Each week during the University of Kansas’ sports seasons, the Journal-World staff will select one athlete from a KU men’s sports team and one from a women’s sports team as athletes of the week.
For the week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5, the selections are Jalen Dye and Becca Smith.
Jalen Dye, football
The redshirt senior safety had one of his biggest moments in a Kansas uniform on Saturday’s 27-20 win on the road at UCF when he strip-sacked the Knights’ quarterback Tayven Jackson deep in UCF territory, setting up a fumble recovery for Trey Lathan just short of the goal line, which immediately resulted in Leshon Williams’ go-ahead touchdown. Dye finished with three tackles and will continue to play a key role as KU’s safety group battles injuries.
Becca Smith, soccer
Smith got an excellent introduction to KU’s biggest league rivalry on Thursday. She scored a go-ahead goal from outside the box shortly before halftime, then turned it into a brace late in the game with a tap off the back of her heel, as the Jayhawks beat Kansas State 4-1 at Rock Chalk Park. Those were the first two goals of Smith’s career, and she played nearly as many minutes in one match (31) as she had the rest of the season (34).
