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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2007
PAGE 2B
11-0
PAGE1B
Into new territory
Todd Reesing, sophomore quarterback, escapes the Iowa State pass rush during Saturday's game in Memorial Stadium. The Kansas offense gained 566 total yards in the 45-7 victory. The 11-0 Jayhawks play Missouri Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas earns school-record 11th victory by staying focused on Iowa State in 45-7 blowout
BY ASHER FUSCO
afusco@kansan.com
All week long, media and fans treated Kansas' matchup against Iowa State as an afterthought during the build-up to next weekend's showdown with Missouri. Saturday afternoon, the Jayhawks proved they nut in plenty of time.
they put in plenty of time preparing for the game everyone else overlooked
The Jayhawks' 45-7 dismantling of Iowa State (3-9, 2-6 Big 12) lifted the team to a school-best 11-0 record and ensured that the team would battle Missouri next weekend with a spot in the Big 12 Championship on the line. The victory, coupled with Oregon's and Oklahoma's
losses, pushed the Jayhawks to second in the AP poll, the coaches' poll and the BCS Standings, meaning the team controls its own destiny: If Kansas wins the rest of its games, it will play for the National Championship in New Orleans.
Kansas (11-0, 7-0 Big 12) outplayed Iowa
State in every facet of the game as sophomore quarterback Todd Reeing added another brilliant chapter to an already-sparkling season.
“It's really a great deal when you force a team to throw the ball and you know what they're going to do. You can really turn up the heat on the passer."
Reesing completed 17 of his 18 first-half pass attempts and finished the game 21-of-26 with 253 yards and four touchdowns. Reesing avoided throwing an interception
JOHN LARSON Junior defensive end
"It wasn't bad," Reesing said. "Things were clicking well, and we were moving the ball. I think we had four consecutive scoring drives, so it was good to get things rolling like that in the first half."
for the sixth consecutive game, stretching his interceptionless streak to 205 pass attempts.
After struggling through a three-and-out on its first possession, the KU offense picked up the pace on its next drive. Senior running back Brandon McAnderson covered 25 yards on three carries and Reesing completed all four of his passes as Kansas marched 82 yards, scoring on a 17-yard
touchdown reception by junior wide receiver Dexton Fields.
The lajhawks first score looked simple enough. Fields caught the ball near the line of scrimmage and jogged 17 yards down the sideline and into the end zone. But Fields would have been stopped short if not for a sensational block by freshman wide receiver
Dezmon Briscoe. As Fields reeled in the pass and headed for the goal line, Briscoe tucked his hands under Iowa State cornerback Chris Singleton's shoulder pads and drove the smaller defender out of Fields' path.
Briscoe's outstanding block was one of many the Kansas wide receivers provided Saturday
"Our receivers have been doing an excellent job blocking." McAnderson said. "It's not about one man just outrunning everybody — definitely not with me — so our wide-outs have to get on their blocks, cover their man and get them out of the way."
afternoon. On several occasions, Heids returned the favor by bulldozing Iowa State cornerbacks and safeties to clear the way for teammates. The Jayhawks' wide receivers' ability to contain Cyclone defenders downfield helped the team pick up 212 rushing yards.
The Kansas offense fired on all cylinders for the entire first half. After Iowa State
"It's real easy to find guys open in the pass game when the defense is worried about the running game."
TODD REESING Sophomore quarterback
punted on its second possession, the Jayhawks put together an 80-yard drive that ticked just more than two minutes off the game clock. Reesing connected with Fields three times on the possession, including on a 16-yard touchdown pass that gave Kansas a 14-0 lead with 1:57 remaining in the first quarter.
After senior safety Sadiq Muhammed intercepted a pass from Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud, Reeing calmly led the offense on another long scoring drive. McAnderson and sophomore running back
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B
BCS watch
Kansas ranking highest ever
With its 11th straight victory, Kansas has become the highest-ranked team in school history. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 2 in the BCS Standings and the AP, Coaches and Harris polls. In the polls, the team passed Oklahoma, which lost at Texas Tech, and Oregon, which lost at Arizona. In the BCS, Kansas moved past Oregon from third to second. The biggest surprise in the standings could be West Virginia leapfrogging Missouri for the No. 3 spot in the BCS Ranks. Oklahoma's loss dented Missouri's strength of schedule enough to pull the Tigers out of the third spot. Aside from No. 2 Kansas and No. 4 Missouri, other Big 12 Conference teams in the BCS Top 25 include Oklahoma (10) and Texas (13).
