Oklahoma isn’t the only territory where the wind comes whipping down the plains. Just ask anyone from southwest Kansas.

“There is a lot of wind,” said Curtis Ansel, a native of that part of the country. “I can’t say I’m an expert, but I have experienced punting in it.”

Ansel, Kansas University’s junior punter, hails from Lakin, a town of about 2,000 citizens located 22 miles west of Garden City as the tumbleweed rolls.

Ansel punted at Lakin High, a Class 3A school, but NCAA Div. I-A football coaches don’t go to places like Lakin looking for punters. Fort Hays State, a Div. II school, was the only four-year school that showed any interest at all.

So Ansel hauled on down U.S. Highway 50 to Garden City and enrolled at the community college where he went out for the football team. Broncbusters coach Bob Larson didn’t need him that first year so he was red-shirted.

But then in 2000, Ansel had matured and fine-tuned his punting to the point where he earned All-Jayhawk Conference honors.

Ansel’s athleticism

“The thing that impressed me was his athleticism,” Larson said. “He was more than just a punter. It didn’t matter, good snap or bad snap. He was a craftsman. He was a gem.”

KU coach Terry Allen needed a gem of a punter at the time, so Ansel packed his bags for the long drive to Lawrence.

“I’ve been a KU fan all my life,” Ansel said. “There aren’t that many of us out there. It’s mostly K-State people.”

Although athletic, Ansel did not play a skill position in high school. At 6-foot-1 and about 175 pounds, he was an offensive guard and defensive end during his prep days. He played guard because he could run and block.

“At that level it’s not power football,” Ansel said. “What you’re trying to do is get around the ends.”

Still, punting is what Ansel did best. He booted a couple of 74-yard punts while wearing a Lakin High uniform  with the wind, of course.

Wind friend, enemy

Wind can be a punter’s friend and wind can be a punter’s enemy. It all depends which way your team is going. Last Saturday against Colorado in Memorial Stadium, the wind was gusting up to 30 mph out of the north, so Ansel spent half the game kicking with the breeze and half against it.

It isn’t a 50-50 proposition, however, when releasing the ball after receiving it from the long snapper.

“The wind was tough,” Ansel noted. “You want to hold the ball longer because the wind will affect your drop.”

Ansel punted seven times for a respectable 39.3 average against the Buffs.

At the same time, Colorado’s Mark Mariscal, the league’s leading punter, settled for 35.7 yards on three boots.

Already this season, Ansel has boomed punts of 84 and 83 yards. Those prodigious blasts rank second and third on the Jayhawks’ all-time chart behind a John Hadl 94-yarder, but distance isn’t everything.

“Personally,” Ansel said, “I Iike the ones that pin them down.”

So far Ansel has had a lot to like because he has already placed 16 punts inside the 20-yard-line.

“It’s awesome to have a guy that can boom the ball that well,” KU coach Mark Mangino said, “and kick it with enough hang time to give our coverage team time to get down there and down the ball.”

More than luck involved

Ansel has often said he cannot control the way the ball bounces, yet more than luck is involved. Luck is also the residue of repetition.

“It’s something we work on,” Mangino said. “We practice it. Those balls aren’t rolling there by accident. Curtis is really working at it and those coverage guys are as well.”

A year ago at this time, the only work Ansel was doing was physical therapy. After punting in the Jayhawks’ first three games of 2001, Ansel was injured during practice.

“It was a freak accident,” he said. “I had my leg up after kicking and one of the guys ran into it.”

Ansel had suffered hip and groin damage. At the time, he had no idea he would miss the next seven games.

“It was pretty bad,” Ansel said. “It was frustrating. It was a personal check on my part whether I’d be able to come back.”

Roommate Chris Tyrrell filled in, then Ansel returned to punt in the season finale against Wyoming.

Final 2001 stats showed Ansel had punted 25 times for a 37.9 average  forgettable numbers that hardly presaged his 41.6 average on 46 boots this season.

High net punting rank

Kansas may rank in triple digits among the 117 NCAA Div. I-A schools in several offensive and defensive categories, but the Jayhawks are listed No. 13 this week  their highest ranking in any category by far  in net punting.

Only 19 of Ansel’s 46 punts have been returned and for an average of just 7.2 yards. In contrast, KU has returned 15 of 38 opponents’ punts for an average of 9.3 yards.