Sports News

Broncos stun Steelers on Elam’s late FG

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:49:18 +0000

DENVER — The Denver Broncos took the city’s minds off the Colorado Rockiesfor a few hours Sunday night, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 on JasonElam’s 49-yard field goal as time expired.

Rookie Tim Crowder had a 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and JayCutler threw three TD passes and the Broncos (3-3), coming off their worst homeloss in 41 years, looked nothing like the troubled team that had lost playmakerson both sides of the ball and whose season was threatening to unravel before theleaves had finished falling.

Suddenly able to get to the passer despite Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey(thigh) missing a game for just the third time in his career, the Broncos forcedthree turnovers and sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times.

The Steelers (4-2), who had allowed just five touchdowns all season ,surrendered four on this night, including Cutler’s throws of 15 yards to BrandonStokley and 1 yard each to Tony Scheffler and Cecil Sapp.

Elam, who has the game-winner in all three of the Broncos’ wins so far,nailed his kick to cap a seven-play, 49-yard drive that covered the final 1:10after Pittsburgh had rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie it.

The Broncos, who lost running back Travis Henry for the night with bruisedribs in the third quarter, snapped a three-game skid and handed the Steelerstheir second loss in three games.

Denver was surprisingly in control throughout and built a two-touchdown leadon Scheffler’s 1-yard TD catch midway through the third quarter.

Pittsburgh pulled to 28-21 with a 94-yard drive capped by rookie tight endMatt Spaeth’s 13-yard touchdown catch one play after Roethlisberger barely gotthe first down on a fourth-and-1 sneak.

Without Henry, the Broncos went three-and-out and Pittsburgh got the ball atits 22 with 7:47 left after a 61-yard punt by Todd Sauerbrun.

Roethlisberger completed all eight of his passes on the 80-yard drive, whichhe capped with a 12-yard TD pass to tight end Heath Miller, his second touchdowngrab of the night.

After a touchback, Scheffler caught a 16-yard pass before hopping off thefield with an apparent right foot injury. He broke that foot in the summer andonly recently returned to full strength.

Brandon Marshall caught a 9-yard pass and an offside call put the ball onthe 50. Glenn Martinez caught an 11-yard pass and tight end Daniel Graham caughtanother 9-yarder with 20 seconds on a play that was initially ruled anincompletion before a booth-ordered replay overturned the call.

AP – Oct 21, 11:41 pm EDT

Selvin Young lost a yard and, after a timeout, Elam split the uprights.

The Broncos seized the momentum with their first touchdown by a defensivelineman since Ellis Johnson’s interception return against Oakland on Nov. 28,2004.

Elvis Dumervil split blockers Marvel Smith and Alan Faneca and dumpedRoethlisberger for a 12-yard loss, while stripping the ball from thequarterback’s grasp. Crowder scooped it up and raced half the length of thefield for a 21-7 lead just 90 seconds after Sapp’s 1-yard touchdown grab hadgiven Denver its first lead.

Larry Foote’s interception at the Broncos’ 41 set up Santonio Holmes’13-yard TD catch that cut Denver’s lead to 21-14 in the third quarter.

Up to seven inches of snow blanketed Denver on Sunday, forcing the NLchampion Rockies to move their workout indoors, but the football game threemiles away was unaffected because the field was covered. By game time, the skieswere clear and the field dry, although light flurries returned in the fourthquarter.

Denver is last in the NFL in stopping the run and the Steelers have theleague’s second-best rushing offense. But Pittsburgh running back Willie Parkerhad only three carries for 10 yards in the first quarter and the Broncos beganto build confidence.

Parker got going and finished with 93 yards on 21 carries.

The Broncos became the first team this season to score on Pittsburgh’sdefense in the first half when Stokley, starting in place of Javon Walker, whohad knee surgery on Friday, caught a 15-yard pass from Cutler to tie the game at7 in the first quarter.

The night began with a ceremony to honor cornerback Darrent Williams andrunning back Damien Nash, two 24-year-old Broncos who died last winter. Williamswas killed in an unsolved drive-by shooting in downtown Denver on New Year’s Dayand Nash died two months later after a charity basketball game in St. Louis.

