The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 20

2C The Gazette, Oct 28, 2004 i'iiijDipass9sc mm This week's game Leadership evident on game-winning drive against Baylor By John HeN The Gazette AMES Bret Meyer was the epitome of a calm, cool and collected quarterback In the huddle while leading Iowa State on the game-winning scoring drive against Baylor last Saturday. Meyer engineered a 10-play, 80-yard march that culminated in tailback Steve Hicks' 5-yard touchdown run with 41 seconds left, giving the Cyclones a 26-25 victory in Waco, Texas. "He's not nervous and he's not scared. Some QBs might be like that in the situation we were in last week," senior receiver Todd Miller said. "He's focused on winning." Meyer, a red-shirt freshman from Atlantic, completed 4 of 5 passes for 68 yards on the on that would be.

There is no surgery. If he doesn't get a sixth year, then basically he didn't have a senior year." Injury report Senior tight end Brett Kellogg of Cedar Rapids will have an MRI done today on his right knee he injured against Baylor. McCarney is hoping Kellogg won't need surgery. "(Doctors) don't know until they can get in there and do an MRI. They suspect it's an MCL, which means there would not be any surgery," McCarney said.

"It will be immobilization and rehab to get it stronger, then hopefully we'll have a chance to get him back in the next four games. "We're sure going to miss him. He's having a real good senior year for us." Kellogg has five receptions for 44 yards this season. drive, capping a second straight strong performance. The previous game at Colorado, he completed 16 of 33 passes for a career-high 239 yards and one touchdown.

"It's maturity, confidence, and experience. There is Just a different look in his eye now, and anyone that's been around him on the football team will tell you the same thing," Iowa State Coach Dan McCarney said. "It's not like he was shy, scared to death, and nervous about taking a snap. The first time he went on the road to play was at Iowa, and on the opening series he looked like a guy that had been doing that for a while. It showed me something about the kid." Iowa State used a two-quarterback rotation with Meyer and sophomore Austin Flynn for the first five games before the coaches settled on Meyer as the full-time signal-caller, Since then, Meyer looks to terceptions.

The next test for Meyer is Kansas. The Cyclones (3-4 overall, 1-3 Big 12) will host the Jayhawks (3-4, 1-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. "They have good size up front. A couple linebackers have been playing two or three years," Meyer said. "It's definitely going to be a big test Their front seven is probably as good as anybody we'll play all season." Special special-teamer Terrance Highsmith has shown he can return punts.

Now he apparently can punt the ball, too. Highsmith, a junior receiver from Highland Park, N.C., and Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College, is the Cyclones' backup punter behind junior Troy Blankenship of Cedar Rapids. He is the team's punt returner with six returns for 59 yards. "He's been doing our punting for us in practice and is not bad," McCarney said. "I've never seen a guy punt it and then run down to the other end and catch it.

We won't ask him to do that, but his mechanics are pretty good. "Hopefully, it's strictly an emergency. But he's got a strong leg and has hit some strong punts in the last couple few weeks. If Tony (Yelk) continues to struggle then he would definitely be our backup." Yelk still sidelined Tony Yelk, a senior kickerpunter, hasn't played this season because of a hip flexor injury and is now off the two-deep depth chart. "He is not 100 percent.

It would be easy to tell him not to play anymore, and then we'll get him a sixth year," McCarney said. "But I don't know what the percentages THE TEAMS: Kansas (34, 13) vs. Iowa State (34, 1-3) PLACE: Jack Trice Stadium. Ames KICKOfFi 1 p.m., Saturday TV: none For more Kansas-Iowa State football visit OazBttaOnJlne.com have come into his own a little bit. "I'm still learning a lot.

I still have a long way to go," Meyer said. "I still have a lot to learn. Maybe it helps my confidence level knowing I can stay in the whole game. Maybe I get in the flow of the game a little better." Meyer has completed 81 of 147 passes for 976 yards, with six touchdowns and three in- StinsonNBA can wait an i. V.

players from New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Compton, Calif. Stinson said the coach and the Ames community have made them feel welcome. "Definitely you're going to miss the city," he said. "You're definitely going to miss your family, because that's where they're at. But you just have to take care of business." That means basketball and books.

"Yeah, it's definitely like that. There's nothing but school and ball. I'm not going to lie," he said. "But there are a lot of nice people there (in Ames). There are a lot of people there who welcome you with open arms." Stinson got upset last March when the New York Post, citing unnamed sources, claimed he was ready to turn pro on the heels of a stellar 32-point performance against Rutgers in the NIT.

