6B
SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY HAIRY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008
BIG 12 WRAPUP
Exciting Red Raider victory highlights weekend play
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
NO.2 TEXAS TECH 39,
NO.5 TEXAS 33
Guns Up: The biggest game in school history was an absolute thriller. One play after Texas nearly made an interception to end the game, Heisman candidate Graham Harrell connected with Heisman candidate Michael Crabtree for the winning touchdown. Crabtree made the catch, brushed off a tackle and tip-toed the five yards into the end zone with one second left on the clock. Tech still has to play Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, but that hasn't slowed down the biggest party in Lubbock history.
Hook'em Horns Down: Trailing by six with over five minutes left, Colt McCoy drove 80 yards to put his team up by one. Problem is he left 1:27 on the clock and Texas normally stingy defense couldn't prevent a last second touchdown. Really, the Longhorns are still doing all right. They escaped the Big 12 gauntlet — Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech —
with a 3-1 record and finish with three very winnable games. Still, this loss may take them out of the national title picture, and no image portraits that better than McCoy's flabbergasted face after Crabtree's touchdown.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NO.6 OKLAHOMA 62,
NEBRASKA 28
Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree steps into the end zone Saturday for the game-winning touchdown as Texas Longhorn defender Curtis Brown couldn't catch up on the second-to-final play of the game. Tech won 39-13.
Blowout Sooner: Less than six minutes into the game, the Sooners led 28-0. By the end of the first quarter it was 35-0, and at halftime Oklahoma led 49-14. Quarterback Sam Bradford put up his typical numbers, completing 19-of-27 for 311 yards and five touchdowns. The game was over immediately and the score only evened a bit because coach Bob Stoops let off the gas. If they tried, Oklahoma easily could have put up 100 points on this former conference titan.
Cornhuskers Wail: Coach Bo Pelini makes his living on defense, which is why this blowout comes as a big surprise. Obviously Nebraska doesn't have the talent right now, but Pelini was supposed to replace some of that with his
great defensive strategies. Whoops.
The Cornhuskus did out-rush the Sooners 204-193, but that's a hollow victory in a game that they lost five minutes in.
NO.8 OKLAHOMA STATE 59,IOWA STATE 17
Cowboy Up: Oklahoma State accumulated a mind-boggling 682 offensive yards despite controlling the ball for less than half of the game. Quarterback Zac Robinson averaged 14.6 yards per pass attempt and completed 18-of-27 for five touchdowns. Running back Kendall Hunter didn't put up his usual numbers, but he only carried the ball 13 times. On 13 carries he averaged eight yards and scored a touchdown. Wide receiver Dez Bryant is making a case for the Biletnikoff Award with nine catches for 171 yards and four touchdowns.
Cy-Clown Alley: Besides winning time of possession, there was really nothing good for Iowa State to take from this game. The Cyclones turned the ball over three times, committed 10 penalties and
converted only 5-of-16 third down attempts. Iowa Sate averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and quarterback Austen Arnaud completed just 20-of-35 passes.
NO.13 MISSOURI 31,
BAYLOR 28
Missouri, and it nearly was. The Tigers led 14-0 and threatened to score again when Chase Daniel threw an interception and the Bears turned it into points. From there it was a battle back-and-forth but a Missouri field goal with 2:40 left decided the game. Daniel completed 30-of-38 for 318 and three touchdowns.
Tigers Escape Saturday should have been an easy victory for
Beary Close: For most of the game, freshman quarterback Robert Griffin was matching senior Chase Daniel throw-forthrow. The difference came when Griffin tried to lead his team on a last-minute drive and was picked off for the first time in his career. His 209 attempts to start a career without an interception broke the D-I record previously held by Mike "I'm a Man" Gundy at Oklahoma State. Griffin completed 26-of-35 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for another score. Baylor was 4-for-4 on fourth down attempts.
TEXAS A&M 24, COLORADO 17
Ugly in Aggieland: This game only deserves one paragraph. The quarterbacks combined to complete 33-of-67 passes while the squads teamed for 14 penalties and 10-for-26 on third down attempts. Nobody outside of Boulder or College Station — and even some inside of those — cared about this game, and these teams played like they didn't either.
