LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas Jayhawks (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) get set for their sixth game of the 2019 season, as they welcome the No. 6/4 Oklahoma Sooners (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ABC.

The Jayhawks are coming off a tough loss against TCU on September 28, falling 14-51, to finish off September with a 1-3 record. Kansas will look to bounce back on Saturday against Oklahoma, where the Sooners hold the all-time series advantage at 76-27-6, including a 35-14-3 record in Lawrence.

So far this season, senior quarterback Carter Stanley leads the way on offense with 945 passing yards and nine touchdowns on 84-of-129 passing. Defensively, the duo of Bryce Torneden and Mike Lee have held down the Kansas secondary, with Lee ranking second in the Big 12 in solo tackles per game, with 5.43.

Leading into Saturday’s matchup with Oklahoma, head coach Les Miles met with the media.

GAME INFORMATION:
Oklahoma Sooners (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) at Kansas Jayhawks (2-3, 0-2 Big 12)

Date/Time: Saturday, Oct. 5 at 11 a.m.

Where: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium

Watch: ABC (Dave Pasch (PxP), Greg McElroy (A), Tom Luginbill (A), Bryan Ryder (P), and Mike Roig (D).

Listen: Jayhawk Radio Network

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State will look to regroup from its first loss the season, a 26-13 setback at Oklahoma State, as the Wildcats open their Big 12 home schedule and first of three-straight home games on Saturday against Baylor inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game will kick at 2:30 p.m., and be televised nationally by ESPN2 with Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Anthony Becht (booth analyst) and Rocky Boiman (field analyst) on the call. The game can be heard across the 39-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst) and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game can also be heard on SiriusXM (S: 111; XM: 200; Internet: 954) in addition to the TuneIn app.

A LOOK AT K-STATE
• K-State opened the Chris Klieman era with three impressive victories as the Wildcats defeated Nicholls and Bowling Green by a combined score of 101-14, and it followed that up with a win at No. 23 Mississippi State.
• The victory at MSU marked the first time in program history that K-State won a road game against an SEC team that was in the league at the time of the game. K-State had previously been 0-11 in such games.
• The Wildcats went from being not ranked to then as high No. 22 in the Amway Coaches Poll last week before the tough 26-13 loss at Oklahoma State last week.
• K-State’s offense has been propelled by a rushing attack that has averaged 241.5 yards per game to rank 17th in the nation. The Wildcats also have 13 rushing touchdowns after tallying only 20 rushing scores a year ago.
• The rushing attack has been anchored by a pair of graduate transfers in seniors James Gilbert (321 yards) and Jordon Brown (166 yards), in addition to junior Harry Trotter (122 yards). K-State backs have accounted for 11 rushing touchdowns after the group only had 13 a year ago.
• The backs have an experienced offensive line in front of them as there are five senior starters, led by 42-game starter Scott Frantz (left tackle), 34-game starter Tyler Mitchell (right guard) and 29-game starter Adam Holtorf (center).
• Skylar Thompson has thrown for 604 yards and four touchdowns. Both he and Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer are among the top 15 QBs nationally in terms of consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception.
• The K-State defense has been one of the nation’s best through five weeks as the Wildcats rank second in passing defense (127.3 yds/gm) third in third down defense (20.5%), seventh in pass efficiency defense (92.93) and 17th in scoring defense (16.0 points/gm).
• Linebacker Da’Quan Patton (21 tackles) and safety Denzel Goolsby (20 tackles), the latter who earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors following the MSU game, lead the team in tackles.
• Cornerback AJ Parker has a team-high two interceptions, while Wyatt Hubert has a team-best 2.0 sacks, both coming last week at Oklahoma State.

A LOOK AT BAYLOR
• The Bears head into the weekend with a 4-0 record after holding on for a 23-21 victory over Iowa State in their Big 12 opener.
• The offense is dynamic with quarterback Charlie Brewer throwing for 972 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions, while three receivers have over 150 yards this year, led by Denzel Mims’ 355 yards and five touchdowns.
• On the ground, John Lovett leads the Bears with 238 yards and has averaged 7.0 yards per carry.
• Baylor is averaging 216.0 yards per game on the ground and 259.5 through the air. The Bears rank fourth in the league in scoring offensive by averaging 40.8 points per game.
• On defense, Baylor ranks second in the Big 12 by allowing 16.2 points per game, just 0.2 points per game behind conference-leader K-State.
• Linebacker Clay Johnston leads the way with 37 tackles – 17 more than the next closest teammate – while he has 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
• Johnston is a half sack behind team leader James Lynch, while two Bears – Jordan Williams and Blake Lynch – each have an interception.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
• K-State leads the all-time series, 9-7, with eight of the nine wins coming since the Big 12’s inception in 1996.
• The Wildcats won the first five games against the Bears, which stands as the longest winning streak by either program in the series. Baylor’s longest winning streak was four games between 2012 and 2015.
• K-State is 2-1 in the last three games, which includes a 33-20 home victory over the Bears in 2017.
• Last season, there were three ties and eight lead changes in an eventual 37-34 Baylor win.  With the game tied at 34, Baylor drove 76 yards in 12 plays and won the game on a 29-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining.