“Honor them with the way you play the game, it’s the best thing you cando,” John Lynch told his teammates as they gathered before kickoff.

Notes

Bailey hadn’t missed a game since 2005, when he missed two with apulled hamstring. Domonique Foxworth took his place in the starting lineup. …Steelers K Jeff Reed attempted a record 65-yard field goal just before halftime,but it was well short.

Retired Los Angeles Times motorsports writer Shav Glick dies at 87

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 22:33:49 +0000

LOS ANGELES — Shav Glick, who covered the Indianapolis 500 and a variety ofother races during 37 years writing about motorsports for the Los Angeles Times,has died. He was 87.

Glick died Saturday at his Pasadena home of complications from melanoma, thenewspaper confirmed Sunday. He retired at 85 last year.

By the time he was assigned the auto racing beat at the Times, Glick was 48and had already spent 34 years covering other sports.

In 1994, Glick was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inNovi, Mich., becoming the first writer for a general circulation daily newspaperto earn that honor.

“He was the authority. You wanted to be noticed by Shav Glick,” formerIndianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti told the Times. “He certainly had myrespect.”

Glick served in the Army during World War II. After that, he went to workfor the Pasadena Star-News and stayed until 1954, when future Times publisherOtis Chandler hired him as sports editor of the Los Angeles Mirror, a sisterpaper of the Times.

When the Mirror was merged into the Times, Glick made the transition aswell. Before covering racing, he was the golf beat writer and for a time, hecovered both sports until scheduling conflicts made it impossible.

Glick covered short tracks and super speedways, road racing and drag racingand midget cars.

“He was a true friend of mine, a friend of the sporting world and someonewith high integrity,” car owner Roger Penske told the Times. “I have a lot tothank him for, and so does the entire motor racing industry.”

Born Shavenau Glick on Sept. 16, 1920, he grew up in Pasadena. Glick was aclassmate and friend of Jackie Robinson at what was then Pasadena Junior Collegebefore Robinson became the first black to play major league baseball.

Glick is survived by companion Doris Syme, son Michael of Santa Barbara,three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His wife of 41 years,Florence, died in 1991. His stepson, Jeffrey Hale, died in 1997.

A memorial was being planned.

Steelers, Broncos tied after 1st quarter

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:13:50 +0000

DENVER — The Denver Broncos became the first team this season to score onPittsburgh’s defense in the first half when Brandon Stokley caught a 15-yardpass to tie the game at 7 after the first quarter on Sunday night.

The Steelers marched the ball down the field with ease on their openingdrive, which culminated with Ben Roethlisberger’s 1-yard touchdown pass to tightend Heath Miller. It was Miller’s third touchdown catch of the season.

Nate Washington had a 40-yard catch on a third-down play to keep the drivegoing.

Jay Cutler’s touchdown pass to Stokley was the Broncos’ first touchdown infive quarters. Denver was beaten by San Diego 41-3 two weeks ago and was offlast week. Cutler was 4-of-5 for 56 yards on the Broncos’ opening possession. Hecompleted a 26-yard pass to tight end Tony Scheffler.

Dre’ Bly, who dropped an interception early in the game, picked offRoethlisberger late in the first quarter after the quarterback tried to throwdeep.

The Broncos are last in the NFL in stopping the run and the Steelers havethe second-best rushing offense. But Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker hadonly three carries for 10 yards in the first quarter.

The Steelers had allowed just 47 points through five games this season, thesecond stingiest defense in the NFL.

Denver played without Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey, who missed a gamefor just the third time in his career Sunday night due to a left thigh injury.

Broncos No. 1 receiver Javon Walker had arthroscopic knee surgery Friday andlikely won’t be back until December.

Walker tore through Pittsburgh last season, catching six passes for 134yards. He also had a 72-yard touchdown run.

Before the game, there was a video tribute to cornerback Darrent Williamsand running back Damien Nash. Williams was slain year in a New Year’s Daydrive-by shooting that remains unsolved. Nash died following a charitybasketball game in St. Louis two months later.

