LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — David Beaty has plenty of reasons to be feeling the pressure this season.

The biggest is his record, which is just 3-33 in three seasons at Kansas. His only win over a power school came in 2016, when the Jay-hawks stunned Texas to end a long and frustrating Big 12 skid, and there are very few places where a coach will get much support with that kind of resume.

Then there’s the fact that his biggest supporter, Sheahon Zenger, lost his own job earlier this year. Zenger was fired as athletic director after failing to turn around the program, his failed hiring of Charlie Weis perhaps his biggest misstep along the way.

If he’s feeling the heat, Beaty isn’t letting on. He remains optimism personified, his focus trained entirely on helping the Jay-hawks climb out of the league’s lonely cellar.

“Our guys have put the work in,” Beaty said, “but they know that’s the price of admission, and there are a lot of things we we’ve learned over the last few years that are going to give us an edge.”

Indeed, the Jayhawks return 91 percent of their offensive production from last season. They have 26 seniors and almost two dozen players with starting experience.

That’s a good place to start if Beaty is trying to impress Jeff Long, the Jayhawks’ new athletic director, and Mike Vollmar, the new associate AD whose job is to oversee the football program.

“He’s got great experience. I know he’s going to help us move the program forward,” Beaty said. “Man, I’m looking forward to working with him. Our conversations have been terrific. I know he’s excited to get here. He’s been down there in Florida, and he’ll be up here pretty quickly.”

He’ll no doubt be in place by the time the Jayhawks open the season against Nicholls State on Sept. 1, giving him time to examine the job Beaty is doing in leading the program.

QUARTERBACK COMPETITION

Beaty has never been settled at quarterback and this year appears to be no exception. Peyton Bender arrived with plenty of promise last season but struggled with consistency, and Carter Stanley fared little better when he was given the reins. Junior college transfer Miles Kendrick threw his name in the mix after arriving this year.

“I love competing with those guys. I love competing with Peyton and Miles, all those guys in the room,” Stanley said. “I think my competitiveness — I’ve always taken pride in being a competitor. Just bringing that and elevating the play of my teammates is my biggest strength.”

SKILLED PLAYERS

Khalil Herbert showed he could be one of the Big 12’s top running backs when he ran for 291 yards against West Virginia, though a hamstring injury slowed him late last season. The Jayhawks also have a legit NFL prospect in wide receiver Steven Sims, who caught 59 passes for 839 yards and six touchdowns last season despite enduring the carousel at quarterback. In other words, the Jay-hawks should have plenty of pop on offense.

UNLESS THE O-LINE STRUGGLES

Hakeem Adeniji is one of the best offensive linemen in the league, but he’s returning from offseason shoulder surgery. The rest of the offensive line is a mixed bag, and making sure it comes together in time for the season opener is one of the big tasks in training camp.

“Coach (A.J.) Ricker always says that the five best guys are always going to find their way on the field. You don’t worry about that too much,” Adeniji said. “It’s not too, too big of a deal.”

YOUTH SERVED

Beaty brought in a strong recruiting class given the Jayhawks’ lackluster results on the field, and there could be a handful of freshmen that see plenty of time early in the season. Among them are defensive back Corione Harris, a top-300 defensive back coming out of high school, and Louisiana prep star Pooka Williams Jr., who could push Herbert for carries at running back.

SCHEDULE SITUATION

The Jayhawks’ season hinges on non-conference games at Central Michigan and against Rutgers. If they win those, they should be off to a 3-0 start heading into Big 12 play, and perhaps that will give them enough confidence to pluck off a couple league games and save Beaty’s job.

“We have to step it up a notch,” Jayhawks safety Mike Lee said. “Most people are tired of losing, and I’m one of them people that’s tired of the losing. So we have to do any and everything we have to change that for us to win more games. When we win more games, then everybody will be happy.”

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Bill Snyder’s record as a head coach is marvelous when he has a returning quarterback with big-game experience, and that should bode especially well for Kansas State this season.

That’s because he has two of them.

Skylar Thompson and Alex Delton each started four games last season, and each of them came off the bench in relief. Delton started four games before Thompson came on against Texas Tech and led the Wildcats to a victory. He started the final four games before Delton entered off the bench in the Cactus Bowl and earned offensive MVP honors in leading the Wildcats to a victory.

Thompson has the bigger arm. Delton has the faster legs. And while both of them are capable starters it appears the race for the job will come down to the final weeks of training camp.

“We work together all the time. I’m always next to him,” Delton said. “In runs, we run next to each other. In lifts, we lift by each other and we’re always together. We really understand that the best man is going to win and that’s just football.”