CONFERENCE HOME OPENERS
• K-State holds a 14-9 all-time record in Big 12 home openers, including a 2-1 mark against Baylor.
• The Wildcats had won two-straight Big 12 home openers until last season’s close 19-14 to 18th-ranked Texas.
• Two years ago, the Wildcats opened the home portion of their Big 12 schedule with a 33-20 victory over Baylor.

ONE OF THE BIG 12’S BEST
• Kansas State ranks third all-time in Big 12 wins since the league’s inception in 1996 with 113, trailing only Oklahoma and Texas.
• The Wildcats also rank third in the conference in winning percentage since round-robin play began in 2011. They sit at .608 (44-29), trailing only Oklahoma (.821; 60-13) and Oklahoma State (.657; 48-26).

A NEW ERA
• The new era of K-State Football under Chris Klieman has opened with a 3-1 record through four games.
• Klieman, who was named the 35th head coach in school history on December 10, 2018, is just the fourth head coach in K-State history to start 3-0.
• Additionally, Klieman-led teams had won 24-straight games prior to last week’s loss at Oklahoma State.

A WINNING HISTORY
• A proven winner with a championship history, Chris Klieman came to Manhattan after capping his five-year stint as head coach at North Dakota State by winning his fourth national championship in 2018.
• Klieman guided the 2018 Bison to a perfect 15-0 record, making NDSU just the fifth team in FCS history to go undefeated and untied on the way to a national championship.
• A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Klieman has a career record of 75-14 (.843), as he went 69-6 in his five seasons at North Dakota State, 3-7 in one year as the head coach at Division III Loras College in 2005 and 3-1 so far at K-State.
• Klieman’s overall winning percentage ranks fourth among all active NCAA coaches – regardless of division – and tops among active FBS coaches.

NO PICKS
• Saturday’s game features two quarterbacks that have not made mistakes in the passing game as K-State and Baylor are two of just nine teams in the nation to have yet to throw an interception this season.
• The other seven teams that have yet to throw a pick this year include Georgia Southern, Iowa, Kent State, Miami, Ohio State, Oregon and Utah.
• K-State’s Skylar Thompson and Baylor’s Charlie Brewer both rank in the top 15 nationally in active interception-less streaks. Brewer has gone 121 pass attempts without an interception, while Thompson has gone 112.

BUILDING DEPTH
• K-State used 88 players against Bowling Green, which are the most for the Wildcats in a single game since at least 2003. The next closest was 75 against FAU in 2016.
• K-State showed from the beginning that it will play multiple players as 20 Wildcats played on the season-opening offensive drive against Nicholls. However, six of those remained constant with the offensive line and quarterback Skylar Thompson staying in the entire drive.
• Of the other five offensive positions, 14 Wildcats rotated into the game for an average of 2.8 players per spot on the 12-play drive.

CONTROLLING THE TEMPO
• K-State has showcased a balanced offense in the opening four games, highlighted by a 241.5-yard average on the ground to rank 17th in the country.
• The Wildcats had 573 yards of total offense against Nicholls, which tied for the seventh most in school history and were the most ever in a season opener.
• With 521 yards against Bowling Green, K-State eclipsed the 500-yard total offense mark in the first two games of a season for the first time ever.

RUN TO WIN
• The Wildcats have shown that they will establish the run from the outset of 2019 as they rank 17th nationally by averaging 245.1 rushing yards per game.
• K-State carded over 300 yards rushing in each of the first two games, marking the first time since at least 1965 that the Wildcats went over the 300-yard mark twice to open a season.
• Kansas State’s 966 total rushing yards in the first four games are the most since 2012 (968 yards).
• Six different Wildcats have tallied rushing touchdowns this year for a team total of 13. Last year K-State had 20 total rushing touchdowns in 12 games.
• The Wildcats’ 3.25 rushing touchdowns per game this year ranks 10th in the nation.
• K-State running backs have accounted for 11 rushing touchdowns this season after the position group only had 13 in 2018.

GOOD START ON DEFENSE
• K-State currently leads the Big 12 and ranks 17th nationally in scoring defense (16.0 pts/gm), while the Wildcats are also tops in the league and second nationally in passing yards allowed (127.3 yd/gm).
• Additionally, the Wildcats rank third in the Big 12 in total defense (323.5 yd/gm).
• The Cats held Bowling Green to 140 total yards, marking the first time since the 2011 Eastern Kentucky game (129) that an opponent under had fewer than 150 yards.
• Bowling Green was also 0-for-11 on third downs, marking the first time since the 2003 KU game that the Wildcats have held an opponent to zero first downs (0-11). It was also the first time since 2011 that a Big 12 team did not allow a third down conversion.
• K-State held Bowling Green to just five first downs, the fewest it allowed since North Texas also had five in 2005.

GETTING OFF THE FIELD
• The K-State defense has excelled on getting off the field on third down during the first four games of the year as the Wildcats rank third in the nation in third down defense (20.5%) behind Wisconsin (15.5%) and Oklahoma (19.6%).
• The Wildcats are allowing only 2.25 third down conversions per game, a mark that is tied for first in the nation with Wisconsin.
• K-State has already forced opponents to 15 three-and-out possessions after just 19 such occurrences all of last season.
• The Cats forced eight 3-and-outs against Bowling Green, the most since forcing nine against North Texas in 2005.

