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 Thursday, September 27, 2001
Newman is on a fast track
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
In football, like most sports, speed is relative.
One cannot measure the different burners an athlete can turn on when the juices are flowing and passion is running high when streaking down the sideline for an overthrown pigskin as compared to sprinting in a straight line towards a piece of yellow tape. Not having an NFL-friendly 40 time when you're a running back doesn't mean you can't hit the hole quicker than many players who spend time in Honolulu every February, or that you can't outrun any DB in the nation after turning the corner on an option toss.
Taking on a man versus competing against a mere Casio are two completely different scenarios altogether.
|  | | Terence Newman gets tackled with the ball during the 3rd quarter of Kansas State's 10-6 victory over USC. |
That's what Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman, the reigning Big 12 Conference champion in the 100 meters, is starting to learn. And learn well.
"A lot of times you have football players who can run a 100 or a 40, but they don't play fast," said Kansas State defensive coordinator Phil Bennett. "Terence isn't one of those players, but my goal is to get him playing at 10.18 (100-meter) speed, or at a 4.31, 4.29-40 speed. Once he ties everything together, he has unlimited potential."
After playing in all 25 games but starting only once in his first two seasons with the Wildcats, Newman is now looked at as the team's stopper out wide. That 10.22 speed in the 100-meter dash and 6.67 in the 60-meter are starting to translate to the football field a lot more now, as was seen in the team's season opener against USC.
In a head-to-head with fellow track standout, and stud wide receiver, Kareem Kelly, Newman turned in a performance that inspired the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., to say the following:
"Matched one-on-one against Kelly, K-State corner Terence Newman appeared to be wearing No. 24 -- his own 4 and Kelly's 2."
Kelly countered by saying that Newman was good, but not great, and that he goes against better cornerbacks than that in the Pac-10. But after the afternoon Newman turned in on the Trojan pass-catcher, it's no wonder he let his frustration seep into the newspapers the next day. That's the sort of thing that happens when a proud sprinter gets beat from behind by a cornerback after he was juked earlier in the route.
"Kareem Kelly ran a stop and go on him," said Bennett, "and pulled away from him a little bit. And Terrence just flat walked him."
Not a bad way to start the season. Such a gut-check day helped the developing psyche of Newman, who admits he's just starting to bring that Donovan Bailey-like sprinter aura and confidence he has on the track to the gridiron.
"It is rising, I know that," said Newman, a local boy from Salina who originally was set to play for Kansas before the Wildcats came calling at the last minute in 1998. "Last year I played a little bit, but I didn't have a lot of confidence because I was in on spot positions. Now I have all the pressure on my shoulders, so I think my confidence has risen. A lot of it comes from track because you have to know that you can beat the other people. In football, you have to know you can beat your opponent, too, if you want to be dominant.
"We're out there on an island. I have in my mind that if anyone gets by me, I think I can go and get them. I know how to use my speed on the field. I've been able to play faster than I have previously, that's where I think I've improved the most."
Bennett's helped in that regard by trying to change his footwork from that of a long-strider to a quick-stepping, backpedaling missile. He'll leave the long-striding to his duties on special teams, where he's also a major weapon to be utilized.
"He made a play last week (against New Mexico State) on the kickoff team when we had him at one of our gunner positions," Bennett said, "where we kicked a high pooch kick, and he actually beat the ball down there."
Any praise bestowed upon what appears to be K-State's latest star corner in a long line of NFL prospects will have to be on hold somewhat until after this week's grudge-match against defending national champion Oklahoma (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET). Losing twice to the Sooners last year -- once at K-State and again in the Big 12 Championship Game -- the Wildcats know this squad better than anyone. Especially the corners, who were torched by Heisman Trophy runner-up and spread-offense maestro Josh Heupel in performances that fully utilized his bevy of wide receivers.
"He was a general and they rallied around him," said Newman, who saw plenty of action in both games. "He got the ball in the receivers' hands quicker than we could get people on them. That made their offense go. We didn't have time to get any good hits on him."
|  | | Nate Hybl has the Sooners off and running as they were in the dream season last year. |
Nate Hybl, OU's successor to Heupel, has looked solid thus far directing the potent and creative attack designed by X-and-O mastermind Mark Mangino. What has helped is the return of pass-catching playmakers such as Curtis Fagan, Josh Norman, Damian Mackey, Antwone Savage, Andre Woolfolk and tight end Trent Smith.
"It is an excellent group of wide receivers," said Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder. "They are experienced. All of them can run. They are good athletes. They advance the ball once they get their hands on it. They catch well and they have some size to them. There are so many of them."
"They spread out the field and they don't have any one go-to receiver," said Newman. "They have four or five guys who can get the ball at any given time. They have multiple people who can do multiple things. Like Antwone Savage, he's very fast and can spread the defense, but he can also hurt you with those quick passes and go the distance that way.
"So it's the ultimate challenge for us (d-backs)."
Newman is expected to spend most of the day on Woolfolk, but will also have plenty of contact with some of OU's slot guys and H-backs out of their multiple sets. Bennett expects him to be up to the challenge, especially since he doesn't surrender much of a height advantage to either receiver and based on how he got reads on what New Mexico State was doing in their option attack last week.
"I coached Andre, and Andre (6-1) and Curtis (6-0) are both tall," said Bennett. "But Terence is 6-foot, half-inch. He's just going to have to really pay attention to splits. He just has to play every down. That's the key."
Newman, who openly admits that he was bothered when several of the current Sooner coaches left K-State two years ago for Norman, expects to see much of the same quick-outs, slants and fades that Oklahoma has become known for. At the same time, he has confidence that the OU receivers and coordinators will take notice of his speed numbers and stay away from attacking him with the long ball.
"I think people look at that and think, It might not be wise to try that," he said. "They know I can run with them, so they try to utilize other routes to beat me."
For a soft-spoken, polite kid from the plains of Kansas, he's starting to sound more like the sprinter he is, and the football player he can become.
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at marc.connolly@abc.com.
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