BCS RANKINGS
| TEAM | BCS AVERAGE |
| :--- | :--- |
| 1. LSU | .9904 |
| **2. Kansas** | .9488 |
| 3. West Virginia | .8878 |
| **4. Missouri** | .8707 |
| 5. Ohio State | .8602 |
| 6. Arizona State | .8019 |
| 7. Georgia | .7438 |
| 8. Virginia Tech | .6796 |
| 9. Oregon | .6267 |
| **10. Oklahoma** | .5816 |
— Asher Fusco
FOOTBALL ABC to show Saturday's game; ESPN to air pregame analysis
The Border Showdown is usually a must-use game for fans of Kansas and Missouri. This season, the entire nation could be watching. ABC (Sunflower Broadband channels 9 and 12) will broadcast the 7 p.m. game to all of its national affiliates. In addition to ABC's game coverage, ESPN will broadcast "College Gameday" live from Arrowhead Stadium. Live coverage on "SportsCenter" will begin at 8 a.m. and "College Gameday" will run from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard will provide analysis during the pregame coverage.
Asher Fusco
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Hawks prepare for stronger opponents
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
Brandon Rush's eagerness wasn't the only reason he wanted to start playing again Thursday against Washburn. He has another one: Rush, a junior guard, needs an easy game before the schedule starts getting tougher, such as Wednesday's game against Northern Arizona.
"I don't want to start off against those guys," he said. "It'll be good to play them, but I'd like to play before then just so I could get warmed up before the big games."
Southern California on Dec. 2. Northern Arizona barely lost to Arizona and is expected to contend for its conference title. The Wildcats and the Trojans were both top 25 teams before losing early home games.
Along with Northern Arizona, the upcoming tougher games include Arizona on Sunday and
"We have to go for it, and sometimes we miss, sometimes we get it. He just wants us to be more solid."
games against Louisiana Monroe, UMKC and Washburn count the same as those against any top 25 team.
Now, as the games become more difficult. Kansas coach Bill Self expects the team to get more intense.
"As much as we want our guys to be at that magic level every game, I can't understand
It's not that Kansas didn't care about the first few games of the schedule. In the long run, the
MARIO CHALMERS Junior guard
Nature can only take them so far. There's a few aspects of the game Kansas needs to start working on, mainly defense. The layhawks have still been forcing turnovers like they
why, for the most part, we appear not to be sometimes." Self said. "I know that there's another gear by competition that will ratchet things up naturally for us"
did last year, but they can't stop opponents from scoring. Louisiana Monroe shot 51 percent for the game in the season opener. UMKC shot 50 percent in the first half a week ago.
If the defense forces less turnovers, it could mean it's doing a better job tightly defending opponents and making them shoot bad shots.
Self said the Jayhawks also needed to eliminate mental mistakes. During the opening minutes of Kansas' victory against Washburn Thursday, senior center Sasha Kaun fouled someone 75 feet away from the basket. Chalmers and sophomore forward Darrell Arthur missed multiple dunks against UMKC.
"He doesn't want us to gamble at all sometimes," Chalmers said about Self's instruction. "We have to go for it, and sometimes we miss, sometimes we get it. He just wants us to be more solid."
Those mistakes didn't make a difference against UMKC or Washburn, but they will against Arizona and USC.
"We have to tighten things up." Self said.
Junior guard Mario Chalmers said they made mistakes by going for so many steals.
— Edited by Kaitlyn Syring
Tougher Teams
Wednesday Northern Arizona
Sunday Arizona
Dec. 2 at USC
Dec 18 at Georgia Tech
Dec. 22 Miami (Ohio)
By the time Kansas' reserves were done putting the finishing touches on a 45-7 triumph, officials announced the Border Showdown in Kansas City, Mo., would take place on ABC in primetime and be broadcast to the entire country. To add to the already building hype, ESPN announced that the College Gameday crew would be at Arrowhead Stadium to showcase what amounts to an audition for a spot in the BCS championship game.
By halftime of Saturday's dismantling of the Iowa State Cyclones, it was obvious that a dream match-up was taking shape for Thanksgiving weekend. Missouri had won comfortably in Manhattan, and Kansas was riding four Todd Reesing touchdown passes to its school-record 11th victory.
>> COMMENTARY
This year rivalry matters Border Showdown rarely means so much
All of which made me wonder: When was the last time Kansas and Missouri met with so much on the line? After all, they aren't schools steeped in football tradition. But the rivals have met on 115 occasions, providing plenty of opportunities.
Without further ado, here are the three
most significant games in college football's most bitter rivalry — the Border Showdown,
3. NOV. 30,1899,KANSASCITY.MO.
The two squads met on the last day of the season for the ninth time just 36 years after Quantrill's raiders burned Lawrence to the ground.
Kansas entered the game 9-0 during Hall of Fame coach Fielding H. "Hurry Up" Yost's first and only year at the helm of the Jayhawks. Missouri was in the midst
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SEE WIEBE ON PAGE 6B
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