LIMITED SNAPS
• Thanks to its efficiency on third downs, the K-State defense is one of the nation’s leaders in fewest defensive snaps played.
• K-State has defended against just 225 plays in its four games as its 56.25 defensive snaps per game rank third in the nation behind Navy (50.33) and Iowa (51.50).

SCORING IN THE THIRD PHASE
• Kansas State has been far and away the best team among FBS programs over the last 15 years when it comes to scoring via a kickoff or punt return.
• The Wildcats have a combined 49 kickoff- and punt-return touchdowns since 2005, 20 more than any other FBS school during that stretch.
• After only having one in 2018 – a punt-return score in the season opener – Malik Knowles got things going in 2019 with a 100-yard return at Mississippi State.

WICHITA, Kan.  – At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, the annual ceremony of remembrance will be held at Wichita State University’s Memorial ’70, located on Alumni Drive near 18th and Hillside. The ceremony will honor the 31 WSU football players, administrators and supporters who died in a 1970 plane crash in the Rocky Mountains.

A wreath will be placed at the base of Memorial ’70, and there will be a time of remembrance to acknowledge the changes that the plane crash made in the lives of the victims, their families, their friends and the university.

The ceremony is open to the public. A reception will follow in the lobby of Duerksen Fine Arts Center, northeast of the memorial. The Shocker ’70 Football Room in 202 Rhatigan Student Center will be open in memory of the deceased.

Those interested in making a tax-deductible contribution in memory of the crash victims can give to the Football ’70 Memorial Scholarship, the only endowed scholarship at WSU dedicated in collective memory to those who died in the tragedy.

The scholarship is awarded each year to a student of any major with at least a 3.0 GPA who demonstrates financial need.

Contributions can be made through the WSU Foundation, 1845 Fairmount St., Wichita, KS 67260-0002, for the Football ’70 Memorial Scholarship.

Contributions also may be made online. Request to direct your gift to the Football ’70 Memorial Scholarship at www.wichita.edu/give.

The Tragedy

In one of the worst tragedies of college sports history, a plane carrying WSU football players, athletic staff members and team boosters crashed at approximately 3 p.m., Oct. 2, 1970, on a mountain near Silver Plume, Colorado, while en route to Logan, Utah, for a game against Utah State University.

The “Gold” plane, a Martin 404, carried 36 passengers and a crew of four. Twenty-nine persons died at the scene. Trainer Tom Reeves and player John Taylor died later in the hospital after receiving medical attention for their injuries.

Survivors of the crash were players Mike Bruce, John Hoheisel, Randy Jackson, Glenn Kostal, Dave Lewis, Keith Morrison, Bob Renner, Rick Stephens and co-pilot Ronald Skipper.

Football players and coaches on the “Black” plane were told of the crash by Bob Seaman, assistant coach, shortly after arrival in Logan, Utah. The game with Utah State was cancelled. WSU players spent the night in Logan and returned to Wichita by commercial plane Saturday.

A plane was made available by Governor Docking to take university officials and family of the survivors to Denver. Classes were cancelled Monday, October 5, and a memorial service was held Monday evening at Cessna Stadium.

The Utah State football team held a brief memorial service at the stadium where the game was to be played Saturday and placed a black and yellow wreath on the 50-yard line.

The future of the 1970 football season was in doubt, with the decision lying in the hands of the football players, university officials and eligibility rules. The NCAA had no objection of using freshman in the remaining games; neither did the Missouri Valley Conference.

The football players decided to continue the season, which was later designated as the “Second Season.” The first game following the air tragedy was Sat., Oct. 24 with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in Little Rock at the War Memorial Stadium.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers insisted they might have been winless through three weeks, but they were far from hopeless. They stressed the process of finding an identity with franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger out for the season with an elbow injury would take time and a collective effort from all involved.

An effort that looked an awful lot like what they put together during a 27-3 pounding of Cincinnati on Monday night.

Mason Rudolph threw for 229 yards and two scores. Running back, part-time wide receiver and occasional wildcat quarterback Jaylen Samuels accounted for 134 yards of total offense and a 2-yard touchdown run. James Conner emerged from an early funk to run for 42 yards and catch eight passes for 83 yards and a score. The defense sacked Andy Dalton eight times and held the Bengals scoreless over the final 51 minutes.

It wasn’t perfect. But it was a start. One that helped the Steelers (1-3) avoid their second 0-4 start in 51 years and reaffirmed their belief that they can find a way forward without Roethlisberger.

“It’s huge,” Samuels said. “Coming in 0-3 and coming back, getting a divisional game, that’s huge. We’ve just got to build off this game.”

With Pittsburgh’s running game going nowhere through three weeks, running backs coach Eddie Faulkner suggested to offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner that it might be time to dust off the wildcat. Samuels ran it frequently during his college career at N.C. State, and the Bengals (0-4) certainly looked caught off guard when Samuels lined up in the shotgun and started distributing the ball like a point guard. Sometimes he’d hand it off to Conner. Others he’d “throw” a “pop” pass to a teammate running in motion in front of him. Still others he opted to keep it himself, including on his third-quarter touchdown in which he strolled into the end zone after the Bengals bit on a fake handoff.