Edited by Rachel Burchfield
DODD (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
plan. Sharp and Kansas' offensive line exposed K-State's tin-foil defensive line, and the jayhawk defense feasted on K-State junior quarterback Josh Freeman.
It's hard to imagine a quarterback having three worse games than the three Freeman has had against Kansas.
Three seasons. Three games.
Nine interceptions. Four fumbles.
Three losses. Ouch.
And once again, Mangino left K-State coach Ron Prince scratching his head. Prince has coached three games against Kansas. And three times, Mangino has simply outwitted, outcoached and outclassed his in-state rival.
After the game, Mangino left the emotion on the field. He was back in coach-mode. That's his way.
"We're bringing this program back to respectability," Mangino would say, matter-of-factly.
He's won 32 game during the last four years. No Kansas coach has ever done that. He'll take Kansas to its second-consecutive bowl game this year. No Kansas coach has ever done that.
So we'll have to live with the tiny scraps of emotion. Mark Mangino wins football games. That's his way.
Edited by Adam Mowder
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Tide ranks No.1 for the first time in 16 years
This week its about The Crimson Tide. They became the fifth team this season to sit atop the AP Top 25, moving up a spot Sunday after previously top-ranked Texas was toppled by Texas Tech.
NEW YORK -- Next up at No.
1, Alabama. And Kansas? Well,
they'll have to wait another week
to jump back into the AP Top 25.
The Red Raiders, who scored a touchdown with a second left at home to beat the Longhorns 39-33 Saturday night, jumped four spots and past No. 3 Penn State to No. 2. The unbeaten Nittany Lions were idle.
No.4 Florida moved up one place after its 49-10 rout of Georgia and Texas dropped four spots to No.5.
The Crimson Tide, which beat Arkansas State 35-0, received 46 of a possible 65 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,600 points. Texas Tech got 12 first-place votes and 1,528 points and Penn State had six and 1,525. The Gators received the other No. 1 vote.
The top spot in the poll hasn't been held by this many teams since 1990, when Miami, Notre Dame, Colorado, Michigan and Virginia all had a turn at No 1.
The Sooners were No. 1 for two weeks, then lost to Texas, which held the top spot for three weeks
Georgia started this season No. 1 and was replaced by Southern California after the opening week.
USC lasted four weeks before being upset by Oregon State and Oklahoma took the top spot.
The Crimson Tide hasn't been No.1 since finishing that way after the 1992 season, when coach Gene Stallings, quarterback Jay Barker and a ferocious defense won the last of the Tide's six AP national championships.
Alabama's first game as a No. 1 team since Oct., 27, 1980, will be Saturday at LSU, a date that was one of the most anticipated in the Southeastern Conference even before this season.
Now it's Alabama's turn.
Tide coach Nick Saban will be coaching in Baton Rouge, La., for the first time since he left the Tigers for the NLA after the 2004 season. Saban led LSU to a BCS national title in 2003.
lofty status, will face a stiff test immediately. Same goes for Texas Tech, which had never been ranked higher than No. 5.The Red Raiders host No.8 Oklahoma State on Saturday, then have a week off before a road trip to No.6 Oklahoma.
So the Tide, with its new
Penn State next plays at Iowa.
Seven ranked teams lost last weekend, most from the lower half of the rankings, so the back end of the Top 25 got a shake-up, too.
Southern California is No. 7, and the final two spots in the top 10 are held by potential BCS Busters -- No. 9 Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference and No. 10 Utah, which hosts Mountain West Conference rival and No. 11 TCU in a Thursday night game.
Associated Press
Rebekah Allen·Gena Burkett·Sara Goetz·Pamela Hodge·Angela McMillen·Jennifer Schmidt·Karlin Tracey·Katie Beale·Andrew Easton·Sarah Lenahan·Rachel Rumsey·Jeremy Wayne·Erin Fisher Kristin Ahlvin·Emily Foerschler·Michael Karlin·Joanna Kirby Marie Kohart Shawna Loomis·Ben Ryan·Carrie Warner·Andy Weber
What do these recent KU Graduates have in common?
They are making a difference in the lives of their students while learning and growing themselves in the Gardner Edgerton School District!
Gardner Edgerton
Trails to Success
To learn more about how you can join our Professional Team visit us at the November 5, KU Education Career Fair or check us out online at www.usd231.com