The mothers of the two former Broncos were on hand for the game. RosalindWilliams and Kim Nash walked out for the coin flip to a rousing applause.

The team has been wearing patches with the numbers of Williams and Nashaffixed to their helmets all season.

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Koivu’s goal lifts Wild over Avalanche

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:29:20 +0000

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mikko Koivu’s goal with 3:04 remaining in the game liftedthe Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.

With both teams stagnant in the final period, Koivu grabbed the puck out ofthe corner, started like he was going to carry it behind the net and then made alightning quick move to the short side and simply bulled his way out in front.

He stuffed the puck past a surprised Peter Budaj, lifting the Wild to theirseventh win in the first eight games.

Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves and Mark Parrish and Brian Rolston alsoscored for the Wild.

Andrew Brunette and Tyler Arnason scored for the Avalanche, who got 29 savesfrom Budaj.

NASCAR’s long delay leaves Ragan in jeopardy

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:17:36 +0000

By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

MARTINSVILLE, Virginia (Ticker) – NASCAR would kill for a good finish, just ask David Ragan.

In what was supposed to be a “green-white-checkered flag” finish to Sunday’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Ragan’s Ford spun out and stopped in between turns 1 and 2 at the tight .526-mile short track.

Meantime, the leaders were charging to the area of Ragan’s stalled Ford in what could be considered a blind-spot of the track to those fighting for position at the end of the race.

So as race-leader Jimmie Johnson, second-place Ryan Newman, third-place Jeff Gordon and the rest of the field raced into the first turn at race speed, Ragan sat there helpless with the driver’s side facing traffic, probably with his eyes closed hoping nobody hit him.

Finally, after half the field went by the crippled car, NASCAR finally hit the yellow light, which ended the race because NASCAR rules call for only one attempt at a “green-white-checkered flag” finish.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Ragan was not available for comment after the race. He was probably being treated for “battle fatigue.”

He was so “shell-shocked” General George Patton probably wouldn’t have slapped him.

OK, so maybe it wasn’t that bad and maybe this is overdone hyperbole and OK, it’s over the top to make such a judgment about NASCAR’s long delay in ending the race under caution, but for a sport that has taken much credit for safety innovations, it avoided what could have been a disastrous situation.

Part of NASCAR’s dilemma is it often balances safety with entertainment. Those in charge of the Nextel Cup series never want to end a race under yellow and that spawned the “green-white-checkered” rule several years ago to ensure that a contest would be decided in a race to the finish.

But twice this year, the entertainment side has taken priority over safety.

In the season-opening Daytona 500 as Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick raced to the checkered flag on the final lap, Kyle Busch’s car went sideways in front of the rest of the field triggering a massive crash most often remembered when Clint Bowyer’s Chevrolet flipped upside down and caught on fire.

NASCAR waited until Harvick had nipped Martin at the finish line before hitting the yellow light.

But the point of a caution flag is to alert all the cars on the track of a treacherous situation.

That was the case in the Daytona 500 and it was still the same in Sunday’s Subway 500.

“I saw the yellow come out and at the same time looked over to the left and his nose was sitting toward the infield crossways on the race track,” Newman said. “It was a great call by NASCAR (when they threw the yellow).

“We would have liked to have had the opportunity to race to the finish but it would have been pretty hairy for everybody, especially David Ragan where he was sitting.”

When Gordon was chasing Newman’s Dodge for second place, he admitted he was thinking about what he needed to do to gain the position more than Ragan’s precarious spot on the track.

“I saw him plenty far in advance,” Gordon said. “I saw him spin and I was wondering if he was going to drive down the track or back of the track, or keep moving, or stop and I had time to get on the brakes and put it into third gear.

“It’s going to sound crazy to think about it this way, but as a race driver I’m thinking, ‘How do I make sure I maintain my position?’ I wasn’t even thinking if I was going to get into him; I was making sure I didn’t slow down too much and lose a position to somebody. I don’t know how that affected anything but I don’t see how they (NASCAR) could have done anything any different.”

NASCAR’s entertainment edict is so strong, it’s even affected the media. When someone asked Gordon if there should be more than one attempt at finishing the race under green, the four-time Cup champion shot back with a direct answer.