The fact that Delton and Thompson are never far apart was evident when Kansas State traveled to Dallas for the Big 12’s annual media day. Instead of choosing one of his quarterbacks to attend, which is normally the case, coach Bill Snyder brought both of them along.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to apply some preseason pressure,” Snyder said. “Secondly, they deserve to be here. They’re both very competitive young guys. One is a captain, one is a co-captain. They’ve both stepped up and provided excellent leadership over the course of the summer workout program, which is extremely important. … Both of them are just very, very capable young guys.”

Snyder has used multiple players at the position before, and his complex offense — with its designed quarterback runs — often means whoever is the starter will get dinged up along the way.

So, having two capable guys at the position is a bonus. It also helps that the Wildcats return every starter along their offensive line, and running back Alex Barnes leads a talented group of skill position players.

“We both represent this football team pretty well as far as how we carry ourselves on and off the field,” Thompson said. “We’re competing each and every day. Whether it’s conditioning or lifting, we’re trying to be first in everything. I’m trying to beat him and he’s trying to beat me. In the long run, it is going to make me a better football player and a better person. We’ll see how it goes.”

SNYDER’S NEW DEAL

Anybody who thought Snyder would call it quits anytime soon was surprised to find out that the 78-year-old coach recently signed a five-year contract through the 2022 season. Snyder battled throat cancer last year but was ready for the start of the season. He insisted that he feels energized going into this season and has no intention of calling it quits.

FRESH IDEAS

The Wildcats have new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Andre Coleman will be calling the shots on offense with input from new quarterbacks coach Collin Klein and Charlie Dickey, and Blake Seiler and Brian Norwood will handle the other side of the ball.

“They don’t have any egos. I don’t have an ego. Our mission is to win the game,” Coleman said. “It doesn’t matter where the idea comes from, as long as it is the best idea that puts our team in the best position to win, that’s all I care about.”

SPEAKING OF DEFENSE

Kansas State returns talent on defense, but big holes exist after defensive tackle Will Geary, linebackers Trent Tanking and Jayd Kirby and cornerback D.J. Reed moved on. The linebacker corps could become a strength with Elijah Sullivan, Da’Quan Patton and Justin Hughes in the mix. All of them are upgrades in athleticism, though they are also inexperience. Duke Shelley, Kendall Adams and Denzel Goolsby provide experience in the defensive backfield.

SEARCHING FOR SPECIALISTS

One of the best kickers in school history, Matthew McCrane, has graduated along with punter Nick Walsh, and Reed (punt returns) and Byron Pringle (kick returns) left for the NFL early last season. That means an entire overhaul of the special teams unit.

SCHEDULE OUTLOOK

After opening with South Dakota on Sept. 1, the Wildcats get a big test in Mississippi State at home. UTSA rounds out the non-conference slate while trips to West Virginia, Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma and Iowa State will make for a tough Big 12 slate.

Dennis Skahan was named champion of the Allen County Country Club’s golf tournament on Aug. 5.

Courtney McGraw finished second and Doug Strickler finished third.

L.C. Lacy finished first in the Net tournament with Andrew Patterson finishing second and Robert Storrer finishing third.

John Masterson finished first in the Q flight while Glenn Coffield placed second and Johnny Riley finished third.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Urban Meyer investigation is costing Ohio State $500,000, but whether the superstar football coach keeps his job still comes down to whether the university wants to stick with him based on how he’s already been tainted by the scandal.

Meyer is on paid leave while Ohio State pays an outside firm to investigate and a six-member university committee considers whether he responded properly to accusations of domestic abuse made against one of his coaches, Zach Smith, who has been fired.

But Meyer has already given his bosses plenty to consider — he says he knew of domestic violence allegations against Zach Smith before he brought Smith to coach wide receivers at Ohio State, and that he reported new accusations properly when they surfaced in 2015.

University officials expect to make a decision within about a week in what could come down to a public relations balancing act involving the school’s reputation, $38 million in future salary under Meyer’s contract and other jobs at stake.

WHY FIRE MEYER?

Meyer knew about a 2009 domestic incident in Gainesville, Florida, when Smith was a graduate assistant coach for Meyer’s Florida team. A police report says that during an argument Zach Smith picked up a pregnant Courtney and threw her against a wall. Zach Smith was never charged.

Knowing that, Meyer allowed Smith to stay on staff at Florida and then brought Smith in at Ohio State. Meyer also knew about the 2015 abuse allegations , but Smith — the grandson of former Ohio State coach and Meyer mentor Earle Bruce — kept his job until Courtney Smith filed for a restraining order on July 20.

Ohio State didn’t put Meyer on leave until Courtney Smith talked to a reporter, saying she was abused for years by her ex-husband. Zach Smith has denied her abuse allegations and has never been prosecuted for abuse.

The Meyer investigation plays out at a time when the school itself — and college athletics at large — is under scrutiny around the handling of misconduct allegations.

Ohio State has a growing list of more than 100 former students and athletes who say they were groped and otherwise mistreated by Dr. Richard Strauss, a deceased athletic department doctor who worked at the university for nearly 20 years. There are questions about whether Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan knew about the abuse when he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State during the same time.

