KU 43-OSU28
THE UNIVERSITY DARLY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2007
5B
'They don't make mistakes'
Sophomore wide receiver Micah Brown celebrates with fans after a 43-28 Jayhawk win against Oklahoma State. The team now stands 10-0 overall and 6 in the B12.
Dezmin Briscoe, freshman wide receiver, pulls away from an Alabama State defender as he runs downfield. Briscoe received six passes for 43 yards.
Kansas' ability to create turnovers shows superiority, strength of defense
ckeefeer@kansan.com
Oklahoma State senior wide receiver Tommy Devereaux had to pause and rethink his statement.
After a 43-28 loss to Kansas, Devereaux was asked whether he thought the Jayhawks were legitimate national title contenders. He immediately began praising the defense - perhaps too much.
"They've got the best defense in the nation," Devereaux said. "I mean, the league."
Devereaux was part of the Cowboy receiving corps that caught 276 yards worth of passes from sophomore quarterback Zac Robinson in the defeat. So following a successful game offensively, why would Devereaux's immediate comment place the Jayhawk defense among the nation's elite?
To Devereaux, and the rest of the Cowboys, the Jayhawk defense's superiority stems from one basic ability: creating turnovers. Kansas ranked second in the nation in turnover margin coming into the game against Oklahoma State. It left with four more turnovers to add to its statistical sheet and committed none. All four turnovers came at critical points of the game for Kansas.
"You play a team that's as successful as they are and playing as well as they are and give them four more chances,
it makes it extremely difficult to win",
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "And that's really what it comes down to. We gave the ball away too many times."
The game was a back and forth battle in the first quarter with both team's offenses and defenses grabbing momentum at different times. The score was 7-7 when Oklahoma State committed its first turnover.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Robinson threw a low lateral pass to junior wide receiver Seth Newton. Since the throw was behind the line of scrimage, the loose ball was considered a fumble. As Newton bent over to pick it up, Kansas junior middle linebacker Joe Mortensen flew onto the scene.
Todd Reasing, sophomore quarterback, leaves the field after Saturday night's victory over Oklahoma State. Reissing completed 27 passes for more than 300 yards.
Mortensen dove on the fumble and the Jayhawks offense received ideal field position at the 50-yard line. Kansas senior kicker Scott Webb made a 30-yard field goal less than two minutes later to hand Kansas the lead.
"We knew coming into the game that it would be important to take care of the ball." Robinson said, "because they are good at taking care of it themselves."
Were they ever. Kansas sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing controlled the flow of the game by delivering accurate passes all night. With 40 more attempts Saturday, Reesing has completed 179 consecutive passes without an interception.
Gundy said he was impressed by the way Kansas took care of the football. He mentioned it when posed a similar question to Devereaux regarding national championship possibilities.
"it hard for me to comment on that," Gundy said. "But what I'll say is they are a very solid football team because they don't make mistakes and don't beat themselves."
Orange-clad faithful arose from their seats with eight minutes remaining in the game to support the Cowboy offense. Oklahoma State trailed by 12 points and a touchdown drive would have put it back in the game.
But Jayhawk junior cornerback Aqib Tailbuck quickly ended those hopes by intercepting a Robinson pass four plays into the possession. Webb knocked another field goal through minutes later and Kansas fans rejoiced because their team was one game closer to a possible national championship berth.
Oklahoma State junior safety Jake Price said he wouldn't be surprised if Kansas made it there. Not if they keep winning the turnover battle.
Edited by Rachael Gray
View from press row
The game was over when... Aqib Talib intercepted an Oklahoma State pass with 7:32 remaining in the game. Talib's interception and 17-yard return gave Kansas the ball at the Oklahoma State 25-yard line and set up a chip shot 22-yard field goal by Scott Webb. The field goal gave the Jayhawks a 43-28 advantage that held up until the end of the game.
Game ball goes to... Marcus Henry. The Lawton, Okla., native had quite the homecoming in front of friends and family who made the two hour drive to Stillwater for the game. Henry's 199 receiving yards was the most by a Kansas player since 1989 and his four-yard touchdown catch stretched the Kansas lead to 12 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Game to forget... Adarius Bowman. Bowman spent the second half of last year's game burning Kansas repeatedly on his way to 300 yards and four touchdowns. In this year's installment of the series, Oklahoma State's star wide receiver stayed on the sideline in the second half because of a leg injury. The senior tallied just four receptions and 22 yards, his lowest output of the season.
