THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2007
MU 36-KU 28
5B
Daniel leads Tigers in battle
Joe Mortensen, junior linebacker, tackles Missouri junior quarterback Chase Daniel from behind during Saturday's game. Daniel completed 41 of his 49 pass attempts for 368 yards in the game. Missouri's offense gained a total of 519 yards against the Kansas defense.
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Missouri junior quarterback Chase Daniel doesn't talk about his achievements much.
Even after Daniel threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns on 40-for-49 passing in a 36-28 victory against Kansas, he deflected the praise from himself to his teammates. But Missouri coach Gary Pinkel made up for the quarterback's modesty.
"He'll be the first one to tell you about his offensive line, his wide receivers, tight ends." Pinkel said. "And I'll be the first one to tell you that this guy is special. I've been saying this for a year and a half. Tonight, America got to see today how special he is."
Daniel was the heart of the Tiger offense that gained 519 yards and put up 36 points on the jayhawk defense, which was ranked second in the nation in points allowed coming into the game. He was the pulse that brought it to life and the glow that kept it shining.
Early in the second quarter, Daniel led the Tigers on a 98-yard drive in just more than five minutes. The ball was on the 11-yard line when Kansas players seeped through the Missouri line and Daniel ran 20 yards backwards to escape junior defensive end John Larson. It looked like a broken play but Daniel fired a bullet to MU sophomore receiver Danario Alexander for a touchdown to make the score 14-0.
"Danario played unbelievable. He was open all night long and made some plays down the field," Daniel said. "He made an unbelievable play on the first play. I scrambled out and he was wide open."
Alexander, who was the Tiger's
fifth leading receiver entering the game, was indeed the best receiver Saturday with eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. But if it wasn't for Daniel's ability to see passing lanes, deceptive elusiveness and laser-sharp delivery, Alexander wouldn't have stood out.
Kansas seemed to be mounting a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter with the score 31-21. All
the Jayhawk defense had to do was
the jayhawk to stop the Tigers on a third down-and fourteen play from the MU 42-yard line to get the ball back. But Daniel gracefully stepped into the pocket and found Alexander for 16 yards and a first down.
"What a remarkable competitor and what a great player when you need to make a play."
GARY PINKEL Missouri coach
eventually led to a 43-yard field goal from Jeff Wolfert. Every time the Jayhawks grabbed any momentum, Daniel shot it down by guiding his offense down the Arrowhead Stadium field.
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Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Chris Harris, freshman defensive back, attempts to pass up a pass to Missouri's freshman wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. Maclin had six solo tackles and 12 total on the night.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Sadig Muhammed, senior safety, tackles Missouri wide receiver Tommy Saunders. Missouri upended Kansas 36-28 in the Border Showdown Saturday night.
Football notes
REESING BREAKS RECORDS
he accomplished several notable feats. The sophomore set the Kansas single-season passing yardage record with 3,259 and moved into a tie for first on the
Reesing
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing may not have has his finest performance Saturday night, but
school's career passing touchdown list. Reesing's second-quarter interception was his first in 213 pass attempts dating back to the Oct. 6 game at Kansas State. The interception-less streak set a Big 12 Conference season record, previously held by Texas &M&R Reggie McNeal in 2004. Reesing finished Saturday night's game 28-of-49 for 349 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks 12th in the nation in passing efficiency.
"We've been pretty good at that lately. When the other team scores all I have to say to my offense is, 'Hey, let's answer,' " Daniel said. "And we answered."
Daniel's statistical supremacy in a game that shattered the Jayhawks' hopes at an undefeated season undoubtedly catapults him near the top of the Heisman Trophy race. Daniel declined to comment on his hopes for Division I college football's most prestigious trophy. That's OK because Pinkel's comments spoke for him.
