VOLLEYBALL BEATS SOONERS
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The team won three of the four sets despite several errors with the help of Savannah Noves. VOLLEYBALL | 7B
KA SAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008
PAGE 1B
OKLAHOMA 45, KANSAS 31
Hawks lose after hard-fought matchup
BY B.J. RAINS rains@kansan.com
NORMAN, Okla. — Jake Sharp had just rushed four times for 58 yards and scored on a 17-yard touchdown run to cut the Oklahoma lead to seven at 31-24.
It was early in the third quarter, the Kansas defense got a big stop, and it was time for Sharp and the offense to take the field with a chance to tie the game.
But when the Jayhawks' offensive unit trotted out to take its position, it was Jocques Crawford — not Sharp — who stood behind Todd Reesing at the tailback spot.
That meant Sharp, who ignited the Kansas comeback at Iowa State and appeared on his way to possibly do it again, was forced to the bench for Crawford.
Junior quarterback Todd Reesing fumbles the ball on a scramble during Saturday's game against Oklahoma at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla. The Sooners defeated the Jayhawks 45-31. Reesing completed 24-of-41 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions. The Oklahoma defense pressured Reesing all game, sacking him five times. Kansas' defense, on the other hand, put very little pressure on Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford and recorded no sacks.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
But despite being down by only one touchdown with still more than nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mangino and the coaching staff decided that they had to switch from the ground attack to the air.
"We needed a bigger body for pass protection," Mangino said. "We didn't have much of a choice. We were behind and had to throw the ball so we needed a bigger guy there to protect."
Reeing had passed for 258 yards at that point, but trailing just 31-24 with almost 25 minutes remaining in the game seemed like an odd time to give up on what just scored them a touchdown on the previous drive.
The layhawks punted on three-straight possessions before Sharp saw the field again and ended up punting on five-straight possessions following the touchdown. The Hawks eventually scored late in the game to make the final margin 45-31 in favor of the
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B
SOCCER
Hawks knock off No.6 Aggies
BY ANDREW WIEBE awiebe@kansan.com
Kansas needed something to kick-start its season.
When No. 6 Texas A&M's boisterous, towel-twirling bench inspired its crimson and blue counterparts to reply in like fashion, coach Mark Francis' team got the boost it desperately needed in its quest for the postseason.
"A&M always has a pretty rowdy bench," junior forward Shannon McCabe said. "They had a cheer that said 'We're going beat the hell out of Kansas' Things like that. Our bench out-yelling them kind
of settled them down and it got us excited on the field"
The end result was one of the biggest victories in the program's 13-year history.
with the home bench stoking the tie, Kansas (10-5-1, 3-3-1) rode a magnificent McCabe first-half goal to a record-setting 1-0 victory over Texas & M&M Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. The sixth-ranked Aggies represent the highest-ranked opponent any Jayhawk soccer squad has ever defeated.
McCabe scored the game's only goal in the 29th minute when junior midfielder
SEE SOCCER ON PAGE 8B
COMMENTARY
Big 12 North teams go south
So 2008 was supposed to be different. This was supposed to be the year the Big 12 North stood up to the big bad heavyweights from the South and said, "Enough." 2008 was the year Kansas backed up its historic 2007 and Missouri cemented itself on the national stage.
An hour after Sam Bradford finished knifing through Kansas' defense, Texas began its Missouri [tail] kicking, and the Big 12 North was left wounded and humiliated.
Kansas meet Missouri. Missouri meet Kansas. Brothers in blowouts. Rivals in routs.
Oops.
Kansas was gashed. Missouri thrashed, and the North's reputation trashed.
Of course, Big 12 division dominance has run in cycles. Buoyed by national power Nebraska and plucky Kansas State, the North reigned during the Big 12's initial seasons. In three of the Big 12's first four seasons, the North finished the season with the conference's top two teams in the final Associated Press poll.
Get all that?
But then Bob Stoops rebuilt the Sooners, and Mack Brown landed with the Longhorns, and the Big 12 South began to rise again.
The South had Varsity programs and the North fielded freshman "B" teams. And it was ugly. Real ugly.
And it didn't help that the Nebraska program was in shambles and Bill Snyder left K-State to rot in mediocrity.
In 2004, led by Oklahoma and Texas, the South finished 15-3 against the North. In 2006, the South won 13 and lost just five.
But then 2007 provided hope for the weary men of the North. Armed with little gutsy quarterbacks, Kansas and Missouri led a Northern gridiron renais
SEE DODD ON PAGE 7B
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