“We knew if we could get a lot of guys going sideways, it was going to mess them up a little bit so that’s what we did,” Samuels said. “It was working. … We were picking up five, six yards every play. They couldn’t stop it.”

Samuels ran for 26 yards on 10 carries, caught eight passes for 57 more and was credited with three completions for 31 yards. Conner had 14 touches for 125 yards in all, including a 21-yard sprint through the Cincinnati defense in the second quarter that gave the Steelers a lead they never came close to squandering while beating the Bengals for the ninth straight time.

WOE AND 4

Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor became the second first-year coach to drop his first four games with the Bengals. Sam Wyche started 0-5 in 1984 but helped his team rebound to an 8-8 finish. Taylor’s task of getting Cincinnati back to respectability will be far harder if he can’t figure out a way to protect Dalton.

“To be quite honest, it starts with me,” Taylor said. “I’ve got to make sure the standard is higher than what it is right now, because I haven’t done a good enough job.”

The eight sacks Dalton endured were a career-high for the nine-year veteran, who also threw an end zone interception in the fourth quarter and was strip-sacked by Pittsburgh’s outside linebacker Bud Dupree in the second quarter. T.J. Watt fell on the ball and the Steelers were off and running. Dalton finished 21 of 37 for 171 yards, stressing he felt “fine” physically and that he’s not panicking.

“Everybody is going to stick together,” Dalton said. “We have from the beginning, regardless of the circumstances of these games, we’ve stuck together. And so I don’t expect that to change.”

Tyler Boyd, elevated to the No. 1 receiver while A.J. Green recovers from ankle surgery, was held to three receptions for 33 yards on the same field where he starred in college at Pitt.

“Personally I hate being embarrassed,” Boyd said. “At the end of the day, I can take the losing. But when you go out there and get embarrassed, Monday night, prime time . I got too much pride to go out there and showcase what we showcased. It was just awful overall.”

RUDOLPH ROLLS

Rudolph was uneven at best in his first career start last week in San Francisco after being thrust into the gig for the rest of the season while Roethlisberger rehabs from elbow surgery. Rudolph was considerably sharper against Cincinnati, though he wasn’t asked to do much other than find the closest open man —usually Conner or Samuels — and keep the sticks moving. He completed 24 of 28 passes, the only deep shot a 43-yard strike to Diontae Johnson in the third quarter that broke it open.

“Our message all week was stack one (win) and then start stacking more,” said Rudolph, who was awarded the game ball by head coach Mike Tomlin.

INJURIES

Bengals: WR John Ross III left in the third quarter with a right-shoulder injury. … LT Cordy Glenn missed his fourth straight game while recovering from a concussion and Cincinnati’s protection problems continued. The Bengals have now surrendered 19 sacks through four games.

Steelers: TE Vance McDonald sat out with a right shoulder injury. Nick Vannett, acquired in a trade with Seattle last week, started and caught two passes for 28 yards.

UP NEXT

Bengals: Host Arizona next Sunday. The Cardinals won the last meeting, 34-31, in 2015.

Steelers: Welcome AFC North rival Baltimore to Pittsburgh on Sunday. The teams split the season series last year, both winning at home.

Boys 1A
1) St. John-Hudson 65
2) Axtell 55
3) Berean Academy 47
4) Osborne 44
5) Beloit-St John’s 42
6) Caldwell 11
7) Central Christian 10
Others receiving votes: Goessell 8, La Crosse 7, Blue Valley 7, Olpe 6, Burden-Central 5, Meade 5, Centralia 4, South Gray 4, Wallace County 3, Lucas Unified 3, Pretty Pairie 2, Quinter 2, Tescott 2, Ness City 1, Washington County 1

Boys 2A
1) Central Heights 92
2) Stanton County 82
3) Ellsworth 43
4) Hutch-Trinity 35
5) Wabaunsee 33
6) Northern Heights 28
7) KC Christian 25
Others receiving votes: Olathe-Heritage Christian 12, St. Mary’s Colgan 10, McLouth 9, Bennington 7, Ellis 7, Bishop Seabury 7, Trego Community 7, Jackson Heights 6, Sacred Heart 6, Jefferson County North 6, Republic County 5, Pratt-Skyline 4, Cherokee-Southeast 3, Rossville 2, Syracuse 2, Arma-Northeast 1

Boys 3A
1) Southeast of Saline 74
2) Silver Lake 55
3) Norton Community 50
4) Smoky Valley 34
5) Hesston 15
6) Scott Community 14
7) Lakin 11
Others receiving votes: Hiawatha 7, Anderson County 6, Sabetha 5, Halstead 4, Lyons 4, Osage City 4, Perry-Lecompton 4, Marysville 3, Wichita-Trinity 3, Hoisington 2

Boys 4A
1) Buhler 58
2) Wamego 48
3) Towanda-Circle 39
4) Girard 20
5) Topeka-Hayden 18
6) Augusta 13
7) Clay Center Community 11
7) Tonganoxie 11
Others receiving votes: Eudora 4, Bishop Miege 3, Winfield 3, Holton 1, Iola 1, Louisburg 1

Boys 5A
1) St. Thomas Aquinas 42
2) Maize South 37
3) Lansing 33
4) Andover 31
5) Great Bend 17
6) Blue Valley SW 12
7) St. James Academy 7

Others receiving votes: Maize 5, Emporia 3, De Soto 3, Topeka West 2, Bishop Carroll 2, Kapaun Mount Carmel 2

Boys 6A
1) Mill Valley 21
2) Olathe South 20
3) Manhattan 18
4) Lawrence-Free State 17
5) Washburn Rural 15
6) Olathe East 7
7) Blue Valley West 6
Others receiving votes: Olathe West 5, Dodge City 1, Olathe North 1, Wichita East 1

By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer

Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict was suspended Monday for the rest of the season for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle, the most severe punishment in NFL history for an on-field infraction.

