Jayhawks all business despite distractions

By Richard Brack     Sep 12, 2002

On a day of national remembrance, it was business as usual for Kansas University’s football team.

“Everybody thinks about it,” senior safety Jake Letourneau said of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. “After practice we talked about it. During practice our focus was on getting ready for Saturday’s game. It’s a sad day, but we have to prepare for a couple hours on the field.”

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But 9-11 media coverage was hard to ignore.

“I watched a little TV today,” senior receiver Byron Gasaway said. “It really kind of just humbles you. You just take time to be thankful that you are here. A lot of people aren’t fortunate to play football, but I have football to kind of take my mind off of it.”

Coach Mark Mangino, whose team observed a moment of silence in the post-practice huddle, wasn’t sure his Jayhawks were focused at the start of Wednesday’s workout.

“We started a little bit slow,” said Mangino, whose team plays its home opener at 6 p.m. Saturday against Southwest Missouri State. “It’s hard for kids not to be somber about today. You get in the car in the morning and you listen to ‘God Bless America’ on the radio. You flip on the TV set and you see all the people that have suffered at the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon. It’s hard for it not to effect all of us. There’s something wrong with us if it doesn’t.

“We started out practice and it wasn’t a very good tempo, but the last hour and 15 minutes were just excellent. The kids really got in a groove and got going. It was a good day all in all. I was pleased.”

The Jayhawks enter Saturday’s home opener following consecutive road losses to Iowa State and Nevada-Las Vegas. Division I-AA Southwest Missouri State is 2-0.

“Surprisingly, we’re more upbeat,” Letourneau said. “We’re practicing harder and better every day. We’ve remained positive. We see our improvement from game one to game two, and we know if we keep improving we’ll be a good football team.”

Injury update: Red-shirt freshman Nick Clapp had his arm in a sling after Wednesday’s practice, but Mangino declined to comment on the injury. The backup linebacker was credited with two tackles against Iowa State and 11â2 at Las Vegas.

KU lost starting linebacker Banks Floodman to a knee injury in the first game of the season. The sophomore will take a red-shirt this season.

More on Hurst: Mangino said he was pleased with the progress of senior David Hurst (6-foot-3, 270 pounds), who moved from tight end to offensive guard this week.

“We talked to him in the spring about this and he felt like he wanted to play tight end,” Mangino said, “but now that he’s out there playing guard he realizes it’s almost a natural position for him.

“He may get some reps in the game this week, but we’re not sure. We still need to see tomorrow’s practice.”

Sales brisk: KU officials said Wednesday that this year’s season-ticket sales of more than 26,000 are the highest since 1969 and the third-highest all-time. The KU season-ticket record is 27,624 set in 1969, while the second-highest total of 26,360 was set in 1964.

Upcoming: Kansas will conclude its nonconference schedule with next Saturday’s home game against Bowling Green and a Sept. 28 game at Tulsa.

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