The headaches are out of the way, and Dylen Smith is ready to play.
Smith, Kansas University's 6-foot-1, 190-pound backup quarterback from Santa Monica, Calif., took advantage of the Jayhawks' off week to recover from a concussion he suffered on the final series of KU's 48-13 loss to Notre Dame back on Aug. 28.
Though Smith returned to practice last Wednesday, Sunday was his first day without any recurring headaches.
"It's a lot better," Smith said Sunday, after the Jayhawks went through a two-hour practice under the lights at Memorial Stadium after having Friday and Saturday off. "I feel fully recovered. (Saturday) I had a slight headache, but I haven't had one all day (Sunday)."
Smith completed four of nine passes for 25 yards and rushed four times for 11 yards in his major-college debut at Notre Dame. On the first play of the final series, Smith was flushed from the pocket, but he gained seven yards before being brought down by Notre Dame's Ryan Roberts.
"I hit my head on the ground pretty hard," Smith said. "I tried to move out of the way of a defender and got airborne. Another guy came and hit my legs, so I came down on my facemask. I made a mistake running the ball, but I'm sure I'll make that mistake again. I won't be shy."
Smith's memory of the game immediately after was sketchy, but now he has total recall.
"I think I did some things well, but I could have done better," he said. "For my first game, I think I did pretty good. There's no reason for me to make mistakes running the offense. I missed one read -- maybe two -- but there's no excuse for that."
Smith can't even fall back on first-game jitters.
"I was surprised," he said. "I wasn't nervous at all. I thought I would be. If I had been nervous, it would have been a whole different ballgame. But I didn't want people to see me as nervous, so I just went out and played."
He'll play Saturday against a team with local ties. Smith never was recruited by Cal State Northridge, even though alma maters Santa Monica High and Santa Monica College were only about 30 minutes away from CSN.
"I really don't know anything about them," Smith said. "I never paid any attention to them when I was home."
Kansas and CSN will kick off at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
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Trainer: KU coach Terry Allen was pleased with Sunday's practice, Kansas' first since Thursday.
"It went pretty good," he said. "We worked 'em pretty hard today."
Two defensive linemen did not participate. Nose guard John Williams is sick, and though he attended he did not suit. And defensive end Justin Sands did not attend so he could be close to his ailing grandfather. Wide receiver Michael Chandler was late to practice. He had to attend his mother's funeral.
But defensive end Jeremy Hanak, who suffered a right shoulder subluxation against Notre Dame, did practice.
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First look at the Matadors: On Sunday, Kansas received its tape of the Matadors' season-opening 38-19 victory Saturday over Western Oregon. CSN, an NCAA Div. I-AA school, trailed Western Oregon, an NCAA Div. II school, into the third quarter before rallying.
Sophomore QB Marcus Brady completed 28 of 45 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns against the Wolves, and senior wide receiver Aaron Arnold had 12 catches for 138 yards and set the school record for career receptions late in the second quarter.
"They're pretty good offensively," Allen said. "Their quarterback throws it around pretty well, and they have a good receiver. Actually, they do a lot of things offensively that we do."
"Defensively, it's a question of what they'll try to do against us. They're completely different than they were a year ago."
-- Andrew Hartsock's phone number is 832-7216. His e-mail address is ahartsock@ljworld.com.
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