4B KANSAS 38, SAM HOUSTON STATE 14
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
FOOTBALL WRAP-UP
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
"This is college football. It's always unpredictable," Quigley said. "They played hard; give them credit for that. We didn't have any expectations coming out, but of course, we're not pleased with that."
Sam Houston State scored soon after to make it 14-7, but Reesing, as he has all season, put the team on his back with a play that will be talked about for days. The 5-foot-11 quarterback scrambled for 11 seconds, going from one side of the field all the way back to the other before launching a pass that traveled 60 yards in the air and fell into the hands of Dezmon Briscoe.
Briscoe walked into the end zone on the 57-yard completion for his fifth touchdown of the season, putting Kansas up 21-7 at the half and swinging all the momentum to the Jayhawk sideline.
Reeing threw for 356 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked on two different occasions for losses of at least 10 yards each. On several occasions, he flushed the pocket and attempted to run when it seemed as though he had plenty of time to look for an open receiver.
"He believes that somewhere, somebody told him that he needs to be the whole show"
Mangino said. "He doesn't. He has a good supporting cast here, and he's putting a lot of pressure on himself to make too many plays."
The Kansas offense racked up 528 yards including a season-high 161 yards on the ground. Crawford ran for 43 yards on 12 carries, and Sharp, who didn't receive his first carry until fewer than five minutes remained in the game, had 24 yards on five carries.
The holes seemed to be more glaring on defense, where the Jayhawk secondary allowed Bomar to rack up 340 yards through the air. It was a revolving door at the corner position as Barfield, Murphy and Corrigan Powell all struggled with the opportunity.
"We've got to be able to play some basic coverages with those young guys," Mangino said. "We've got to take a hard look at that position. We can't cut people loose. We can't get beat on a vertical every time somebody runs a vertical."
Since Kansas needs improvement at every position, the bye week seems to have come at the perfect time.
"We need it." Mangino said. "We need to work on fundamentals. It will be a good week for that. We will focus on getting better."
— Edited by Rachel Burchfield
football notes
RIVERA BENCHED
Team captain and senior linebacker Mike Rivera was benched to start the game and played only sparingly on Saturday. Junior Arist Wright started in place of Rivera and Dakota Lewis also saw time.
"We're not having consistency at the 'will' linebacker position," Mangino said. "So we made a change."
Mangino didn't say whether Rivera will be back in the starting lineup when conference play opens on Oct. 4 at Iowa State but did say he won't tolerate players who don't give 100 percent on each play.
"It itkes absolutely no talent to give effort," Mangino said. "You have to play hard every play here. We won't take anything less from any player."
MEIER LEADS NATION
Kerry Meier is now tied for the national lead in receptions with eight catches that went for 136 yards and a touchdown. On the season, Meier has 37 catches for 389 yards in just four games.
"When we throw the ball to Kerry, as soon as it's near him — it's caught," Mangino said. "You just know the ball is caught and you know that he's going to get some yards after the catch. He has had a major impact on our offense."
BYE WEEK
Kansas has an open date on the schedule this weekend before traveling to Iowa State in two weeks. The extra week of practice will allow Kansas to work on several things — most notably the pass rush, pass defense and running game.
"I'm not overly concerned or in panic mode or anything like that, but we've got to improve," Mangino said. "There's areas where we must improve in. We have made some changes to the lineup and shook some things up here and there and we will continue to do that until we get the right pieces to the puzzle."
NATIONAL CHAMPS HONORED
Brandon Rush, Darnell Jackson and Mario Chalmers were back in town to be honored after the first quarter with their former Jayhawk teammates for winning the 2008 men's basketball national championship.
Coach Bill Self said on the radio broadcast that Todd Reesing's escape and pass to Dezmon Briscoe late in the first half was "the play of the year so far in college football. He's the best scoring point guard in the league. He makes plays you can't coach."
The Jayhawks received their championship rings at a private ceremony on Friday night.