At least three federal lawsuits have been filed against Ohio State by men who say they were abused by Strauss.

Don’t expect fans and critics to separate the scandals when a decision is made on Meyer.

WHY KEEP MEYER?

Meyer said he followed “proper protocol and procedures” after finding out about the 2015 abuse allegations.

Meyer didn’t detail those actions but the crafted statement was clearly a public defense of his job.

Meyer signed a contract extension in the spring with new language that requires him to promptly report any “known violations” of Ohio State’s sexual misconduct policy to the school’s Title IX officials. The policy includes sexual harassment, intimate violence and stalking “that involves any student, faculty or staff.” The clause doesn’t specify how Meyer should treat older accusations.

Meyer may have limited responsibility for reporting because of the scope of behavior covered by the misconduct policy and Title IX, according to Micaela Deming, staff attorney with the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.

Both the policy and Title IX focus on incidents on-campus or at university-related events, she said. So in the case of Zach Smith’s 2015 arrest, “this off-campus, non-student-involved domestic violence incident seems to be largely excluded from both the sexual harassment policy and Title IX,” Deming said.

If Meyer did everything he was supposed to do, Ohio State then faces the question of whether to fire him without cause, leaving the university on the hook for $38 million to pay off the balance of his contract.

Dissolving the deal would certainly invite a challenge from Meyer, adding legal costs and leading to new rounds of public scrutiny.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Kasey Kahne announced Thursday that he will retire from full-time racing in NASCAR and plans to focus on the sprint car team he owns.

Kahne said in a Twitter post that he is at ease with the decision after 15 years racing in NASCAR. Kahne, from Enumclaw, Washington, made it to NASCAR via sprint car racing and his Kasey Kahne Racing team competes in the World of Outlaws series.

KKR driver Brad Sweet won the prestigious Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals last weekend and the 38-year-old Kahne was present for the victory.

“I’m not sure what the future holds for me,” Kahne said. “The highs don’t outweigh the lows and the grueling schedule takes a toll on your quality of life. I need to spend more time doing the things I enjoy and love and that’s spending time with (son) Tanner and my sprint car teams.”

The former Hendrick Motorsports driver has 18 victories, including a playoff-clinching win last season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That win came amid speculation that Hendrick would part ways with Kahne following six seasons, and Hendrick made it official two weeks later.

Kahne signed with Leavine Family Racing for 2018. He has one top-five finish in 23 starts for Leavine, and said the team offered him a ride for next year but Kahne did not want to commit to NASCAR. The Cup schedule is 38 weekends.

He is the latest in a growing list of NASCAR drivers who have hung up their helmets in recent years, following Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, three-time champion Tony Stewart and four-time champ Jeff Gordon.

QUESTIONS & ATTITUDE

Compelling questions … and maybe a few actual answers

Jimmie the Bubble Boy?

Not quite, but he’s way too close for comfort — we’re just one Alex Bowman victory away from seeing Jimmie Johnson take his precarious place atop the unsteady orb. A seven-time champ on the playoff bubble and therefore a potential playoff outsider? It’s still a bit unlikely, but its mere possibility is a shock to the system. The “slump” is part of a teamwide struggle at Hendrick Motorsports, but no less striking.

Can Jimmie shake it?

This deep into the season, highly unlikely. Looking back at late spring, there was some mild optimism when he finished between third and 12th in a four-week span. Then he finished fifth and eighth over two weeks the following month. But over the past nine races, he’s had more finishes outside the top 15 (five) than inside of it, with a best of 10th. He turns 43 next month, by the way.

— Ken Willis, ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

GODWIN’S PICKS FOR BRISTOL

WINNER: Ryan Newman REST OF TOP 5: Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney FIRST ONE OUT: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. DARK HORSE: Daniel Suarez DON’T BE SURPRISED IF: Newman uses the old chrome horn to bash and bang his way to a much-needed victory.

1. As predicted …

The “Big 3” enjoyed the fun and games from Watkins Glen with everybody else, but they got back to business at Michigan, with Kevin Harvick leading 108 of 200 laps to score his seventh victory of the season. He now leads in playoff points with 40. Kyle Busch has 35.

2. Keelan’s ride

Harvick’s 6-year-old son, Keelan, had a great weekend. Not only did his father buy him a quarter-midget race car, but he got to ride to Victory Lane with the race winner holding the checkered flag. “I have had him with me the last three weeks and we have had a ball,” dad said.

3. Back to earth

Chase Elliott was sky-high after scoring his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Watkins Glen two weeks ago. At Michigan, he tumbled back to the surface with a ninth-place finish. “Yeah, we didn’t have a lot of pace and it’s very frustrating, but I feel like we made the most of it,” he said.

— Godwin Kelly, godwin. kelly@news-jrnl.com