MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2005
KU 40 - NU15
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 7A
Photos by Rachel Sevmour/KANSAN
bed for 106 yards during the 40-15 Kansas victory
Editor's Note: The Kansan Big 12 Power Rankings are voted on by Ryan Colaiani and Daniel Berk, Kansas football writers, as well as Kellis Robinett, sports editor, and Eric Sorrentino, associate sports editor.
Bears rise despite blowout
Apparently, losing by 62 points at home is a good thing.
How else can you explain Baylor rising to ninth in this week's poll? Baylor was ranked 10th last week, after losing to Texas Tech, but gained ground after being thrashed 62-0 by No. 1 Texas.
It was the first time all year the Bears hadn't played their opponent tough, but the Longhorns are blowing everyone out lately.
Nebraska didn't have the same kind of luck. After losing 40-15 to Kansas on Saturday, the Cornhuskers fell to 10th place.
ing Nebraska last. While it is experiencing a losing streak right now, that assessment was extreme. Oklahoma State has a permanent hold on last place until it gets a conference victory.
One voter went as far as rank-
Kansas and Iowa State both moved in the right direction following victories.
The Cyclones lost too many games early on to be a factor in the Big 12 North race, but no one is going to want to play them down the stretch. Iowa State has scored more than 40 points in its last two games.
The Jayhawks also scored 40 points this weekend and are on a two-game winning streak of their own. Winning in Austin, Texas, this Saturday will be a tall order, but even a close loss will likely move Kansas up in the rankings.
- Edited by Ty Beaver
Duo meshes in win
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SWITSPORTER
It didn't take long for Mark Simmons to make an impact in Saturday's 40-15 victory against Nebraska.
Simmons, a senior wide receiver, struck on just the fifth offensive play of the game for Kansas. He streaked down the sidelines, broke toward the middle of the field and caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jason Swanson for an early 7-0 lead.
Because Swanson had started only one game before Saturday, he and Simmons haven't had much experience playing together during games. But it wasn't apparent Saturday, as the two connected six times for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
But that wasn't all for Simmons and Swanson. The duo struck again on Kansas' first drive in the fourth quarter.
"Mark is known for making big plays," Swanson said. "That's just Mark being Mark."
swanson led Kansas' offense to the Nebraska 1-yard line on
third and goal. Swanson then disregarded the coaches' original play and threw a job pass to Simmons in the back of the end zone, right in front of thousands of Nebraska fans.
With his 100 yards in the game, Simmons moved past Richard Estell, 1982-85 receiver, into second place on the KU all-time receiving yards list with 2,031 in his career. Simmons is now 235 yards away from the all-time mark of 2,266 set by Willie Vaughn, 1985-88 receiver.
That touchdown extended the lavhawk's lead to 33-15.
Simmons also caught a pass for the 33rd consecutive game and caught his 14th and 15th career touchdowns Saturday.
Two weeks ago in Kansas' 44-13 loss at Colorado, Simmons set the school record for career receptions. Simmons said after Saturday's game, the victory against Nebraska was much better than any records he held.
After the game, Kansas football coach Mark Mangino said he was pleased with the Swanson and Simmons duo and was impressed with Swanson's ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Mangino said Swanson did make a couple of mistakes, but that they were correctable.
"Records are meant to be broken, so I know it just a matter of time before someone breaks my record," Simmons said. "But no one can take this away from me. This is truly a moment that
no one can take away, and it feels great."
They had their great moments, but Swanson and Simmons both weren't perfect on Saturday. Swanson threw an interception in the second quarter, but, fortunately for Kansas, Nebraska didn't score on its ensuing offensive drive. Simmons also had a blemish on the day when he fumbled a 16-yard pass from Swanson. Nebraska picked up the fumble and scored on its fourth offensive play.
Swanson has been spending extra time with Simmons and all the receivers on the practice field the past couple of weeks working on routes and timing, which he said made a big impact on Saturday's victory.