Burfict will miss the final 12 games of the season and any playoff games for “repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules.” He has been suspended three times in his career for hits violating the league’s player safety rules.

Burfict has the right under the collective bargaining agreement to appeal the punishment in the next three days. He had one of his previous suspensions reduced from five games to three games on an appeal in 2017.

It’s that history that led to the most severe punishment the NFL has handed out when it comes to player safety, topping the five games Tennessee’s Albert Haynesworth got in 2006 for kicking and stomping on Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s face, leading to 30 stitches.

Burfict had served two three-game suspensions already in his career and had been warned about severe punishment for future infractions.

“There were no mitigating circumstances on this play,” NFL Vice President of football operations Jon Runyan said in a letter to Burfict announcing the suspension. “Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game.

“Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed appeal officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk.”

“Your extensive history of rules violations is factored into this decision regarding accountability measures.”

The suspension is without pay, costing Burfict more than $1.1 million in salary and per game active roster bonuses.

Burfict was flagged for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the Raiders’ game against the Colts on Sunday after a blow to Doyle’s head early in the second quarter.

“I just got tackled,” Doyle said after the game. “I’m sure it looked worse than it was. I didn’t really feel anything from it. My helmet protected me.”

The Colts have now had two players enter the concussion protocol following games this season — All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard two weeks ago and starting safety Clayton Geathers following Sunday’s game. Doyle, Colts coach Frank Reich said Monday, showed no symptoms of a head injury.

But Reich backed the league’s decision.

“I was just thankful the league took the action that it did, and (I) support the league and the decision,” he said on a conference call Monday. “I did have a reaction yesterday. When someone does something like that and attacks one of your players — that’s just not supposed to be in the game. Then when it’s against one of your players, you naturally have a reaction. I’m just glad they did what they did at the game and the follow-up action seems very appropriate.”

Burfict during his time in Cincinnati was repeatedly suspended by the NFL for egregious hits and violating its policy on performance-enhancers. He was fined regularly for hits that crossed the line, most notably the one to Antonio Brown’s head that helped the Steelers rally for an 18-16 playoff win in the 2015 season. That led to a three-game suspension to start the 2016 season.

Burfict then was penalized for a blind-side block against Kansas City fullback Anthony Sherman in the 2017 preseason that led to a five-game suspension that was later reduced to three games.
Burfict was also fined $112,000 last season for hits on Brown and James Conner in a game against Pittsburgh.

Despite that history, Burfict said after signing with the Raiders that he disputes accusations that he is a “dirty” player.

“I play a physical position, which is middle linebacker, outside linebacker. That’s physical,” he said. “I can’t go in there playing patty-cake. If I go out there playing patty-cake, then I’m going to be getting run over. I have 300-pound linemen, 300-plus pound linemen coming at me, trying to block me. If I play soft, then I’m not doing my job. I could see if I played quarterback or kicker or punter, then yeah you can be, I wouldn’t say soft, but you know what I’m saying. I play a physical position to where I have to put my jockstrap on right, put my shoes on right, put my cleats on right and come out ready to play physical.”

Burfict also was suspended for the first four games in 2018 for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancers.

The loss of Burfict will be a big blow to the Raiders defense. He was brought in because of his extensive knowledge of coordinator Paul Guenther’s scheme and had a key role as captain and signal caller to make sure Oakland ran it properly.

Tahir Whitehead took over as signal caller after Burfict left the game.

The Raiders arrived in London on Monday to prepare for an upcoming game against the Chicago Bears and players and coaches were unavailable for comment.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid met with the media on Monday. Following are his comments.

OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright guys, go ahead and fire away. The players are coming in now so I don’t have any injury report updates or anything.”

Q: Morris Claiborne is eligible to be activated this week, what are your plans for him and is he a player that can hit the ground running or does he need to be slowly worked in?

REID: “I’ll meet with Spags (Coach Spagnuolo) on that. I haven’t gotten to that point yet. We’re still going back through yesterday’s game and working on that with the defense. When I get a minute, I’ll talk to him about it. He’s been working and doing a good job. I’ll have to talk to him and see where he thinks he’s at with that.”

Q: There was a play with Patrick yesterday trying to wrestle the ball away from a defensive lineman, do you prefer he shies away from something like that or do you fear that if you do that, it will take away from his instinctive competitiveness?

REID: “He’s got pretty good judgement. I don’t really worry too much about that. He’s going to play the game, he normally keeps himself relatively out of harm’s way there. I’m not really worried about that, no.”

Q: You don’t want to turn the ball over the way you did, a lot of things went against you but you still were able to grind out a win, does that make this team a little bit more satisfied and does it make a statement on the team’s ability to handle adversity?

