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SPORTS ERSITY DAILY KANSAS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1995
SECTION B
Combat 'Husker craziness
Things are gonna get a little crazy.
Things are gonna get a little crazy.
With the Nebraska-Kansas football game starting tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., the key word is crazy.
First, you've got the crazy Nebraska football fans.
They'll be invading the campus,
driving their red cars and vans,
wearing their red sweatshirts, hats,
buttons and anything else that might have Cornhuskers on it,
and chanting their Nebraska cheers.
I have known for a long time that these red-clad folks are fanatics. But my belief was confirmed Wednesday when I was sitting in the Kansas sports information office and the phone rang. The secretary proceeded to give the caller directions from Lincoln, Neb., to Lawrence and answered some other questions.
After she hung up, she told me that
commusker fans had been calling and asking, as this one did, for a diagram of Memorial Stadium. The fans had tickets and wanted to see where they would be sitting.
SPORTS EDITOR
Huh? Don't you just go to the stadium and look for the signs that direct you to the section you'll be sitting in?
I posed this question to a Nebraska fan, who just happens to be a former Kansan sports editor. He said that of course you can't just go to a game without knowing where you are sitting. The Cornhusker faithful have to be to the stadium an hour or two in advance.
2. Do all of the Kansas cheers,
even if you think they're stupid.
1. Don't wear red to the game tomorrow. Find something — anything — in blue.
I don't fully understand everything about these people from up north, but I have a few suggestions for combating their craziness.
3. Make lots of noise when Nebraska is on offense, especially in third- and fourth-down situations. I know the Cornhusher fans will be noisy when Kansas has the ball, so Jayhawk fans need to return the favor.
4. Keep faith in the Jayhawks.
think that last statement sounds a little crazy?
Well, Kansas is No. 10 in the nation and has defeated some darn good football teams when it wasn't supposed to. And few people believe Kansas can defeat Nebraska tomorrow either.
Just looking at the numbers one can see why.
The Cornhuskers have amassed 3,838 yards on the ground this season. That compares with 739 yards by their opponents.
Crazy. isn't it?
I can't decide if those lopsided numbers can be attributed to Nebraska's overpowering offense, which averages 55.3 points a game, or to its defense. The defensive unit is second in the Big Eight Conference behind Kansas State and allows a stingy 82 rushing yards a game.
Because of the numbers, I am forced to predict a Cornhusker win, 38-34. I hope the Jayhawks prove me wrong because the score will be close. Things can get crazy, you know?
With numbers like these, Nebraska has put itself in a whole other class. The Cornhuskers clearly have the inside track on winning another national championship.
Just think back two years. No one thought Kansas had a chance against Nebraska. But the Jayhawks held their own against a team that narrowly lost the national championship to Florida State in the Orange Bowl, 18-16.
Kansas had a chance to tie or win against that Cornhusker team two years ago. The Jayhawks went for a two-point conversion that fell short. Had they kicked the extra point, they likely would have foiled Nebraska's championship hopes before the Orange Bowl.
Things can get a little crazy, and I'm sure they will tomorrow.
Jayhawks have nothing to lose
Kansas football team has a full day's work against Cornhuskers
By Robert Sinclair Kansan sportswriter
Players on the No. 10 Kansas football team have been telling themselves all week that the team they are squaring off against tomorrow is no different from any other.
When Kansas plays Nebraska at Memorial Stadium on regional television (2:30 p.m. on ABC), it will be playing a team of student-athletes who put their pants on one leg at a time just like everybody else.
Of course, Nebraska's athletes
That's not to mention the fact that the last time the Jayhawks were victorious against the Cornhuskers was 1968 — before any player on either
happen to be ranked No.1 in the country, lead the nation in rushing and scoring offense and are in the midst of a 22-game winning streak.
player on either team was born.
what makes Nebraska so tough to play is its powerful offense, which is anchored by an offensive line with an average size of 6-foot-3. 298 pounds.
Led by Heisman Trophy candidate senior quarterback Tommie
"Heck everybody else got beat by them, too, so what's the difference."
