Who Said That?
Former Kansas football coach, Mark Mangino, was often quoted as saying, “You gotta keep on sawing wood.” The Jayhawk nation could really use his handsaws, chainsaws and table saws about now! Not only does there not seem to be a light at the end of the football tunnel in Lawrence, there doesn’t even seem to be a tunnel to look into! Current KU coach David Beaty, following a disastrous 43-7 loss to Memphis last Saturday that included six turnovers, said, “That starts with me. I’ve got to get better. Obviously, what we’re doing right now is not working.” I respect coaches who try to deflect blame away from their players but, goodness, this isn’t working.
Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder was angry with his team after Saturday’s 63-7 beat down of Florida Atlantic. He said, “We totally lacked discipline to play this game.” 13 penalties for 131 yards. “It’s nothing more than discipline,” Snyder said. It would seem that quote would fit the Kansas Jayhawk situation as well!
Larned coach A.B. Stokes lamented after the Indians 41-13 loss to Hesston, “It was another night of penalties and turnovers.” Larned is averaging nine penalties and three turnovers a ball game in their 0-3 start.
Saturday North Dakota State made 13th-ranked Iowa their latest “upset” victim. These aren’t “upsets” anymore folks. Beware scheduling the Bison! Iowa defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson summed it up when he said, “Am I shocked that we lost? Yeah, to an extent, but these guys came ready to play!” They usually do Jaleel, they usually do. Just ask Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Iowa!
“We took a huge step beating a good football team,” said Great Bend coach Erin Beck following the Panthers’ 58-47 victory over highly-respected and state-ranked Wichita Northwest. “Our offensive line did a good job controlling the line of scrimmage,” Beck said. Coming into the season, the offensive line was one of the question marks for this team and they have stepped up big-time in a 3-0 start.
There’s a lot of talk about college backs dropping the football just before crossing the goal line. It has happened numerous times, none more noteworthy than Saturday when California’s Vic Enwere let go of the ball before crossing the goal line but officials ruled Texas did not make any effort to recover it so they let Cal keep the ball and spotted it on the one-yard-line and they ran out the clock instead of giving Texas a last-second shot at victory. Of course, coaches go nuts about these kinds of actions by their backs. Cal coach Sonny Dykes has since implemented a new rule. “When our players score from now on they must hand the ball to an official or they won’t play”, said Dykes. TCU’s coach, Gary Patterson, said “If one of my backs does that, they need to keep running right up our tunnel!”
CHALK TALK
2-1 Dodge City at 4th-ranked 5A Great Bend. The Red Demons only loss was to a very good Wichita Heights team last week, 34-14. Still, it’s at home and the Black Panthers play well there. Great Bend 35, Dodge City 21.
Undefeated and 5th-ranked Halstead is in Larned as the Indians try to get on track after an 0-3 start. The Dragons don’t seem to have lost much from last year. If the Indians can cut down the penalties and turnovers this one could be a lot closer than many expect. Cut that spread from 3 td’s to one!
Washington County travels to Hoisington. It will be a long ride home. Cardinals 44-12.
Another warmup game for Kansas State: Wildcats 42, Missouri State 10.
Kansas. The good news is they won’t lose this week. They don’t play. Coach David Beaty has an extra week to find a fix for his offense It might take more than a week! Former pro football coach Bruce Coslet: “We can’t run. We can’t pass. We can’t stop the run. We can’t stop the pass. We can’t kick. Other than that, we’re just not a very good football team right now!”
Buddy Tabler is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and his views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached at budtabler@gmail.com