REID: “I mean yeah, I got so excited I thought Mozart was an artist (laughing). It was pretty exciting. Listen, you don’t want to turn the ball over. You want to capitalize on turnovers which we talked about and at least we were able to get half of that done and capitalize on turnovers. But, the best part about it, which I think answers your question, the guys never doubted one another or themselves for whatever case it might be with a turnover. They picked the guys up that had the turnovers and we were able to rally around it. The defense made some stops. The offense made some plays. It worked out ok. There was a good feeling on the sideline, there was an emotional feeling that we were all in and going to take care of business. That’s reassuring for a head coach.”

Q: The Lions were punching the ball a lot, had you seen that on tape from earlier?

REID: “Yeah we had talked to our guys about that earlier in the week. They take advantage of turnovers. They create them and take advantage of them. You’ve got to keep the ball high and tight. You have to cover it in traffic, you have to do those basic fundamental things. We didn’t do a great job of that at times.”

Q: One thing we talked about this week was LeSean McCoy and being able to push through his injury, easing off of him toward the end of the game, was that preference of Darrel Williams or due to the ankle?

REID: “We have confidence in all those guys. If one guy gets a little tired, we can rotate the other guy in. Obviously, Darrel is a little more familiar with the protections, just having done them all for the time that he has, and they’re different from what LeSean had done in Philly. He’s getting caught up in that area so that’s part of it. Most of it comes down to trying to keep the guys in a rotation and keep them fresh, that’s what we really try to do.”

Q: You mentioned the Mozart line, with social media we get a little more insight to the locker room and the celebration after, you seemed particularly excited even though the team didn’t seem as clean, when in your career did you take on the mentality that no matter how we played, we were able to accomplish something today? Did you learn that from Coach Holmgren?

REID: “I’m not sure about that. Probably just from experience. I don’t want to slight Coach Holmgren at all either, he was good at all that. I respect the game, I respect that team. I feel like they are well coached, and they have great players and they’re doing something special up there and they’re working on that. We came in and had some things not go our direction which happens in this league, that’s the human element in this game. To persevere and to keep fighting I think becomes important and it’s emotional. That’s I guess where I was coming from. There’s time here where we can correct the mistakes. I always come into this saying the guys are the best in the world at what they do, and that’s the whole NFL. It’s a small fraternity of players and coaches. They want to do great, but it’s not always going to be great. That’s just human nature, the way things work and the way the ball bounces. So, for them to continue to fight, not everybody does that. That’s important and our guys did that.”

Q: As the week unfolds and you get into the scouting of the Colts, can you speak on the challenge they face with the quarterback situation at the beginning of the season and how they seemed to handle it pretty well?

REID: “They’ve got good leadership, in the front office with Chris (Ballard) and Frank (Reich) the head coach. They’ve got good coaches along with that. They have a quarterback there that’s a good player that they trust. They were able to overcome the shock or whatever of losing a big-time player. Andrew (Luck) is a phenomenal player with a good attitude, I’m not going to slight him a bit. It took a lot of courage to do what he did, in a lot of areas. So, I would just tell you to overcome that you need to have good leadership and they have that.”

Q: Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia comes from the Patriots system and it appears that he has used some of the same schemes. What is real in your estimation as far as how much you’re able to take from what other teams have done and found success with against common opponents, compared to sticking with what you do? How do you balance that and is it a real thing?

REID: “Yeah, (Patricia) comes from that tree there. I guess they slowed us down a little bit. Not every play is going to be a good play when you play against that coverage, but the good ones could be great ones. The main thing is that you score more points than the other team, and we were able to do that. I don’t really care how many it is. You start getting into the upper 30’s, that’s not a bad day. Your defense contributes, that’s a beautiful thing. The offense contributes a little, that’s good, too. Field position becomes important in a game like that where we were able to kind of flip that at important times.”

Q: Coming off of three road wins and having four out of the next five games at home, do you have to be a little cautious that you don’t start feeling too good about yourself?

REID: “After yesterday, there is no clear-cut picture in this league. There were some crazy games yesterday. The teams that are supposedly the real good teams didn’t always have the best production – and I’m speaking for ourselves, and other teams that are considered to be that, that’s just a consideration though. Nothing changes as far as we go. Every week you’ve got to put out your best product, the best you can do that day. Strive for that. We’ll continue to do that. As long as we can keep that mindset, we’ll be fine. But, you have to maintain that, work hard and so on. We try to keep it that way. Try to make that a culture and make sure our guys stay focused – coaches included. We all have to do that.”

Q: Over the past two games it appeared to me that towards the end of the second quarter, that Patrick wanted to keep the guys on the field and try to set up a scoring opportunity. What has the conversation been like regarding those situations in trying to decide how to manage the clock and set up either a field goal or a touchdown at the end of the first half?

REID: “Both of those have been unique situations where you could flip a coin on which way you want to go with it. When it was all said and done, I thought we did the right thing. We came away with points with no time for the other team to be productive. When it’s really said and done, that’s where you want to be. I thought we were able to do that in both of the cases that you’re talking about. Again, those are up for discussion because you can go in a couple of different directions with both of those scenarios.”

Q: There was a comment made on the broadcast about the number of people that surround Patrick during the breaks. Is everybody just there and it’s just you and Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy to Patrick, or is everybody chiming in on that discussion at that time?