Stinson strongly denied the story and claims he plans to graduate from Iowa State. On the other hand, Morgan has said he'll advise Stinson to leave early if he'll get a guaranteed three-year, multi-million contract as a first-round pick. "I don't think about the NBA at all," Stinson "I hear it from people when I walk on the streets and stuff. 'Are you and this and that. But I don't think about stuff like that.

That's the farthest thing from my mind. Because if it were meant for me to be there, I'll get said Stinson, a member of the preseason all-Big 12 team with two guys from Kansas and two from Okie State. "They'll probably underestimate us again, but it's better that way, to be the underdog. You never know. You could sneak up on them." Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri are tough nuts to crack in the powerhouse Big 12, but Stinson said the Cyclones belong hi that company.

"We're not scared of nobody," he said. "We have to go out and play, just like everybody else." Stinson's role has changed. He displayed leadership skills last year as a rookie, but Jake Sullivan, Jackson Vro-man and Marcus Jefferson were experienced seniors who had a big voice in running the club, Stinson and Homan are the captains this year. "It's kind of different," Stinson said. "I'm only a sophomore, but Coach always tells me, 'You're the senior.

You have to be like the senior on this team now, because you've been "I'll take that role." Stinson said he wants everyone, including the newcomers, to play with confidence and have fun, just as he did as a rookie last season. "We don't want them to come in and be shy, nervous and things like that," he said. "Those guys came in and fit really well with us. They're outgoing, and we're outgoing with them. We just bonded really well." Morgan has assembled FROM PAGE 1C my game," Stinson said Wednesday, representing the Cyclones with senior Jared Homan at the Embassy Suites hotel.

"I appreciate that, and that's why I'm glad to play for him." Morgan figured Stinson could handle the pressure, knowing his confidence, personality and ability. Stinson never shrunk from the accolades. "I knew I could play," he said. "I knew I could play with anybody. It was just a matter of time when I was going to be able to show it.

And I got the time to show it." He wowed fans with his ballhandling, passing, court sense and tear-drop moves to the basket, where he floats the ball over bigger defenders. This year, Stinson hopes to guide Iowa State into the NCAA tournament and compete jforthe Big 12 title. "Oh, we could surprise a lot of people this year. We surprised a lot of people last year," he said. "A lot of people picked us close to last in our conference." The Cyclones have been picked sixth in the Big 12 coaches' preseason poll this time.

They're behind co-favorites Kansas and Oklahoma State, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, but ahead of Texas Tech, Nebraska, Kansas State, Colorado, Texas and Baylor. "We're going to surprise a lot of people this year, too," 1 Brian RayThe Gazette Iowa City West's Whitney Lang (8) celebrates with the rest of her team after defeating Cedar Rapids Prairie in their Class 4A regional volleyball match Wednesday at West High School. West won the match to advance to the regional final against Davenport North. West advances in regional HawkeyesLosing streak grips Mini West 1 win from state after ending Prairie's season By Jeff Under The Gazette IOWA CITY Late in the third game, Michele Wilson gave a clear directive. Gotta have it.

"In regionals, you can't get down (two games to one)," said Wilson, the REGIONAL VOLLEYBALL coach at Iowa City West. "If you let that game slip away, you might be letting the match slip away." Instead, West held on tight. Third-ranked West snagged that pivotal Game 3 and went on to defeat Cedar Rapids Prairie, 25-13, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, in a Class 4A regional semifinal volleyball match last night at West High School. West (33-9) advances to Monday's regional final opposite No. 13 Davenport North (21-13), a straight-set winner over Bettendorf.

Match time is 7 p.m. at Muscatine. A victory would regrouped and controlled the second set. "(Our start) didn't overly surprise me," said Prairie Coach Kevin Geary. "This situation, I knew we'd be nervous.

But we came out well in the second game and executed much better." West erased a 9-6 deficit in Game 4 with six straight points on Kelly Koering's serve and didn't trail again. For the most part, West controlled the middle. Cae Lamb and Alison Dirks, 6-footers who competed in the high jump at the state track meet, combined for 19 kills, compared to 11 for their Prairie counterparts. "Their middles hurt us a lot last week (in a five-set West win in the regular-season finale)," Wilson said. "We did a great job reading their middles, and we've got girls who can get a hand on the ball." Katie Buettner distributed 38 assists for the winners.

Laura Carver paced the Hawks with 12 kills, and Jaimie Tessendorf added eight. Jessica Statler had 29 assists. send West to state for the second time in three years. "We've got one to go," said West's Abby Wieck, who played a terrific, well-rounded match. "If we play our game, we'll be fine." Prairie retired at 17-13.