Frazier, this year's team is no exception.
"They have on offense what all coaches like to have: consistency — through a great running game — and the ability to come up with the big play," Kansas football coach Glen Mason said. "They put those two things together, and that's why they are awfully hard to beat."
Steve Puppe / KANSAN
Nebraska's ground game has finished in the top three nationally for 17 consecutive years, finishing No.1 nine times and second and third four times each. In the same span, the team has averaged 350.5 rushing yards a game, which has translated into a 173-34 record, 10 Big Eight Conference championships and last year's national title.
exception.
"They've got what I feel is the best player in college football in Tommie Frazier," Mason said. "We've had our problems defending the option against Nebraska. If they just ran the option with the talented players they have, that would be a full day's work."
One of the most obvious parts of the Cornhuskers is their vaunted option rushing attack.
When Nebraska's running backs — freshman Ahman Green, juniors Damon Benning and Lawrence Phillips and senior Clinton Childs — are added to the mix, it is easy to see why the team is out-rushing its opponents 3,838 yards to 739 yards.
Green leads the team in rushing with an average of 110.78 yards a game and 13 touchdowns. Phillips, who has played in only three games because of a suspension, has an average of 142.3 yard-
Glen Mason Kansas football coach
game with eight touchdowns. Added to these impressive rushing numbers is Frazier's average of 52.22 rushing yards a game and 12 rushing touchdowns. However, Frazier the passing quarterback is as equally amazing as Frazier the
rushing quarterback.
"Not only is he a weapon to run, he's also a pretty efficient passer." Kansas senior outside linebacker Keith Rodgers said.
Frazier is so efficient, in fact, that he is the highest-rated passer in the conference with 1,148 yards and 15 touchdowns and has thrown only two interceptions.
On the other side of the ball, the Cornhuskers are first in the Big Eight for rushing defense and second for scoring defense, pass efficiency defense and total defense.
Like Missouri, Kansas State and Colorado before them, Nebraska's defense primarily plays man-to-man coverage.
"They're very, very fast," Kansas junior wide receiver Isaac Byrd said. "We've seen the defense that they're going to throw against us. But they have a lot more talent on the defensive side of the ball than we've seen all year."
The Missouri defense slows Kansas senior running back L.T. Levine. The Jayhawk running backs will face the Nebraska defense, which is first in the Big Eight Conference in rushing defense, at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Maybe the Jayhawks can find hope in the fact that they could have tied the Cornhuskers at home two years ago. Instead, the Jayhawks went for the win.
Pigskin Predictions
Nov. 11 and 12, 1995
Nebraska ♥ Kansas
Illinois ♥ Ohio State
Kansas City ♥ San Diego
San Francisco ♥ Dallas
Chicago ♥ Green Bay
Jenni Carlson
Kansan Sports Editor
Record: Last Week 4-1; Season 33-15-2
NU 38
KU 34
OSU 42
III. 31
K.C. 17
S.D. 14
Dal. 28
S.F. 17
G.B. 14
Chi. 10
Tom Erickson
Kansan Associate Sports Editor
Record: Last Week 5-0; Season 34-14-2
NU 45
KU 21
OSU 30
III. 13
K.C. 24
S.D. 17
Dal. 28
S.F. 10
Chi. 24
G.B. 14
Chris Austin
Kansan Sports Columnist
Record: Last Week 5-0; Season 37-11-2
KU 22
NU 20
OSU 33
III. 21
K.C. 24
S.D. 14
Dal. 24
S.F. 13
Chi. 17
G.B. 10
Of the Week:
Bynder
Tant Director, Kansas Honors Program
Record: 33142
KU 29
NU 28
OSU 42
III. 21
K.C. 24
S.D. 21
S.F. 35
Dal. 28
Chi. 21
G.B. 10
Would Mason go for the tie this time around?
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
"Maybe, probably not. That's not in my nature," he said. "I'd sure give anything to be in that situation again."