REID: “So normally the way that works is that Eric gathers information from the other coaches, and then he formulates that and gives his opinion on that and where we need to go forward. Then, Pat, (Quarterbacks Coach) Mike (Kafka) and I, and the quarterbacks are there, obviously, sit there and then Eric comes over with that information. We sit and talk through what Pat saw and what we’re thinking. Then, E.B. comes over and we go through that with what he has gathered from the other coaches, and then we get his opinion on things, and then we kind of mix it all together. The main thing we try to do is keep open communication the best we can in a short period of time. It’s been a pretty good system that works. Periodically, guys will come over and jump in. (Wide Receivers Coach) Greg Lewis sneaks over and we talk a little bit there. Anything that we need, they kind of know where the spot is that we can be away and kind of formulate things. We’ve also got the guys upstairs that do a good job with it.”

—CHIEFS—

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – The most recent NJCAA National Football Poll was released today with No. 1 Hutchinson holding on to the top position for the 5th straight week.  Last week’s No. 2 Butler didn’t tumble far as they landed at the No. 4 position which really says a lot about the respect for the Jayhawk Conference the Nation has.

TOPEKA, Kan. – The KSHSAA announced the sites for regional and sub-state volleyball assignments for the various classes of association member schools for late October, plus sites for the State Championship for each classification in early November.

CLASS 6A SUB-STATES
(Saturday, October 26)

Seeding Manager: Cindy Roach, Overland Park-Blue Valley West HS
Gardner-Edgerton HS; Kansas City-JC Harmon HS; Kansas City-Wyandotte HS; Olathe East HS; Olathe North HS; Olathe Northwest HS; Olathe South HS; Olathe West HS; Overland Park-Blue Valley HS; Overland Park-Blue Valley North HS; Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest HS; Overland Park-Blue Valley West HS; Shawnee Mission East HS; Shawnee Mission North HS; Shawnee Mission Northwest HS; Shawnee Mission South HS; Shawnee Mission West HS; Shawnee-Mill Valley HS;

Seeding Manager: Chris Asmussen, Wichita-Southeast HS
Derby HS; Dodge City HS; Garden City HS; Haysville Campus HS; Hutchinson HS; Junction City HS; Lawrence HS; Lawrence-Free State HS; Liberal HS; Manhattan HS; Topeka HS; Topeka-Washburn Rural HS; Wichita-East HS; Wichita-Heights HS; Wichita-North HS; Wichita-South HS; Wichita-Southeast HS; Wichita-West HS;

CLASS 6A STATE TOURNAMENT – TONY’S PIZZA EVENT CENTER
Kasey Hanney, Manager

CLASS 5A SUB-STATES
(Saturday, October 26)

Seeding Manager: Eric Armstrong, Goddard-Eisenhower HS
Andover Central HS; Andover HS; Arkansas City HS; Emporia HS; Goddard HS; Goddard-Eisenhower HS; Great Bend HS; Hays HS; Maize HS; Maize South HS; McPherson HS; Newton HS; Salina-Central HS; Salina-South HS; Valley Center HS; Wichita-Bishop Carroll HS; Wichita-Kapaun Mt. Carmel HS; Wichita-Northwest HS;

Seeding Manager: Gary Mattingly, Lansing HS
Basehor-Linwood HS; Bonner Springs HS; De Soto HS; Kansas City-FL Schlagle HS; Kansas City-Sumner Academy; Kansas City-Turner HS; Kansas City-Washington HS; Lansing HS; Leavenworth HS; Lenexa-St. James Academy; Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest HS; Overland Park-St. Thomas Aquinas HS; Pittsburg HS; Spring Hill HS; Tecumseh-Shawnee Heights HS; Topeka West HS; Topeka-Highland Park HS; Topeka-Seaman HS;

CLASS 5A STATE TOURNAMENT – TONY’S PIZZA EVENT CENTER
Kasey Hanney, Manager

CLASS 4A SUB-STATES
(Saturday, October 26)

Seeding Manager: Brad Graf, Ottawa HS
Altamont-Labette County HS; Atchison HS; Baldwin HS; Chanute HS; Coffeyville-Field Kindley HS; Eudora HS; Fort Scott HS; Girard HS; Independence HS; Iola HS; Kansas City-Piper HS; Louisburg HS; Ottawa HS; Paola HS; Parsons HS; Shawnee Mission-Bishop Miege HS; Tonganoxie HS; Topeka-Hayden HS;

Seeding Manager: John Coslett, Towanda-Circle HS
Abilene HS; Andale HS; Augusta HS; Buhler HS; Chapman HS; Clay Center Community HS; Clearwater HS; El Dorado HS; Holton HS; Mulvane HS; Nickerson HS; Pratt HS; Rose Hill HS; Towanda-Circle HS; Ulysses HS; Wamego HS; Wellington HS; Winfield HS;

CLASS 4A STATE TOURNAMENT – HUTCHINSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Josh Gooch, Manager

CLASS 3A SUB-STATES
(Saturday, October 26)

Colby HS – Travis Betz, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Colby HS; Goodland HS; Holcomb HS; Hugoton HS; Lakin HS; Norton Community HS; Phillipsburg HS; Scott Community HS;