Kansas 38. Sam Houston State 14
-B.J. Rains
| | Kansas | Sam Houston State |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Total Yards | 528 | 385 |
| First Downs | 29 | 19 |
| Rushing Yards | 161 | 45 |
| Passing Yards | 367 | 340 |
| Time of Possession | 35:18 | 24:42 |
Ramsdas
Rushing ATT YDS AVG. TD
Angus Quigley 16 61 3.8 1
Jocques Crawford 12 43 3.6 1
Jake Sharp 5 24 4.8 0
Passing COMP/ATT YDS TD INT
Todd Reesing 23/38 356 2 0
Tyler Lawrence 1/1 11 0 0
Receiving No. YDS TD
Kerry Meier 8 136 1
Dezmon Briscoe 5 124 1
Raimond Pendleton 3 36 0
Raymond Brown 3 19 0
Rushing ATT YDS AVG. TD James Aston 7 33 4.7 0 Rhett Bomar 7 15 2.1 1 Passing COMP/ATT YDS TD INT Rhett Bomar 26/46 340 1 3 Receiving NO. YDS TD Justin Wells 8 111 1 Chris Lucas 6 56 0
Sam Houston State
FOOTBALL
Junior wide receiver Kerry Meier sprints through a gap in the Sam Houston defense as the Bearkats' Jury
Running game in need of help
Team rushed for 17 yards, passed for 356 yards
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Like a right-handed boxer purposely attacking as a southpaw, something was off about Kansas' offensive attack in the first quarter of its 38-14 victory over Sam Houston State.
The Jayhawks tried to jump start the running game — their left hand — by going to it time after time, and threw a pass — their right hand — only seven times in the first 15 minutes. First-time starter.
junior Angus Quigley performed well, carrying the ball eight times for 47 yards, but without its massive right fist Kansas failed to score in the first quarter.
Worse yet, Quigley fell silent in the second quarter. He gained just one yard on three carries.
"We came into this week with a big emphasis on trying to establish the run game because we've been lacking in that area," Quigley said. "In the second quarter they were stunting and stacking the box, but even if they do that, if we hand the ball we still need to be able to get positive yards."
Enter spark plug, junior quarterback Todd Reesing.
Relegated to a role more manager than fighter in the first quarter. Reesing decided enough was enough and accounted for three touchdowns before halftime.
The first was a one-yard dive that came as a result of junior safety Darrell Stuckey's interception. Three-and-a-half minutes
later, junior Kerry Meier proved he's more than just a possession receiver as Reesing hit him as he streaked up the middle for a 68-yard touchdown pass.
Both of those were nice plays, but 'Sparky' took full form with less than a minute to play before halftime.
Reeing took the snap and looked down field, then shifted toward the side sideline, side-steped a couple of defenders, rolled back towards the right, cocked his arm and finally uncorked a 57-yard bomb to sophomore Dezmion Briscoe, who strolled into the end zone. Sparky evaded Bearkat defenders for 11 seconds before firing his second touchdown pass of the game.
Kansas led 14-7 and faced a third and 25 from its own 43-yard line.
"I guess I just pulled a rabbit out of the hat there." Reesing said.
Reeing said plays like that can really damage the chances of a friendly relationship between a
quarterback and his now exhausted offensive line.
"They know when I'm back there, they never know what will happen." Reesing said. "They get a little upset about it sometimes, but they stayed with the play and Briscoe found a way to get open."
Reesing's play was No. 1 on SportsCenter's countdown of the top 10 plays of the day, and it effectively killed the previously upbeat Sam Houston State defenders.
Senior linebacker Nolan Bucek said his team did well in shutting down the run, but it couldn't contain Reesing's sandlot antics.
"We felt very confident but I saw some of the guys' heads go down after that play." Bucek said. "That was a pivotal point."
Coach Mark Mangino wasn't smiling after the first half. His running game had crumpled again and he said he doesn't like it when Reesing tries to put the entire team on his shoulders, as he did right before halftime.
"He flushed the pocket on several occasions tonight where there was protection," Mangino said. "I just want him to play quarterback. I don't want him to think that he has to do everything."
Before celebrating his 21st birthday Saturday night, Sparky delivered the final blow to every touchdown by thrusting a right uppercut into the air.
Reeing finished the game 23-for-38 passing for 356 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 12 times for 17 yards - not including sideline-to-sideline - and another score.
Mangino may not always like Reesing's idea of play-making, but with the rushing game still stuck in neutral and his secondary giving up 340 passing yards, he'll have to live with it for now.
"That's how I play." Reesing said. "I'm going to go out there and try to make a play every time."
Junior tail back Angus Quigley fights to break throw Houston State. Quigley rushed for 61 yards on 16 carries.
Weston White/KANSAN
Junior running back Jacques Crawford barely gets over the goal line during his third quarter touchdown run Saturday night against Sam Houston State. Crawford contributed 43 rushing yards and one touchdown. The Jayhawks won 38-14 and will face off against Iowa State on October, 4th.
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