“Yeah, we should just have more cautions and more spins and more wrecks,” Gordon said. “C’mon. Cautions breed cautions and when you stack us up and give us one to go, people are going to crash. It’s rare that doesn’t happen. So if you stack us up and do it again we’re probably going to it again.

“That’s why the rule is what it is with just one attempt at a green-white-checkered finish.”

NASCAR contends that safety is at the forefront of most of its decisions. It even scrapped a generation of cars to come up with what is known as the “Car of Tomorrow” which is a bigger, boxier car that has safety features designed to protect the driver.

That car was used in Sunday’s race at Martinsville but there is a bigger safety feature that can be used which would have avoided any type of controversy:

The yellow caution light turn on in a timely manner.

Kesler helps Canucks beat Blue Jackets

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:49:31 +0000

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ryan Kesler scored two goals and goaltender Curtis Sanfordhad a solid game in his first start of the season to lead the Vancouver Canuckspast the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Sunday night.

Markus Naslund and Kevin Bieksa added goals for the Canucks, who had losttheir last two games. They won despite being outshot 20-0 during one lengthyspan.

Naslund’s goal gave the Canucks some breathing room. Ahead 2-1 and hangingon in the third period, Naslund controlled the puck as he skated down the rightwing and then angled sharply toward the high slot, waiting patiently until heripped a hard wrist shot high into the corner of the net.

Kesler, who played college hockey at Ohio State, stole the puck fromColumbus’ Nikolai Zherdev and scored on a shorthanded empty-netter after theBlue Jackets pulled their goaltender for a two-man advantage with just over aminute remaining.

Kesler stretched his points streak to three games — he had three assists inVancouver’s last two games — when he scored on a wrister from the left circle onthe Canucks’ first shot, 5:39 in. It was just a straightforward rush, with noone in front of the goal, yet it eluded Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire.

Kesler’s goal ended Leclaire’s home scoreless streak at 156:01. Leclaire,who came into this season with just one career shutout, has three this seasonincluding two in his only previous starts at home.

Vancouver made it 2-0 on its first power play, with Biekstra scoring on aone-timer from the left dot. His shot found its way through five players infront of the net.

Columbus hadn’t given up two goals in the first period in its first sevengames.

Sanford, getting his first start in relief of Roberto Luongo, had given upfour goals in just 39 minutes in his only appearance this season. But he made anumber of nice glove saves on the Blue Jackets, who outshot the Canucks 36-19.

The Canucks failed to even get a shot on goal in the second period, duringwhich Columbus outshot them 14-0. It matched the fewest shots ever in a periodby the Canucks and was the second time that a Blue Jackets opponent failed toget off a shot in a period.

Still, the Blue Jackets only scored one goal despite having six power-playchances and finished 1 for 10 with a man advantage. Vancouver was 1 for 6.

Rick Nash ran his goal streak to three games when he netted his own reboundduring a 5-on-3 at the 2:38 mark of the second period. David Vyborny, scorelesssince the opener, picked up the primary assist on a pass from the right cornerthat Nash jammed at Sanford. After Sanford stopped that, Nash followed up forhis fifth goal.

Despite the loss, Columbus’ 3-3-1 start is its best ever through sevengames.

Notes

The Canucks had gone without a shot in a period three previous times,most recently the opening period on Jan. 18, 2007, at Ottawa. … Columbuskilled its first 17 penalties at home this season until Bieksa’s goal. …Vancouver C Trevor Linden, without a point in five games, still needs one assistto match the Vancouver club record of 411, held by Stan Smyl.

Bears edge Eagles on TD with :09 left

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:51:37 +0000

PHILADELPHIA — Don’t count out the Bears quite yet.

Desperately needing a victory to stay in the NFC hunt, Chicago’s BrianGriese connected with Muhsin Muhammad for 15-yard touchdown pass with 9 secondsleft to lift the Bears to a 19-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sundaynight.

The Bears didn’t even need Devin Hester to bail them out of jam with anexplosive return. Instead, the final, thrilling drive was all Griese.

