10
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, November 11, 1968
Owens penetrates for six
Hawks crash on home field
Kansan Photo by Greg Sorber
By BOB KEARNEY Assistant Sports Editor
Coach Pepper Rodgers, forsaking his popular "big game" somersault, offered a defense in KU's sorber dressing room.
"Too many people have been asking me to do it," he replied to an interviewer's query. "I don't like to be asked—I want to be spontaneous."
The Sooners halted KU's victory string at seven, and in the process, sent the Big Eight football chase into a three-way dogfight. Missouri blistered Iowa State, 42-7, and uppped its conference mark to 5-0. Kansas (4-1) and Oklahoma (3-1) will take cracks at Mizzou the next two weeks.
But Pepper and the Jayhawks had no defense for a bruising 81-yard Oklahoma scoring march in the fourth period that dealt KU its first defeat of the season. 27-23.
The Jayhawks, opening from their 20, survived their first third-down test. George McGowan alley-ooped between two Oklahoma defenders, pulling down a 17-yard Bob Douglass aerial at the 39. Then John Jackson latched onto a 12-yard Douglas bullet up the middle.
Oklahoma's winning trek, which covered 81 yards in 10 plays, was culminated by a 5-yard Steve Owens sweep. With 4:14 remaining, KU had ample time to recover.
Three times in the second half, the Jayhawks were forced to battle from behind. KU succeeded twice. Its third bid kept a record capacity crowd of 51.500 anxiously glued to their seats.
And the Hawks came within a fingertip of preserving their perfect record.
The knockout punch with 1:29 showing was Barrett's second interception. And it marked the fourth time KU moved deep into OU territory and left empty-handed. Oklahoma was more efficient: never did the Sooners cross KU's 40 without scoring.
Sandwiched between two incompletions was a 12-yard loss—Douglass been sandwiched between two OU defenders. It made it 4th- and 22 from the 38. Everything rode on the arching Douglass pass that glanced off McGowan's fingertips and into Mike Barrett's grasp.
Oklahoma decked Douglass for an 8-yard loss before a pass interference call moved KU to the Sooner 45. Douglass then scrambled 19 yards, going out of bounds at the 26 to stop the clock at 2:05.
Defensive end Steve Zabel blocked another Bell field goal attempt on KU's next possession after the Jayhawks trudged from their 23 to the OU 19.
The first of the KU fizzles followed the opening kickoff. Kansas, ignited by John Riggins' 46-yard return, pushed to the Oklahoma 17 before Bill Bell bucked the wind with a 34-yard field goal try—and fell short.
After two punt exchanges, Oklahoma got on the scoreboard. Its 48-yard push included a 10-yard Bob Warmack toss to Eddie Hinton and an 11-yard flip to Zabel. Owens crashed six yards around left end for the score with 9:28 to go in the half. Bruce Derr's placement sailed wide to the left.
"That really takes it out of a team to get that close and not score," said Rodgers. "It had to give Oklahoma a big lift."
Kansan Photo by Greg Sorber
The tempo had been established for a
KU quickly retaliated. Douglass uncorked the bomb, hitting McGowan in stride at the OU 30. McGowan stumbled into the corner of the endzone to complete the 75-yard play. The score remained a 6-6 deadlock when Bell's conversion try missed.
Oklahoma regained the edge with an 85-yard march, capped by a 13-yard Owens pass to Joe Killingsworth at 1:44. Bell squeezed in a 35-yard field goal with just 27 seconds left.
see-saw struggle, and the second half resembled a pinng-nonch match in slow motion.
Twice the Jayhawks drove 63 yards for touchdowns, the second time needing twice as many plays. And Oklahoma struck on scoring drives of 80 and 81 yards.
KU went in front at almost identical junctures of the third and fourth periods. Don Shanklin broke off right tackle, hurdled toward the sideline, and dashed 19 yards for a TD with 10:40 to play in the third.
Warmack completed 4 of 5 passes while the Sooners cranked up a 15-play, 80-yard series. It was Warmack's 11-yard keeper that erased the 16-13 KU lead with 5:05 showing.
Kansas responded with another go-ah-drive. Big gainers were a 21-yard keeper by Douglass and a 14-yard sashay by Shanklin to the Oklahoma 15. From the 5, the Jayhawks needed three belts at a stubborn Sooner defense before John Riggins wedged across at 10:50.
Three minutes later, Oklahoma set foot on the winner. Hinton snared a 15-yard pass before Owens and fullback Mike Harper charged straight ahead for 11 and 12 yards. The only pressure situation, on 3rd-and-6 at KU's 16, saw Warmack connect with Killingsworth at the 5. Owens went over on the next play.
"I'm not new at getting beat. It's just new this season," said Rodgers in prefacing his post-game comments. "It probably won't be the last time, either."
The KU coach pointed to a breakdown in pass protection as a major factor. "We didn't throw the ball good," he said, although Douglass had his best day ever, statistically, with 11 of 28 for 240 yards. "We didn't do a good job of protecting the passer, and we didn't do a good job of rushing the passer. Oklahoma did all those things."
The difference, said Rodgers, was plain and simple.
"Oklahoma just outplayed us. When we needed the big play on offense or defense, we didn't get it. They did."
Hicks flattens Owens
Riggins nailed by OU
Photo by Mike Gunther