4BSPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY OF DALY KANSAN
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009
KANSAS 42,MINNESOTA 21
TEMPETRIUMPH
Weston White/KANSAN
Sophomore receiver Dezmon Briscoe walks out the final yards of a 60-yard touchdown reception. The score came on Kansas' first play of the Insight Bowl. Briscoe led the team with 14 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
Mangino, Mortensen predict successful 2009 season as seniors celebrate last bowl victory of their careers
B. J. RAINS rains@kansan.com
TEMPE, Ariz. — While Kansas players danced and celebrated on
the field following a 42-21 drubbing of Minnesota in the Insight Bowl, some couldn't help but look ahead.
"Just wait 'til next year," wide re-
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Junior running back Jake Sharp dives over Minnesota defenders during the Insight Bowl in Temoe Arizona. The Javahawks go the Gophers 42-21.
ceiver Kerry Meier screamed.
"It's going to be nasty," Mortensen said. "Put them in another BCS bowl. They've got the same schedule. They are going to be able to play with another."
With almost every offensive weapon returning next season, the Jayhawks could be the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 North. Even senior linebacker Joe Mortensen, who had 13 tackles in his final college game, couldn't help but look forward to the Jayhawks' chances in 2009.
The Jayhawks will worry about next year in the coming weeks, but will first celebrate bowl wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.
The Jayhawks' senior class, one of the best ever at Kansas, won three bowl games in four
"We put Kansas back on the map," Mortensen said. "This senior class, this whole team, it's awesome, man. I love my players. I love the coaches. I just love this team."
Holt combined for 35 tackles, including a goal-line stand on fourth and inches that sealed the Jayhawks' eighth victory of the season and third straight in a bowl game.
years and 20 games in the past two seasons — both firsts in the program's history.
Kansas took a quick 7-0 lead on the first offensive play of the game when quarterback Todd Reesing avoided a sack and found Dezmon Briscoe for a 60-yard touchdown strike. Minnesota stormed back to take a 14-7 lead, but the layhawks scored 21 unanswered points to end the half on touchdown passes
Mortensen and fellow senior linebackers Mike Rivera and James
"We put Kansas back on the map. This senior class, this whole team, it's awesome, man. I love my players. I love the coaches. I just love this team."
JOE MORTENSEN
Senior linebacker
from Reeing to Meier, Jonathon Wilson and a second to Briscoe.
After leading 28-14 at the break, Kansas extended its lead to 35-14 when Meier found Briscoe on a wide-receiver pass for his Insight Bowl-record third touchdown of the game. Briscoe also set the Insight Bowl
Meier's 10 catches put him at 97 on the season and he surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark on the season with his 113-yard performance.
Briscoe, Meier and Reesing — who was 27-of-35 for 313 yards and four touchdowns — all return next
year, fueling the early talk about the Jayhawks' chances at being a dominant team in 2009.
And while coach Mark Mangino rarely likes to look ahead, even he knows that next year's team could be a special one.
"I'm not really thinking about that right now," Mangino said. "But I can say with a great deal of confidence that, stay healthy and stay on track, we have a chance to be a very good football team next year."
As the Jayhawks head their separate ways, some will be hit.
ting the weight room for offseason conditioning programs, and some will head off into careers that have nothing to do with football.
But no matter what their futures hold, they will always be remembered for being the group that brought respectability and a tradition of winning to the KU football program.
"it's been a great ride," Mortensen said. "I couldn't have asked for anything better."
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