The Bears (3-4) were pinned on the 3-yard line with 1 minute, 57 secondsleft and trailing 16-12. Griese completed a series of short passes over themiddle that got the Bears quickly gaining yards after nearly 58 minutes ofnothing but stagnant football.

Hester, the dynamic kick returner, had been shut down on special teams andwas a non-factor on offense until Griese found him for a 21-yard gain thatbrought Chicago to the 15 of Philadelphia.

Griese spiked the ball to stop the clock and found Muhammad on second downfor the winning score. Griese was 21 of 47 for 322 yards.

The Eagles (2-4) have a long path ahead if they want to even think aboutreturning to the playoffs, much less winning a second straight NFC East title.

Kickers had scored all the points over the first 55 minutes because bothoffenses sputtered in the red zone. The normally rowdy Eagles crowd was lulledinto acting like this one was a preseason game until Donovan McNabb ralliedPhiladelphia from a 12-9 hole.

He ended the TD drought with a 13-yard pass to Matt Schobel with 4:57 left.

McNabb completed passes of 23 yards to Kevin Curtis and 15 yard to ReggieBrown on the drive, putting the Eagles inside the 20 for the fourth time. Thefirst three trips ended in field goals, predictable considering the Eagles hadscored only five touchdowns on 19 red zone possessions entering the game.

Those wasted chances came back to cost the Eagles.

The Bears caught a break in the fourth on a bad snap that seemed disastrous,but instead turned out to be only a 5-yard penalty. On an apparent bit ofmiscommunication, Olin Kreutz’s snap sailed past Griese and was recovered bysafety Sean Considine, who took off running.

Because the ball was snapped beyond a quarterback under center, the play waswhistled dead and Chicago was hit with a false start. The Bears settled forRobbie Gould’s 45-yard field goal that ticked off an upright for a 12-9 lead.

Chicago had its own issues near the goal line.

Two of Griese’s passes, one to Hester in the first half and to Greg Olson inthe second, were broken up in the end zone by cornerback Sheldon Brown. Griesedropped a snap on third-and-goal at the 1 and the Bears settled for Gould’s22-yard field goal early in the third.

Not that the Eagles offense was doing anything thrilling. Their offense hasbeen downright sluggish since scoring 56 points in a win against Detroit. Theyscored only 19 points in the last two games combined and wasted long drivesagainst a battered Bears defense that was picked apart last week by Minnesota.

Instead, Philadelphia settled for field goals of 24, 33 and 37 yards fromDavid Akers and led 9-3 at the half.

The Eagles kept the ball away from Hester, who had an 81-yard touchdowncatch and an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Vikings. The Eagleskicked away from the explosive return man and he had no return yards.

McNabb’s numbers — 21-of-34, 226 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions — suffered from several dropped passes that stalled drives.

Blocked FG helps Cowboys escape Vikings

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:52:40 +0000

IRVING, Texas — Scoring a first-quarter touchdown wasn’t the spark theDallas Cowboys thought it would be.

Returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown for the first time since1983? Yeah, that did the trick.

Chris Canty swatted a potential go-ahead kick by Minnesota and Pat Watkinsreturned it 68 yards for a go-ahead touchdown for Dallas, sending the Cowboyspast the Vikings 24-14 Sunday in a game they dominated but nearly gave away.

Dallas bounced back from a lopsided home loss to New England and guaranteeditself at least two more weeks atop the NFC because of an upcoming bye. Duringthe time off, the Cowboys can savor being 6-1 for the first time since 1995(their last Super Bowl season) and having beaten the Vikings for the first since1996.

Minnesota (2-4) lost for the third time in four games. Rookie AdrianPeterson followed his record-setting, 224-yard performance last week with only63 this time.

Vikings coach Brad Childress may have done the most to slow the NFL rushingleader, giving him only eight carries after the opening drive, during whichPeterson ran four times for 27 yards, including a nifty 20-yarder for atouchdown.

His final carry was a fumble near his end zone early in the fourth quarter.Dallas recovered at the 22 and wound up kicking a field goal for a 10-point leadthat stood up.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was 31-of-39 for 277 yards, with a touchdownand a fumble. He had 231 yards passing at halftime, but was slowed by whatappeared to be a hamstring injury sustained while chasing a Minnesota fumblereturn for a touchdown late in the second quarter.