With a win, the Kansas football team will have defeated Colorado, Oklahoma and Nebraska in the same year for the first time since 1906. A win also would make the
last game at home for the seniors even more memorable.
"Personally, for me, that would be a fitting end to my college career in Memorial Stadium," Rodgers said. "We're approaching this game the way we approached the Colorado game, which is that we're not playing a powerhouse."
Mason, on the other hand, is refraining from making too big a
deal of the game.
I think it would be a monumental game," Mason said of winning. "The way I look at it, and I've told the players this, 'What's the absolute worst thing that can happen Saturday? You get beat by Nebraska.'
"Heck, everybody else got beat by them, too, so what's the difference?"
KANSAS BASKETBALL
Basketball game won't be a game
Kansas coach calls bout with Converse All-Stars a 'glorified scrimmage'
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
When the Kansas men's basketball team takes the floor at 7:05 tonight in Allen Field game, it will be tippling off its first game of the season.
Although Kansas will be playing another team, the Converse All-Stars, the Kansas players and coaches view it much the same as "Late Night with Roy Williams."
Kansas junior center Scot Pollard said that was what Kansas coach Roy Williams called it.
Or will it be the second 'glorified scriffman' of the season?
Paul Kotz/ KANSAN
"When it doesn't count on your record, you can't get too excited about it." Pollard said.
However, the Jayhawks will put on the uniforms for the first time this season and get to run plays against a team that doesn't know what the plays are.
"I think they're tired of beating on each other and tired of competing against each other every single day." Williams said about the Jay-
Kansas center Scot Pollard has impressed coach Roy Williams with his stamina in practice. Pollard and the Jayhawks will have their first test tonight
nawts. "We'll be glad to play somebody else. We might be able to call a play, and the other team won't know what we're doing."
Brunson, who was recruited by Kansas, helped defeated the Jayhawks 73-59 on Dec. 1, 1983 in the fieldhouse. He had 19 points, five assists and three steals in the last nonconference game Kansas has lost at home.
The Converse All-Stars, a collection of former college players, will be the first team the Jayhawks test things out on. Although the team's roster changes from game to game, the All-Stars plan to bring nine players, including former Temple point guard Rick Brunson.
The Jayhawk big men also may be tested by 7-foot center Ed Book, who played at Canisius.
"I'm very encouraged by what Scot has done," Williams said. "He keeps going, and everyone else gets tired, and he just keeps going."
During almost a month of practices, Williams said that Pollard and freshman forward T.J. Pugh had impressed him the most.
The problem is that everyone else who gets tired is on his team. Williams said he was most concerned with the Jayhawk defense.
"It has been awfully easy for the
big guys to score because we haven't been guarding anything, even our lunch, the past three weeks." Williams said.
But Williams may just be a coach searching for perfection.
"We've always had dry spell's about this time," Williams said. "My
BREAK DOWN: An in-depth look at the Jawhags. Page 8B.
running buddies told me that at least I haven't gone in this year and told them that we're not going to win a game. They say I do that every year about this time."
Tall and taller: Big Eight has a few big men
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
There's a big void in the Big Eight Conference this season.
Three of the conference's starting centers were drafted in the first round of the 1995 NBA draft.
Lost: The conference's career leader in blocked shots, 7-foot-2 Kansas center Greg Ostertag, two-time Big Eight player of the year and three-time first team all-Big Eight performer; 7-foot Oklahoma State center Bryant Reeves; and 8-10 Iowa state center Loren Meyer.
Found: The heart to drive the lane by all 6-6 glasters in the Big Eight.
"You get rid of an Ostertag, a Reeves and a Meyer, it's like putting the Red Sea for guys 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8, to come down middle." 6-7 Colorado forward Ted Kritza said. "Size is something with the exception of Kansas, maybe Missouri, that there's not going to be a lot on the floor."
Missouri returns twain 7-footers Simeon and Sammie Haley. Kansas returns the only two big guys in the conference, who players and coaches say put fear into the hearts of those slashers.
With the departure of the three first-round NBA draft picks, Kansas
See BIGMEN,Page 3B.
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