A CRAZY ATMOSPHERE
The makeup of the crowd served as the main topic debate in the days leading up to the game. Kansas Athletics officials said last week that as much as 70 percent of the crowd would be pro-Jayhawk,
HURT BY INJURIES
Kansas avoided the injury bug for most of the season, but bumps and bruises caught up with the Jayhawks Saturday. Junior left tackle Anthony Collins, who missed the team's previous game with an injury, visibly limped the entire game against Missouri. By the fourth quarter, Collins labored to pull himself off the ground after
but Missouri officials disputed those claims. When Saturday night arrived, it appeared Kansas fans might have slightly outnumbered their Missouri counterparts — but probably not by a 70-30 proportion. Missouri's cheering section was noticeably more vocal than that of Kansas once the Tigers started piling on points. The Jayhawk faithful answered with cheers of their own when Kansas rallied in the fourth quarter, but some Kansas fans left the stadium with several minutes left in the game. The rooting interests of the fans may have been a hot topic, but the size of the crowd left little room for debate. The announced attendance of 80,537 was the second largest crowd in Arrowhead Stadium history and the seventh largest to ever watch a Kansas football game.
Heading into the Border Showdown, one of the keys to the game for the Kansas defense was containing Missouri wide receiver
MU FRESHMAN SHOWS IMPACT
Jeremy Maclin.
The Jayhawks didn't allow the explosive freshman to find the end zone, but he still contributed for his team on several occasions. Maclin
plays and was clearly not playing at 100 percent. Junior defensive backs Kendrick Harper and Patrick Resby both played but did not start because of injuries. Sophomore safety Justin Thornton and freshman cornerback Chris Harris started in place ofHarper and Resby, respectively. Thornton made a career-high 16 tackles, and Harris made 12.
quarterback Chase Daniel turned to other receivers such as Danario Alexander (117 receiving yards) and Tommy Saunders (82 receiving yeards).
COLD WEATHER
returned a punt 43 yards — the longest punt return Kansas has allowed all season — and tallied 200 all-purpose yards. Missouri inserted Maclin into the offense early, getting him the ball five times in the first quarter. After halftime, he served mainly as a decov as
Maclin
Game to forget... Brandon McAnderson. The senior running back struggled through his most disappointing performance of the season, rushing for only 41 yards on 14 carries. But McAnderson wasn't the only Kansas runner who struggled. The Missouri defense held Kansas to just 42 total yards on the ground. Defensive linemen Stryker Sulak and Lorenzo Williams consistently stopped the run for the Tigers, combining to make three tackles-for-loss.
"What a remarkable competitor and what a great player when you need to make a play," Pinkel said.
Stat of the game.. 81.6 percent. Chase Daniel completed 81.6 percent of his passes Saturday night, racking up three touchdowns and more than 350 yards in the process. Kansas' blitzes never made Daniel uncomfortable, and its secondary could not handle Missouri's assortment of talented receivers.
The 33-degree conditions at kickoff were by far the coldest Kansas has faced so far this season. The previous low was 47 degrees Nov. 3 against Nebraska. Because of the cold weather, Reeing wore a glove on his throwing hand. He said he felt more comfortable wearing a glove in the practices leading up to Saturday because it helped him grip the ball better in the cold. Mangino and Reeing both said the glove had nothing to do with Reeing's struggles with inaccuracy early in the game.
It was over when... Missouri recovered an onside kick with 2:03 remaining. It looked like Missouri had crushed Kansas' spirit with three consecutive first-half touchdowns, but the Jayhawks came storming back late in the game to climb within six points of the Tigers. When Missouri successfully covered senior kicker Scott Webb's onside kick attempt, it ended the Jayhawk rally.
Game to remember...
Chase Daniel. The Missouri quarterback may have punched his ticket to New York for the Heisman ceremony with his performance Saturday night, Daniel eluded the KU defenders each time they applied pressure and completed 40 of his 49 passes for 361 yards.
View from press row
A LONG, CLOSE SERIES
The loss dropped Kansas to 54-53-9 all-time against Missouri and marked the second consecutive time Missouri has ended the regular season with a victory against Kansas. The rivalry is the second most-played in FBS football, after Wisconsin-Minnesota, which has been played 117 times.
— edited by Ashlee Kieler
— Asher Fusco
— Asher Fusco
Each week, Sports Editor Travis Robinett, football writer Asher Fusco and Big 12 football writer Case Keefer vote on the Big 12 power rankings.
12 POWER RANKINGS
1. Missouri
2. Oklahoma
3. Kansas
4. Texas Tech
5. Texas
6. Texas A&M
7. Oklahoma State
8. Colorado
9. Nebraska
10. Kansas State
11. Iowa State
12. Baylor