Romo went 9-of-10 on the game-opening drive, marching Dallas 80 yards for atouchdown. Using a new no-huddle look, he converted four straight third downs onthe series, including the capper, a 5-yard TD toss to Terrell Owens. It was thefirst time the league’s second-highest scoring offense reached the end zone inthe first quarter all season; it was their first points in the first periodsince Week 2.

Dallas continued to click, but couldn’t turn it into points. So like theirlast win, a wild one in Buffalo, the Cowboys had to overcome their own mistakesmore than anything their opponent did.

Consider this: At halftime, Dallas led Minnesota 250-76 in yards, 43-18 inplays and 16-5 in first downs — yet trailed 14-7.

The Cowboys wasted all four of their second-quarter drives in unique ways:Marion Barber running for a first down, then losing it by cutting back in hopesof more yards; lost fumbles by Romo and receiver Patrick Crayton; and rookieNick Folk shanking a field goal for the first time all season.

Kevin Williams, a 311-pound defensive tackle, returned Romo’s fumble 84yards for a touchdown but it was called back for a penalty. The Vikings got atouchdown on Crayton’s fumble, even though the return featured a lateral and afumble, then had to withstand a review to make sure Crayton really caught itbefore losing the ball.

In other words, it was a weird game.

Minnesota marched 69 yards for a touchdown on its opening drive, then had atotal of 15 yards over its next five possession — four three-and-outs and akneel-down at the half. Yet the Vikes were leading anyway.

Dallas tied it at 14 on a 1-yard run by Barber, the first rushing TD againstMinnesota all season. The Vikings answered with a drive that led to RyanLongwell going for a 48-yard field goal. But instead of Minnesota going up17-14, the Cowboys came away leading 21-14. Their only other points came on a45-yard field goal by Nick Folk with 10:34 left.

Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was 6-of-19 for 72 yards. ChesterTaylor, who continues to start ahead of Peterson, ran 10 times for 47 yards.

Barber had 96 yards on 19 carries and Julius Jones went for 28 on nine asthe Cowboys became the first team to run for more than 100 yards against theVikings.

Owens caught seven passes for 103 yards and a TD. Jason Witten caught acareer-high 10 passes for 86 yards.

Florida QB Tebow has bruised shoulder

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:45:21 +0000

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Urban Meyer has talked all seasonabout trying to limit the number of carries for quarterback Tim Tebow.

Now, he might really have to do it.

Tebow has a bruised right shoulder, an injury sustained in the second halfof Florida’s 45-37 win at Kentucky on Saturday. Safety Major Wright (thumb) andoffensive tackle Carlton Medder (heel) also were banged up in the game, maybemore serious than Tebow.

Tebow, a left-hander, played through the pain and sealed the victory with2-yard touchdown run that followed a 40-yard pass to Percy Harvin.

Meyer said Tebow won’t have any contact in practice this week as theninth-ranked Gators (5-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) prepare for No. 19Georgia.

“We have to be careful,” Meyer said Sunday. “We’ve got to continue tocoach him up to manage the game. He’s had so much success (running). He’s thekind of persona that takes it. That’s a concern.”

Meyer said there were several plays Saturday in which Tebow could havethrown the ball to an open receiver for short yardage, but instead tucked it andran, taking the safer option but also taking unnecessary hits.

The Gators have tried to limit Tebow’s touches, especially after he ran 27times for a career-high 166 yards at Mississippi last month.

But Tebow has carried 19, 16 and 20 times in the three games since. Hefinished with 78 yards on 20 attempts against the Wildcats.

“He’s getting about 20 carries a game, but a lot of those are him all of asudden making a play,” Meyer said. “When you take that away from Tim Tebow — not that he’s a normal quarterback — but he’s not what Tim Tebow is to ouroffense.

“The thing we all have to understand is we can’t get him hurt.”

That may have already happened.

Tebow, however, said he would be OK.

“It’s just a little banged up,” he said. “It’s fine.”

