LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Charlie Weis arrived at Kansas full of bravado, promising dramatic changes within the long-suffering program. Players were dismissed, offenses and defenses were scrapped. Assistant coaches were hired, fired or simply reassigned.
In the end, the one thing that needed to change -- on-field results -- stayed the same.
Weis was fired four games into his third season on Sunday, one day after a 23-0 loss to Texas on homecoming left the brash coach with a 6-22 record in his second head coaching stint.
Weis, who earned a reputation as an offensive mastermind with the New England Patriots, was fired by Notre Dame in 2009 after five seasons at his alma mater.
"I normally do not favor changing coaches mid-season," Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger said in a statement, "but I believe we have talented coaches and players in this program, and I think this decision gives our players the best chance to begin making progress right away."
Defensive coordinator Clint Bowen will serve as interim coach of the Jayhawks, who are 2-2 on the season. They play at West Virginia on Saturday.
Kansas struggled to beat lower-division Southeast Missouri State in its opener, and then was routed 41-3 by Duke. There were rumors then that Weis would be fired if the Jayhawks did not beat Central Michigan the following week, and it took an inspired defensive effort and two fourth-quarter touchdowns for them to eke out a 24-10 victory.
Ultimately, it bought Weis one more week.
"I appreciate what Coach Weis did with several facets of our football program," Zenger said, "but we have not made the on-the-field progress we believe we should. I believe new leadership gives our coaches and players the best chance to make a fresh start."
AUBURN
Rough stretch awaits
AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers are gearing up for a brutal stretch that could either bury their hopes of repeating as Southeastern Conference champions or establish them firmly as national title contenders again.
The fifth-ranked Tigers start the parade of games that includes five opponents ranked in the Top 15 with No. 15 LSU on Saturday. It's just Round 1 of survive and advance time that follows a 45-17 victory over Louisiana Tech.
Receiver Quan Bray is confident Auburn can handle it and cites the "13 seconds better" mantra after losing to Florida State in last season's BCS title game on a touchdown with that amount of time remaining.
"It's not going to be hard for us to win the SEC championship," Bray said. "We're the defending SEC champions, and we're going to try to defend that. And we're going to try to move on and be 13 seconds better.
"We're going to earn it. We put in the grind for that, so we're definitely going to come out and play ball. They're going to have to take it from us."
The list of contenders is long in the SEC West, where six teams are ranked. Auburn's six-game stretch also includes East Division teams South Carolina, which just fell from the rankings, and No. 13 Georgia. Making the situation tougher is the uncertainty of three starters who were hurt against Louisiana Tech: Right tackle Patrick Miller and linebackers Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy.
Offensively, Auburn (4-0, 1-0 SEC) has struggled the past two games with consistency and converting third downs, something that had been a strength. Coach Gus Malzahn said the perfect record is the most meaningful statistic but knows that "we're fixing to enter the grind."
"I think we're in a good spot," Malzahn said. "We've got to keep improving. We did that last year. That's hard to do. Very few teams can do that, and that's our challenge."
LSU (4-1, 0-1) is coming off a 63-7 victory over New Mexico State and represents Auburn's toughest challenge yet
Michigan
Latest loss low point
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- No matter what the future holds for Michigan coach Brady Hoke, the Wolverines' loss to Minnesota certainly looked like a low point of his tenure.
The Golden Gophers dominated Michigan in a 30-14 victory Saturday -- the second consecutive home loss for the Wolverines amid mounting speculation about Hoke's job status. Michigan again looked overwhelmed at times on offense, and Hoke is now taking heat not only for the defeat, but for his handling of quarterback Shane Morris after the sophomore took a violent hit in the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines (2-3) lost to Minnesota for the first time since 2005, and Michigan has clearly regressed since 2011, when Hoke led the team to a Sugar Bowl berth in his first season.
"Believe me, there's guys in [the locker room] who are taking responsibility for what we've done," Hoke said after the game. "I'm talking about players, coaches, everybody. When you look at what's ahead of us, we've got to go back to work and get better."
Athletic director Dave Brandon did not respond to an email seeking comment on the state of the program and Hoke's performance.
Kansas State
Lockett chasing father
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Many stars refuse to admit they look at the players they're passing on the slow climb through the record books. They'll speak in platitudes about focusing on the team first, the individual second, and shrug off most of their achievements.
Tyler Lockett knows exactly where he stands in Kansas State's record books.
It isn't for a lack of humility, though. Lockett is about the most humble guy you'll come across. It's simply that he knows quite well whom he just passed on the career yards receiving list this weekend -- his uncle, former Kansas State star Aaron Lockett.
He also knows which player he's chasing for first place: his father, Kevin Lockett.
"It's a great achievement, a great accomplishment, but I just look at it like that's an individual thing I can look back on at the end of the season," Lockett said, "but right now, I just want to help us win every game we can."
OK, so he still speaks in platitudes. But the latest of the Lockett family to come through No. 23 Kansas State may just be the best of them. With four catches for 84 yards in the Wildcats' 58-28 victory over UTEP on Saturday, Lockett climbed to third in school history with 2,469 yards receiving. The Packers' Jordy Nelson is next, followed by his pops with 3,032.
Kevin Lockett makes sure to remind the youngster the record is still a ways off, too.
"He'll say, 'You're still not better than me,'" Tyler Lockett said with a broad grin, "and it'll stay that way unless I beat it."
Sports on 09/29/2014