Edited by Nate Karlin
Record stadium attendance
Extra Points:
The 51,750 who attended the game on Saturday were the most ever to see a game at Memorial Stadium.
The 40 points scored by Kansas were the most the team has ever scored against Nebraska.
Simmons moved into second place all-time on the Kansas receiving yards list. He currently has 2,031 receiving yards.
The victory moved Kansas to 5-0 at home this season.
The team came out of the locker room after the game to take a picture in front of the scoreboard to relish in the victory.
Key Plays:
Facing a third and 10 on the Nebraska 40-yard line, Swanson hit Simmons on a slant route. Simmons took the pass to the end zone to put Kansas up 7-0. It was the first time Kansas had scored on its opening drive this season.
Nebraska responded with a 57-yard kickoff return but the Kansas defense once again held and forced Nebraska to punt. That punt pinned the Jayhawks at their own 3-yard line, which led to Swanson being sacked in the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 7-2.
Ronnie Amadi blocked a punt that was recovered by Darren Russ, who returned it 20 yards for the touchdown, giving Kansas a 14-2 lead. Kansas nearly gave the touchdown back when Nebraska returned it 100 yards for a touchdown, but an illegal block in the back by Nebraska negated the return.
Nebraska drove 64 yards on just six plays to score a touchdown on a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Cory Ross. That touchdown cut the score to 17-15, but Nebraska's two-point conversion attempt was intercepted. That was the closest Nebraska would come, with Kansas then rattling off 23 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.
Key Stats:
1 - Kansas wide receiver with 100 yards receiving.
428 -Yards of total offense for Kansas, its second highest output of the season.
2 - Kansas running backs with 100 yards rushing or more.
3 - Tackles for loss by senior defensive end Charlton Keith, including a sack.
16 - Points scored by Kansas' defense and special teams.
"I am pretty light-headed, to be honest with you. It is just a rush. These are just things that you grow up dreaming about." Floodman on the win.
Quotes:
"The jubilation in the locker room was unprecedented. We have never celebrated so hard and been so happy for one victory" Cornish on what it was like in the locker room after the game.
"A lot of older couples were coming up to me and giving me hugs telling me thank you like I was doing them a favor. They do us favors by coming to the game. It is just a great feeling and a great honor to help people with this history and everything they have been through for 36 years." Swanson on what it was like on the field after the game.
"Swanny did a good job today. He had some remarkable checks. He had a couple of boos, boos that I had to talk to him about, too. He will make a mistake and it doesn't bother him." Mangino on Swanson's performance
Lauren Hutchison, Louisburg junior, helps pump up the crowd as the marching band takes the field before Kansas kicked off in Saturday's game against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. More than 51,000 fans were in attendance for Kansas' 40-15 victory against Nebraska.
Players nearly trampled
BY RYAN COLAIANNI rcolaianni@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
In the excitement that followed Saturday's game, four football players were knocked over and nearly trampled.
Thousands of fans rushed the field following Kansas' 40-15 victory against Nebraska, which caused problems for players and fans.
Two players who were nearly trampled were junior wide receiver Charles Gordon and senior linebacker Nick Reid, Kansas coach Mark Mangino said Sunday.
Mangino added that Gordon told him he would be fine.
None of the players were seriously hurt Mangino said. He did say that Gordon was injured, but not significantly.
Mangino did not blame the fans for the players being
"We don't think it will be anything major that will keep him from any work," Mangino said. "It could've been a serious problem with Charles. We're just kind of lucky it wasn't."
knocked over.
Mangino encountered a young boy on the field, about 7 or 8 years old. The boy's father was trying to shake Mangino's hand, when the coach stuck over the boy.
"It wasn't intentional. It was just everybody having fun. We just got to be careful." Mangino said.
Several young children were spotted on the field while fans took the goalposts out of Memorial Stadium.
"This is supposed to be a great day and I hope nobody gets hurt out here." Mangino said.
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