The Gators — who control their destiny in the SEC East with consecutivegames against Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina — sure hope so. After all,Tebow has accounted for 73 percent of their offense this season.

He has 125 carries for 578 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also leads the nationin passing efficiency (177.5), completing 66 percent of his passes for 1,711yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions.

“You can see him changing,” Meyer said. “A year ago, he would have hadmany more carries because that’s kind of who he is. Now, he’s getting a lot ofconfidence in distributing the ball. That comes with experience and confidencein the people, the personnel, around him.”

But Florida would like to see him pass more often. Meyer said a typical gameplan calls for no more than 10 runs by Tebow. Tebow’s competitiveness and desireto make something happen lead to many more, too many more for Meyer.

Still, there’s one thing Meyer doesn’t want to take away from his starquarterback.

“We don’t let him lose his edge, No. 1,” he said.

Meyer said he would know more about Medder and Wright later Sunday. Wright’sinjury seems to be the most serious. He broke a thumb and might need surgery.

“They could cast it, which we all know a safety without a hand that cangrasp and make a tackle and intercept a pass, that’s awful difficult,” Meyersaid. “We have some injury issues.”

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Kansas not surprised by fast start

Alex — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:18:10 +0000

BOULDER, Colo. — Kansas coach Mark Mangino hears the same question overand over: Are his Jayhawks for real?

“I’m not going to say if we’re for real or not,” said Mangino, whose teammoved up to No. 12 Sunday in the latest poll. “You watch the games, you see ifwe’re for real.”

The Jayhawks looked for real in a 19-14 win over Colorado on Saturday. Itwas their first win in Boulder since 1995.

Kansas (7-0, 3-0 Big 12) has won seven straight to start the season for onlythe third time since the team went 10-0 in 1899. The team also started 7-0 in1968 and 1995, but lost each time in the eighth game.

The Jayhawks play at Texas A&M on Saturday.

“The mental toughness of this team is unbelievable,” quarterback-widereceiver Kerry Meier said. “We answered a lot of questions (Saturday).”

And proved skeptics wrong. The Jayhawks have been hearing how they weresimply a byproduct of a weak nonconference schedule.

Now, they’re convincing a nation they need to be taken seriously.

“We aren’t surprised by the 7-0 start. We have been working hard sinceJanuary,” linebacker James Holt said. “We knew we had the speed and talent tohave a big season. The sky’s the limit for us right now.”

The Kansas defense showed it can be counted on to step up and win a game.Kansas forced three turnovers and stopped Colorado on downs twice in the fourthquarter on a day when the Jayhawks’ high-powered offense was kept pretty much incheck.

After the Jayhawks offense went three-and-out late in the fourth quarter,the defense did its job, securing the win by stopping the Buffaloes on downs.Colorado lost three yards on the final drive before turning it over.

“We were ready to strap it in and rock and roll,” Holt said. “We live forsituations like that. We dream for stuff like that.”

The Kansas defense has lived in the shadow of the Jayhawks’ offense, whichaverages 489.7 yards and 45.9 points a game.

Not anymore. The defense can stand on its own merit.

“We definitely knew coming in that Kansas had a talented defense,” saidColorado quarterback Cody Hawkins, who was sacked three times and threw twointerceptions. “They play harder than anyone that we’ve played this year.”

The Jayhawks defense held the Buffaloes to 66 yards rushing, more than 76yards below Colorado’s season average.

Kansas is now seventh in the nation in rushing defense and second in scoringdefense, giving up 10.1 points a game.

The Jayhawks have won back-to-back road games for the first time since 1995.It was a big hurdle in the Jayhawks’ attempt to gain credibility. They beatKansas State on the road two weeks ago.

“This team, presented with any challenge, can rise to it and overcome it,”said sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing, who set a school record againstColorado by throwing a touchdown pass in his seventh straight game. “All thetalk — we can’t win on the road — that’s got to be over now. We’ve won on theroad twice, in two tough places to play.”

The Jayhawks are the lone undefeated team in the conference for the firsttime since 1968.

“It’s exciting, crazy,” punter Kyle Tucker said. “We are ready to go getwin number eight.”

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