4B TEXAS TECH 63, KANSAS 21
THE UNIVERSITY DAIRY KANSAN
MONDAY OCTOBER 27, 2008
FOOTBALL WRAPUP Kansas smas
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
possessions in the third quarter.
"Ive never had that happen to me in a lot of years of football." Reesing said. "Sometimes when things go bad, they can get real bad. You can't really sugarcoat it — we just don't play very well. We tell apart in the second half."
The Red Raiders, meanwhile, scored touchdowns on eight of nine possessions to start the game. Their only mishap came when they started a drive with just 31 seconds left before halftime and decided to run out the clock.
Quarterback Graham Harrell was 34-42 for 386 yards and five touchdowns and Michael Crabtree, the Red Raiders' All-American sophomore wide receiver, had nine receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns, despite playing with a slight limp.
"When you only get three stops the whole game and one of them included a missed field goal, it's frustrating," Thornton said. "We let things unravel and it turned into a blowout."
Not even wearing red jerseys for the first time in 2008 could help the Jayhawks avoid one of their biggest losses since Mangino took over in 2002. Kansas, which had been 6-0 when wearing red, had only 315 yards of total offense to Tech's 556.
The Red Raiders' 63 points were the most scored against Kansas since they lost at Texas 66-14 in 2005.
During the forgettable second and third quarters, Texas Tech had the ball for almost 25 of the 30 minutes played. Fans started leaving soon after halftime and the student section was almost empty by the time the game came to an end.
"It happens to everybody from time to time in college football," Mangino said. "You just get a day where the snowball starts rolling downhill, and it gets bigger and downhill and before you know it, you have no chance to stop it and it runs you over. That's what happened to us today."
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Edited by Adam Mowder
DEFENSIVE SWITCHES
Safety Justin Thornton and cornerback Chris Harris switched positions for Saturday's game. Thornton, who said he hadn't played cornerback since high school, was matched up several times with All-American Michael Crabtree, while Harris spent most of his time alongside Darrell Stuckey at safety.
"We had to do something," Mangino said. "We were really struggling at that position and Thornton has quick feet and hips and can play that position. Is that the ideal position for him? No, he's better at free (safety) but I think our choices were somewhat limited in that area."
Freshman Daymond Patterson appeared on defense for the first time, lining up at cornerback. Previously, Patterson had only returned punts and played sparingly as a wide receiver.
BOWL GAME UPDATE
With five victories, the Jayhawks remain one victory away from bowl eligibility. But a 6-16 record doesn't guarantee a bowl game, as evidenced by the Jayhawks 2006 season when they were not selected despite winning six games.
To ensure a bowl invitation, the Jayhawks need to win two of their last four games. With stiff tests remaining against Texas and Missouri, Saturday's matchup with instate rival Kansas State becomes almost a must-win game.
"We got our butts whooped today but the season's not over yet," said quarterback Todd Reesing. "We have a lot of football left to play and we have some chances to put ourselves in a position to win the north and get a good bowl game. We just have to bounce back and stay positive."
B. J. Rains
30. 2.1
Ion Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore receiver Dezmon Briscoe pulls down a catch while being pulled by a Texas Tech defender during Saturday's game. Briscoe led Kansas with eight catches. But his long was only 11 yards and all eight catches added up to just 55 yards.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell throws a pass during Saturday's game. Harrell connected on 34-of-42 of his passes, racking up 356 yards and five touchdowns.
DENT (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
bad it got:
—Kansas lost its Homecoming game by 42 points. It was the worst Homecoming loss ever, and the first time since November 22, 1941, that it lost by more than 30 points on Homecoming. That was three weeks and one day after Mount Rushmore was completed. John McCain was five years old. Yep. That long ago.
—Tech scored 49 unanswered points. Its 63 points were the most the Jayhawks had given up at home since 2002, when they gave up 64 to Kansas State.
-Eleven different Tech players caught passes.
— Reesing took five snaps in the third quarter. He threw a pick on three of them, all to the same player.
Thing is, it is not. Not to perennial top 25 programs, teams the Jayhawks are trying to emulate. For instance, Virginia Tech hasn't lost at home by 30 or more points in 11 years. During K-State's good run in the '90s, the Wildcats lost by more than 30 at home just once.
- "It happens to everybody from time to time in college football," coach Mark Mangino said.
Mangino said there was no sense of panic in the locker room after the game, more of a sense of disbelief. He told all of this to reporters, Lew Perkins and a man wearing a yellow blazer and fiery red tie. A patch on the left side of the man's gaudy suit featured a Fiesta Bowl emblem. He must've had the wrong press conference.
But wait. The patch also featured the Insight Bowl logo. That's more like it. Or is it?
It wasn't supposed to happen to Kansas. Not this year. The lajahawks were supposed to prove 2007 was a fluke and establish themselves as a worthy Top 25 team.
Kansas probably needs two victories to secure a spot in a bowl game. The team that played on Saturday will get smoked by Missouri and Texas, no questions asked. The Jayhawks will have to win two tough games, against rival K-State and at improving Nebraska, just to make a minor league bowl like the Insight.
Ouch. Waking up from the dream was supposed to hurt. But not this much.
— Edited by Rachel Burchfield
Junior running back Jocques Crawford dives into the end zone for the third of the Jayhawks' three touls
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
As he walked off of Kivisto
battlefield, Mike Leach drew his five-shooters and raised them into a victorious two-gun salute to the Texas Tech fans in the
Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree narrowly evades senior linebacker James Holt's tackle du
--ring Saturn
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