THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5,2007
KU 76-NU 39
5B
Nebraska unworthy of'blackshirts'
INSAN
Todd Reesing, sophomore quarterback, looks to pass to open receiver. Reesing threw for over 350 yards and a record six touchdowns
ANSAN
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove stripped the NU defensive starters of its "blackshirts" two weeks ago.
The black jerseys were a sacred tradition for the Nebraska football team and worn by the eleven starters everyday at practice. They accompanied the Cornhuskers during five national championships from 1970 to 1997. Cosgrove said he took the privilege away, thinking the defense would earn them back.
But after a 76-39 loss to Kansas, the Nebraska defense has a better chance at solving global starvation than getting the coveted practice jerseys returned. Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan was bombarded with questions from reporters asking how he would repair the defense.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Dezmon Briscoe, sophomore wide receiver strides down the field after another reception. Briscoe received for 52 yards on five catches.
"If I knew the answers to all those questions, I wouldn't be answering this one," Callahan said. "It's just been very difficult for a lot of reasons. I'm not the type of person or coach to ever sit up here and give an excuse and I'm not going to start right now."
The Jayhawks' 76 points were the most scored on the Cornhuskers in Nebraska's history. Nebraska also surrendered 572 total yards to Kansas and allowed it to score a touchdown on 10 straight possessions.
The performance of the defense was particularly frustrating to the Cornhusker offense. Led by junior quarterback Joe Ganz's 405 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start, Nebraska attacked the Kansas defense like no other team had this season. Senior wide receiver Maurice Purify said it was hard to accept that 39 points wasn't enough.
"I'm not saying you can't worry about the defense, but we have our job to do," he said. "Our job is just as hard as the defense's job, and we can't do both of them."
Purify wasn't the only Cornhusker letting out his negative emotions. The score was 62-31 late in the third quarter when Kansas running back Brandon McAnderson pushed forward for one of his team's 12 successful third-down conversions.
Nebraska defensive lineman Kevin Dixon exited the field yelling at teammates and flailing his arms after the play. Senior safety Bryan Wilson said the incident represented the defense's feelings in a game where it totally collapsed.
"It's so far out there, it's such a stretch, it has never happened to guys on this team," Wilson said. "So we kind of didn't know what to do about it."
Everything the Kansas offense tried on Nebraska worked. The secondary
did nothing to prevent fayhawk sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing from throwing six touchdown passes. The defensive line was dominated all day as McAnderson rushed for four touchdowns.
"We're trying to do everything we
can; there's no other options referring to coaching changes and things of the nature." Callahan said. "We are going to do the best we can to finish this season with this staff."
When asked whether the mention of coaching changes meant he
Anna Faltermeyer/KANSAM
Sophomore runningback Jake Sharp rushes the ball down the field during the game against Nebraska Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN
Freshman defensive end Jake Laptad closes in on Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz Saturday at Memorial Stadium, Kansasase刃顿 北郴 76-34.
KANSAS, NOT KANSAS STATE
Football notes
It was a rough day all around for Kansas State. The Wildcats suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Iowa State Cyclones and received several boos several hundred miles south in Memorial Stadium. The first round of unrest came when one of the pregame skydellers landed near midfield sporting a silver and purple parachute. About two quarters later, referee Randy Christal made a shameful slip-up, announcing a Kansas timeout as a "timeout taken by Kansas State." At that point, the crowd showered Christal with an unfriendly serenade of boos until he turned his microphone on and announced, "Correction — correction. Kansas."
The numbers on the scoreboard weren't the only big figures involved in Saturday's game. The announced attendance of 51,910 set an all-time Memorial Stadium record, breaking the mark set at last year's Kansas State game. The announced attendance at Memorial Stadium has topped 40,000 in each game this season — most likely a biproduct of the Jayhawks' 9-0 start.
RECORD-BREAKING ATTENDANCE
HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
Sopnomore quarterback Todd Reesing's 30-of-41 passing performance was his most accurate of the season. Of course, it helps when the receivers catch the ball. Kansas receivers dropped just one pass against Nebraska, a drastic improvement from the group's performance in recent weeks. After the game,
coach Mark Mangino and Reesing both credited the receiving corps for its steady effort. Eight Jayhawks made at least one catch, and three gained more than 50 receiving yards.
STUFFING THE RUN
There wasn't much defense to speak of in the 76-39 game, but the Kansas run defense fared well. The Jayhawks gave up just 89 yards, 67 of which came in the fourth quarter when the game was far out of the Cornhuskers' reach. Nebraska junior running back Marlon Lucky, who entered the contest ranked third in the Big 12 Conference in rushing yards, mustered only 15 yards on eight carries. Freshman running back Roy Helu paced Nebraska with 56 rushing yards on nine carries. Junior linebacker Mike Rivera was the most crucial cog in the Kansas run defense, making a team-high seven tackles and forcing a fumble.
resume Saturday.
