The Jayhawks faltered, however, losing their last three but still managed an Aloha Bowl invitation.
This year's team won two more games (9-2) than the 1992 Jayhawks, finishing the year ranked No. 11 and tied for second in the Big Eight Conference. Does this mean the Jayhawks were forced to settle for the Aloha Bowl?
Then again, consecutive Aloha
"I have always maintained that going to a bowl game should be a reward for a good season, and we had a good season," Mason said. "I've been to a lot of bowl games, but there isn't a better place to go as far as setting. From that standpoint, it truly is a vacation, a fun setting in — as they call it — paradise."
What is yet to be determined is whether the team can follow the post-season winning ways of the
Bowl appearances is another call for comparison.
1992 team. Kansas defeated Brigham Young 23-20 in the 1992 Aloha Bowl.
It should come as no surprise that a former Kansas assistant coach might
be standing in the way of that
the way of the UCLA football coach Terry Donahue was with the 1968 football team no less. After leaving Kansas, Donahue went to the Golden State and almost lured Mason to work for him as an assistant with the Bruins.
"At the
beginning of the season, everybody
counted us out."
A
Keith Rodgers
Kansas senior outside linebacker
"I'm assuming ___
that he would
have offered me the job," Mason
looked.
Instead of following up on the advice of a mutual friend, Mason left
See ALOHA, Page 2C.
4
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