Stat of the game... One. Only one undefeated BCS Conference team remains: the Kansas Jayhawks. Ohio State dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten on Saturday, leaving non-BCS Hawaii and 10-0 Kansas as the nation's two perfect teams. With every victory, Kansas inches up the BCS Standings and closer to a berth in a big-time bowl game.
Football notes
— Asher Fusco
A FEW LESS FANS
TRICKY JAYHAWKS
Even with the No. 5 team in the nation visiting and the added significance of the ABC Game of the Week, Boone Pickens Stadium was not filled to capacity. The announced attendance of 39,848 marked the smallest crowd Kansas has played in front of all season. The seats near the top of the stadium stayed empty, and one end zone was completely free of fans because of construction. Using a donation from oil tycoon Boone Pickens, the Cowboy football program is adding a state-of-the-art complex on the west end of the stadium. Pickens displayed his respect for the 10-0 Jayhawks by congratulating Mark Mangino as the coach headed for the locker room after the game.
The game was billed as a match
between offensive powerhouses, a label the offensive coordinators did nothing to shed. Kansas offensive coordinator Ed Warinner pulled several tricks from his
sleeve, including a particularly tricky option pass. Sophomore quarterback/wide receiver Kerry Meier went into motion before the snap and lined up in the backfield beside sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing. After the snap, Reesing and Meier ran what looked like a standard option play to the right. Reesing pitched the ball back to Meier, who gathered the toss and lofted the ball deep downfield to senior wide receiver Marcus Henry. The Jayhawks gained 44 yards on the play and scored on a field goal four plays later. But none of the Cowboys' tries at trick plays turned out well. Faced with fourth-and-two at the Kansas 48-yard line on its first drive, Oklahoma State tried to earn a first down on a fake punt but came up just inches short. Later in the first half, Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Larry Fedora elected to try a wide receiver pass. The problem was, his wide receiver never caught the backward pass and Kansas junior linebacker Joe Mortensen recovered the fumble.
Meier
HOMECOMING
Kansas is a team heavily stocked with Oklahoma-grown talent, with 13 players and five starters from the state. Some Oklahoma natives enjoyed big games in their home-comings, as junior defensive end Russell Brorsen and junior linebacker James Holt combined for eight tackles and two tackles-for-loss. Henry and senior kicker Scott Webb scored 31 of the team's 43 points. Henry made eight receptions for 199 yards, and Webb made all three of his field goal attempts.
COWBOYS OK WITHOUT
BOWMAN
STRUGGLING SPECIAL TEAMS
Oklahoma State lost its most potent weapon when wide receiver Adiari Bowman left the game with an injury in the second quarter. But the disappearance of Bowman didn't hold up the Cowboy offense too much. As wide receiver Dez Bryant stepped into the role of playmaker. Bryant caught two long passes over Kansas junior cornerback Kendrick Harper on a second-quarter touchdown drive and continued to dissect the Jayhawk defense in the second half. The freshman finished the game with eight receptions and 155 receiving yards. Cowboy quarterback Zac Robinson also put together an impressive effort. The sophomore signal-caller passed for 276 yards and two touchdowns and added 90 rushing yards.
sides of the Kansas punting game. Senior punter Kyle Tucker booted the ball away six times at an average of 30.8 yards per punt including a 22-vard dud
It was a rough night for both
Herford
that promptly sailed out of bounds
sophomore punt returner Anthony
Webb lived dangerously on Saturday
night, returning three punts forminus four yards and sustaining some serious hits because of his reluctance to signal a fair catch. The Kansas kickoff and kick return units performed quite a bit better. Webb sent three of his nine kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, and junior kick returner Marcus Herford brought one kick back 55 yards into Oklahoma State territory.
GAME CHANGING PERFORMANCE
Reesing continued to enhance his resume and gave Heisman voters some quality material to consider when sorting through candidates. He tossed three touchdowns and extended his five game interception—less streak to a school record
Reesing
12 POWER RANKINGS
179 attempts. His 308-yard effort was his fourth game throwing for more than 300 yards this season, which ties a Kansas record. His 82-yard touchdown pass to Henry was the team's longest pass play since 1988 and was nominated as a finalist for the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Week. The Jayhawks' most impressive offensive accomplishment may have been keeping the ball away from the Cowboys. Kansas held onto the ball for more than two-thirds of the fourth quarter and did not commit a turnover for the second straight game.
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.
2. Oklahoma
1. Kansas
3. Missouri
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma State
6. Texas Tech
7. Texas A&M
8. Nebraska
9. Colorado
10. Kansas State
11. Iowa State
12. Baylor