Quarterback Beasley earns respect of K-State teammates

By KEVIN HASKIN

The Capital-Journal

MANHATTAN --- It was a vote of confidence rarely cast by a football team.

When Kansas State elected captains for the 1999 season, it chose a player who didn't step on the field a year ago and has never started a game.

Yet Jonathan Beasley earned a nod as one of the Cats' field marshals alongside linebacker Mark Simoneau and safeties Lamar Chapman and Jarrod Cooper. In essence, his teammates were naming him their quarterback.

"It sends a couple of messages," K-State coach Bill Snyder said. "One is that they have respect for Jonathan and could see him in a leadership role. And I think secondly, it probably says one of our captains needs to be our quarterback. Maybe they thought Jonathan was the odds-on favorite, I don't know."

Snyder waited until last week to make that determination, installing the 6-foot junior as K-State's starter for the No. 17- ranked Wildcats' season opener against Temple (0-1) at 6:10 p.m. Saturday in KSU Stadium. But there never was any denying the odds-on favorite part.

Beasley has looked solid in the 13 backup stints he was permitted in 1996 and '97. He even rallied K-State to a 13-2 victory at Texas Tech as a sophomore, scoring on a 33-yard bootleg late in the final period.

Other issues in addition to playing potential were considered, though, when Beasley was named a co-captain.

"I know it's odd to elect a captain who hasn't ever started, but it also has to do with how much you do on and off the field," sophomore receiver Aaron Lockett said. "When we voted him a captain, it went beyond just the football aspects. A lot of people look up to him as an individual who holds his word."

The support was encouraging.

"That was a great boost of confidence for me," Beasley acknowledged. "My teammates were saying, "Hey, we want you to come out on top, and it made me work harder.' It's a great attribute to our team to think I'm a leader and they think I can get the job done."

His approach will be different than the Cats were accustomed to the past two seasons when a juco firebrand from Texas took the Big 12 by storm and led K-State to a 22-3 record and an 8-0 finish last year in the North Division.

Beasley learned a lot from Michael Bishop, but he probably won't parade along the sidelines in too many animated fits of rage. It just doesn't suit his demeanor.

"He's not Michael Bishop," Snyder said, "but he'll express himself inside the huddle and outside the huddle."

The biggest ordeal for Beasley during the opener will be the game setting. He hasn't thrown a competitive pass since Nov. 8, 1997, when he went 1-for-2 in mop-up duty against Kansas.

Now, he'll settle behind an experienced center, Randall Cummins, who is flanked by an inexperienced line. The only other returning offensive starters for the Cats are Lockett and tackle Thomas Barnett.

"I might be a little antsy when it first starts, but I haven't been out there for a year-and-a-half and it'll be great just to be on the field," Beasley said. "You always have sleepless nights when you first start, but I think I'll come out and be ready to go."

--- Chris Ochsner/The Capital-Journal

Beasley

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