The Hawks can point to the lost opportunity in Game 3 for their demise. The Hawks fell behind, 10-2, but charged back to take the lead at 16-15. Back and forth they went, and Wilson called time out at 22-22. Jill Goodrich's free-ball bump hit the corner of the court to put West ahead. A lift was called on the Hawks to make it 24-22, then Wieck closed it with a kill.

"That game got us over the hump," Wieck said. "When you get up 2-1, it gets the other team down. It gives you a huge advantage." Wieck led all attackers with 13 kills and added three blocks and two aces. She converted all 17 of her serves. Prairie was awful early, falling behind 21-5 in the first game.

But the Hawks slinging quarterback. "It sounds like they've stabilized," McVay said. "We very much have our eyes on Iowa. Our people are still talking about last year. It was one of our most outstanding experiences.

We're really big fans." The Alamo Bowl likes quarterback Drew Tate, who set a truckload of Texas prep passing record at Baytown Lee High School near Houston. Tate played in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio, site of the Alamo BowL "Drew Tate has played in the dome before and people will remember that," Hill said. "San Antonio is a good college football town, but it's a better high school football town. People will know that he went to Baytown and that'll help right there." The Sun Bowl is hungry for another shot at the Hawk-eyes, who made back-to-back appearances in El Paso, Texas, in 1995 and 1997, splitting two matchups against the Pac-10.

"We love Iowa," Olivas said. "We very much have our eyes on Iowa. Our people are still talking about last year. It was one of our most outstanding experiences. We're really big fans." Jim McVay Outback Bowl president, CEO nesota (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) and then they host Wisconsin.

The Nov. 6 Purdue game will include a number of bowl scouts, including Capital One, Outback, Alamo and Sun. "The first thing we try to avoid is back-to-back appearances," said Bernie Olivas, executive director of the Sun BowL "I don't think recency affects us down here a lot. We'll still sell tickets if the matchup is good. "I think maybe where it gets us is the fans who travel.

People are more likely to stay away on a second trip if they've already made a trip once." Bowl executives are attracted to Iowa's storyline. To them, Iowa is a team that's been adversity a 44-7 loss at Arizona State and has bowed up into a conference contender with a 8 warming defense and a FROM PAGE 1C roll, winning three straight, but last week's 6-4 win at Penn State proved every week will be a dogfight for this team. Iowa has four shots at a sixth win and bowl eligibility. This weekend is probably the best bet. Illinois has lost 13 straight Big Ten games.

Coach Ron Turner's job status was topic No. 1 at his Monday news conference. "I don't think that we're a good enough team or a strong enough team or experienced enough to think that we can look past anybody," Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We can't afford to do that It's not even close." The Big Ten is a scramble right now, with No. 6 Wisconsin (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) out front, followed by No.

12 Michigan (7-1, 54) Big Ten) and Iowa and Michigan State (4-3, 3-1 Big Ten). The Bowl Championship Series rankings don't favor two Big Ten teams In DCS bowls, likely leaving the Big Ten with its automatic BCS berth in the Rose Bowl. That scrambles who gets whom. But the selections still remain Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Sun, Music City and Motor City. It's too early to tell where Iowa fits.

After this weekend, the Hawkeyes finish with No. 17 Purdue (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) at home, at No. 24 Mln- NEWS NOTES A Cedar Rapids native and former Kennedy swimmer, Justis started working at UNI in 1974 and moved into the sports information office in 1976. Former Kernel player named top minor-leaguer Former Cedar Rapids Kernels player Dallas McPherson is the 2004 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the minor leagues' top baseball player.

McPherson, who played for the Kernels in 2002, is the Justis gets promoted to assistant AD at UNI CEDAR FALLS Nancy Justis, sports information director at the University of Northern Iowa since 1979, has been promoted to assistant athletics director for media relations. UNI Athletics Director Rick Hartzell announced the promotion Wednesday. "Nancy has been an important part of UNI athletics for many years and this title enhancement is one that she richly deserves," Hartzell said. 45th winner of the award, sponsored by Topps baseball cards. The 24-year-old third baseman split the season between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Salt Lake, hitting .317 with 40 home runs and 126 runs batted in.

McPherson made his major league debut for the Anaheim Angels and was on the Angels' playoff roster. He went 3-for-3 his first major league start and finished with a .225 batting average, three homers and 16 RBIs In 16 games. III 5 111111 I i 'i Twilight golf special 7 DAYSWEEK $16Adult $15 Senior $lMunior TTARnfK jT 2rm EVERT DAY HW145W'EiiWJatoa toward fly.