KANSAN
8,2008
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8.2008
5B
KANSAS 29, LOUISIANA TECH 0
RAP-UP
on Briscoe.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Shutout against all odds
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
Sophomore defensive tackle Jamal Greene tries to stiff-arm away a tackle by Louisiana Tech quarterback Bennett during the third quarter of Saturday's game. Greene picked up a fumble and started rumbling for the end zone, but the play was reviewed and overtumed.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Louisiana Tech wide receiver Phillip Livas took the end-around at his own 20-yard line and found a gaping hole on the left side of the Kansas defensive line.
With his team trailing 20-0 in the third quarter, Livas broke for daylight, sprinting down the left side of the field without a single Kansas defender between him and a sure touchdown.
Darrell Stuckey didn't see it that way.
The junior safety was on the opposite side of the field. Livas was already past him at full speed and at that point a touchdown wouldn't have damaged Kansas' stranglehold on the game.
He hoped there was enough yardage between Livas and the end zone for him to catch up. He hoped that he could channel the 4.4 speed that he displayed in off-season workouts.
None of that mattered to Stuckey, who put his head down and sprinted at an angle.
Stuckey hoped that he could make a touchdown-saving tackle, that he could be the hero and help his team preserve its shutout — something the entire unit so desperately wanted.
"That play, it was amazing," said Stuckey. "I thank God that he really used me to speed up and never give up."
Stuckey caught Livas and wrestled him down at the two-yard line, but that's not where it ended. On first and goal, Stuckey sprinted to the ball and planted running back Patrick Jackson four yards behind the line of scrimmage.
The Jayhawks took over and marched down the field, adding a field goal to their already bountiful lead.
On third down, Stuckey pressured quarterback Taylor Bennett and forced an incompletion. Bulldog kicker Brad Oestriecher, who hit a 60-yard before the game, came in on fourth down and dinked his 23-yard attempt off the right goal post.
Coach Mark Mangino pointed to Stuckey's hustle play as an example of how to play defense.
"The gutsiest play in the game of football is when a player is out in the open running for a touchdown, and you're the only guy who can make the play." Mangino said. "You have everything going against you, yet you go down and make the play.
"The whole complexion of the game is completely changed in our favor because Darrell Stuckey chose to hustle."
Senior captain Joe Mortensen echoed Mangino's take on the play.
"That was the momentm-chang er in the game and it's a good hallmark play of our defense," he said.
Stuckey laughed at a reporter's assessment of Livas as "pretty fast."
"I don't know if 'pretty' is the word. He was very fast," he said.
The play that seemed impossible when he sprinted after the high school sprinter became real when Livas looked back and realized he could be caught.
It was just one example of the Jayhawk defense giving up a big play — Livas gained 78 yards on the run — but stopping the Bulldogs when it mattered most. There's a popular term to describe such a defense, but don't tell that to Mangino.
"I don't go for that 'bend and don't break' stuff. That's ridiculous," he said. "If your defense is bending, it's going to shatter someday, and that's not how we play here."
Kansas' defense held on for the shutout, the second of the Mangino-era. It's the only Big 12 team this season that hasn't surrendered an offensive touchdown.
Still, not everything went according to plan for the Jayhawk defense.
Stuckey the roommate, senior corner back Kendrick Harper, had to
be carted off the sideline with an undisclosed injury. Mangino said his replacement, freshman Isiah Barfield, suffered through some mental lapses but eventually settled into the role.
The defense also allowen Louisiana Tech to march down the field on a 22-play, 82-yard drive before Chris Harris intercepted a pass in the end zone. Harris caught the ball after Stuckey stuck his hand in the way of the pass and tipped the ball away.
Stuckey's overall game was stellar. He helped with the interception and led the team with 10 tackles. Finally, of course, there was that one play.
It's hard to put any more emphasis on Stuckey's third quarter hustle play than Mangino did in crediting it as complexion -hanging, but Stuckey gave it a shot.
However, even with an allimportant and persona-defining play, there's room for improvement.
"IIf I wasn't so tired," Stuckey said, "I think I would have tried to make him fumble."
—Edited by Adam Mowder
Sophomore corner back Chris Harris smiles on his way back to the sideline after picking off a Louisiana Tech pass in the end zone. The turnover ended the Bulldogs' best scoring chance of the night.
on Goering/KANSAN
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VIEW FROM THE PRESSBOX
IT WAS OVER WHEN...
Dezmon Briscoe caught a five-yard pass and broke six tackles to turn it into a 48-yard touchdown. During the replay on the big screen, Jayhawk fans brave enough to stick through the drizzling weather counted each one of Briscoe's victims. Briscoe finished the night with seven catches for a career-high 146 yards and that one score. The touchdown put Kansas up 20-0 with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.
PLAYER TO REMEMBER
Daymond Patterson. In his first start at wide receiver, the freshman
COACHES CORNER
PLAYER TO FORGET
"I don't go for that 'bend and don't break' stuff. That's ridiculous.
Louisiana Tech's Patrick Jackson. Kansas' defense completely shut down the running back, allowing only 19 yards on 13 carries. Jackson, a dual threat as a runner and catcher, accumulated only 31 all-purpose yards all night.
electrified Memorial Stadium even more than he did with last week's 75-yard punt return touchdown. Patterson caught eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. The first one was a three-yard lob to the back corner from Reesing in the second quarter, and the second was a five-yard crossing route in the third quarter that Patterson turned into a 39-yard score. The Bulldog defense gave him a crease and Patterson streaked through it, leaving a trail of smoke behind him.
I hear that all the time, people saying, 'Well this team's defense bends and doesn't break.' If your defense is bending, it's going to shatter someday, and that's not how we play here. We play good, hard defense and try to keep people out of the end zone."
Coach Mang Mark Hangino on the defense stopping the Bullsdog after surrease big plays
"I'll tell you what: I've got the worst seat in the house. I'm trying to wade through bodies chasing him. I can hear the coaches upstairs saying, 'He's still on his feet, he's still on his feet, he's still on his feet! It's a touchdown!' I could hardly see. He is weaving in and out of people and they're blocking my vision so I couldn't tell. I'm glad he was in the end zone, though."
- Coach Mangine on trying to watch Deen Briscoe's 48-yard touchdown reception
Taylor Bern