In addition to setting the single-game school passing touchdown record (6),
Reeing set a new Kansas single-season passing touchdown
TOUCHDOWNTODDREESING
Reesing
and Cosgrove's relationship had deteriorated because of the poor defense, Callahan refused to comment.
Reeing made some large-scale improvements to his impressive
record (23). His 26 career touchdown passes are fourth in school history, and his 2,543 passing yards rank 11th on the all-time school list. Reesing is now ranked 16th in
the nation in passing efficiency. The Austin, Texas, native also garnered some praise from teammates and coaches. Mangino said the quarterback had the chance to be the best quarterback he had ever been associated with in his entire coaching career, and senior wide receiver Marcus Henry said he thought Reesing should contend for the Heisman trophy this season.
RENAISSANCE MAN
Saturday. Meier had a career-high four receptions for 42 yards, scored his first career receiving touchdown, carried the ball once for five yards and even played
Meier
quarterback in the fourth quarter. Because the game was already out of hand, Meier did not attempt any passes while playing quarterback. Meier is the first Kansas player to earn at least one rushing, one receiving and one passing touchdown in a season since Garfield Taylor accomplished the feat in 1981.
Versatile sophomore receiver/ quarterback Kerry Meier enjoyed what might have been his best all-around game of the season last
THE NEBRASKA BLUES
Few Nebraska fans remained in Memorial Stadium after the blowout. But the ones who stayed took notice when Nebraska athletic director Tom Osbourne, who led the Cornhuskers to three national championships as a coach, walked by.
They greeted Osbourne with screams of "Help us, Tom." After giving up the most points ever in Nebraska history, it's going to take more than Osbourne to get the starting defense its "blackshirts" back.
in the 117-year, 1,179-game history of the program. The Cornhuskers' current five-game losing streak is their longest since 1958, and they are now tied for 10th in the Big 12 Conference standings, ahead of only Baylor. Junior quarterback Joe Ganz rolled up 405 passing yards in the first start of his career, but struggled mightily in the second half. Overall, Ganz completed just 50 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions.
Saturday afternoon was ugly in a few different ways for the once-proud Nebraska Cornhuskers. The loss was just Nebraska's second in the past 39 games of the series, and Kansas gained more yards and scored more points than any Nebraska opponent
NOT-SO-SPECIAL TEAMS
Kansas' special teams were a mixed bag against Nebraska, to say the least. Senior punter Kyle Tucker nearly had his first and only punt blocked, barely getting it off in time
Herford
but booting the ball sky-high and just 22 yards downfield. Nebraska took over at the Kansas 46-yard line and used the short field to its advantage, scoring a touchdown about four minutes later. Kansas kicker Scott Webb set a single-game school record by making 10 point-after-TDs, but missed one point-after attempt and his only field goal attempt. Junior wide receiver Marcus Herford enjoyed an outstanding effort returning kickoffs. He recorded two 49-yard returns and averaged 33.8 yards per return overall. Herford entered the game ranked first in the Big 12 in yards per kick return.
Stat of the game... 10. At one point, Kansas put together 10 consecutive touchdown drives. After扑打 on the first possession of the game, the Jayhawks scored a touchdown on every single drive until a missed field goal late in the third quarter. Five minutes after the missed field goal, Kansas scored again for its 11th touchdown in 13 drives.
Game to forget... Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. Saturday afternoon was as painful for Cosgrove as it was pleasant for Reeing and the Jayhawks. With the coaching staff's job security already in question and the Nebraska defense last in the nation in run defense, a 76-39 drubbing was not the sort of boost Cosgrove's career needed.
Edited by Luke Morris
View from press row
— Asher Fusco
The game was over when...
The Kansas defense held Nebraska to two straight three-
and-outs in the third quarter.
Until the middle of the third quarter, the game had been an
offensive free-for-all. Nebraska scored on its first possession of
the second half to pull within
17 points, but Kansas stopped
the team dead in their tracks on
its next two possessions. During this stretch, Kansas opened
up a 69-31 lead.
Game to remember... Todd Reesing. The Kansas sophomore quarterback put together an unreal stat line against Nebraska. He set a single-game school record with six passing touchdowns, threw for 354 yards and displayed pinpoint accuracy by completing 77.5 percent of his passes. Don't be surprised if his name is mentioned in the Heisman talk in the coming weeks.
— Asher Fusco
BIG 12 POWER RANKINGS
Each week, Sports Editor Travis Robinett, football writer Asher Fusco and Big 12 football writer Case Keefer vote on the Big 12 power rankings.
1. Kansas
2. Oklahoma
3. Missouri
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma State
6. Kansas State
7T. Colorado
7T. Texas Tech
9. Texas A&M
10T. Iowa State
10T. Nebraska
12. Baylor