Council Grove HS – Jay Doornbos, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Council Grove HS; Gypsum-Southeast of Saline HS; Lindsborg-Smoky Valley HS; Minneapolis HS; Osage City HS; Silver Lake HS; St. George-Rock Creek HS; St. Marys HS;

Fredonia HS – Dee Barnett, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Burlington HS; Caney Valley HS; Cherryvale HS; Douglass HS; Eureka HS; Fredonia HS; Humboldt HS; Neodesha HS;

Frontenac HS – Paul Colton, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Baxter Springs HS; Columbus HS; Frontenac HS; Galena HS; Garnett-Anderson County HS; LaCygne-Prairie View HS; Osawatomie HS; Riverton HS;

Haven HS – Jared Kirkpatrick, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Anthony/Harper-Chaparral HS; Cheney HS; Halstead HS; Haven HS; Hesston HS; Kingman HS; Wichita Collegiate HS; Wichita-Trinity Academy;

Hoisington HS – Bob Brungardt, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Beloit HS; Cimarron HS; Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian HS; Hoisington HS; Kismet-Southwestern Heights HS; Larned HS; Lyons HS; Russell HS;

Perry-Lecompton HS – Mike Paramore, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Easton-Pleasant Ridge HS; Hoyt-Royal Valley HS; Kansas City-Bishop Ward HS; Meriden-Jefferson West HS; Perry-Lecompton HS; Pomona-West Franklin HS; Santa Fe Trail HS; Wellsville HS;

Seneca-Nemaha Central HS – Warren Seitz, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Atchison-Maur Hill-Mount Academy; Concordia HS; Effingham-Atchison Co Community HS; Hiawatha HS; Marysville HS; Riley County HS; Sabetha HS; Seneca-Nemaha Central HS;

CLASS 3A STATE TOURNAMENT – HUTCHINSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Josh Gooch, Manager

CLASS 2A SUB-STATES
(Saturday, October 26)

Alma-Wabaunsee HS – Jeron Weisshaar, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Allen-Northern Heights HS; Eskridge-Mission Valley HS; Lawrence-Bishop Seabury Academy; Lyndon HS; Olathe-Heritage Christian Academy; Richmond-Central Heights HS; Rossville HS; Wabaunsee HS;

Arma-Northeast HS – Piper Richardson, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Arma-Northeast HS; Cherokee-Southeast HS; Erie HS; Mound City-Jayhawk Linn HS; Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan HS; Pleasanton HS; Uniontown HS; Yates Center HS;

Brookville-Ell-Saline HS – Chris Carazo CMAA, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Belleville-Republic County HS; Bennington HS; Blue Rapids-Valley Heights HS; Brookville-Ell-Saline HS; Canton-Galva HS; Ellsworth HS; Herington HS; Salina-Sacred Heart HS;

Elkhart HS – Chris Hattabaugh, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Elkhart HS; Johnson-Stanton County HS; Leoti-Wichita County HS; Medicine Lodge HS; Pratt-Skyline HS; Spearville HS; Sublette HS; Syracuse HS;

* Leon-Bluestem HS – Nick Barnes, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Belle Plaine HS; Cottonwood Falls-Chase County HS; Dexter HS\Cedar Vale HS; Hillsboro HS; Howard-West Elk HS; Leon-Bluestem HS; Marion HS; Sedan HS; Whitewater-Remington HS;

Sterling HS – Wes Laudermilk, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Conway Springs HS; Garden Plain HS; Hutchinson-Trinity Catholic HS; Inman HS; Moundridge HS; Sedgwick HS; Sterling HS; Wichita-The Independent HS;

WaKeeney-Trego Community HS – Jeremy Samson, Manager(s) (2 Courts)
Ellinwood HS; Ellis HS; Hill City HS; Hoxie HS; Oakley HS; Plainville HS; Smith Center HS; WaKeeney-Trego Community HS;

Winchester-Jefferson County North HS – Joseph Worthington, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Horton HS; Jackson Heights HS; McLouth HS; Oskaloosa HS; Prairie Village-Kansas City Christian HS; Shawnee-Maranatha Christian Academy; Wathena-Riverside HS; Winchester-Jefferson County North HS;

CLASS 2A STATE TOURNAMENT – UNITED WIRELESS ARENA
Paul Lewis, Manager

CLASS 1A REGIONALS & SUB-STATES

Regional assignments/tournaments
16 Class 1A regional tournaments will be conducted on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22.

• The 1A schools are divided geographically into four areas/groups. Each group will have 4 regional tournaments with the same number of schools insofar as possible. 107 schools = 3 groups @ 27 schools & 1 group @ 26 schools. Each Group = 4 Regional Tournaments of 6 or 7 schools.
• The top 2 teams from each regional tournament will advance to their area sub-state tournament and be placed in opposite brackets.
• Brackets/Seeding: 1A = Wednesday, October 16 @ 10AM. Brackets will be posted when tournament is seeded.
• Format/Time: 1A Regional tournaments will be conducted on one court. Tournaments with 7 schools will start at 2PM; tournaments with 6 schools will start at 3PM.
• Results: Complete results will be posted online Tuesday evening, October 22, when received from the tournament manager

CLASS 1A STATE TOURNAMENT – UNITED WIRELESS ARENA
Paul Lewis, Manager