4B
KU 40, FIU 10
THE UNIVERSITY CHARY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
Sophomore defensive end Jake Laptad brings down FIU quarterback McCall for a sack Saturday. Laptad recorded three tacks and two tacks in the game.
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
All three touchdowns went to sophomore Dezmon Briscoe, who had nine catches for 55 yards on the night. It was the second time in his brief Kansas career that he scored three touchdowns in a single game, matching the three he had in last year's 76-39 thrashing of Nebraska.
"That is what Briscoe can bring to the table for us," Reesing said. "He is a tremendous athlete, and he has a great feel for going up and catching the ball. He's got a feel for how to get open."
While the Kansas passing game excelled, the running game struggled. An ankle injury limited junior Jocques Crawford to 32 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, and junior Jake Sharp had only 29 yards on nine carries. Angus Quigley, who came in during the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach, ended up leading the team in rushing with 47 yards on six carries. He was stopped one yard short of scoring a touchdown on the last
play of the game.
The Jayhawks' defense allowedFIU's offense to accumulate only139 yards. FIU's leading rusher,Amod Ned, had only 43 yardsrushing on12 carries, and FIU had only66 yards rushing on26 carries.
FIU quarterback Paul McCall completed only 10 of 28 passes for 73 yards and was sacked three times. The Jayhawks' defense allowed FIU to complete only two of 14 third-down conversions.
"We were put in some situations in the red zone, and we held them on some fourth downs," linebacker Mike Rivera said. "That's a good sight to see. We had our backs against the wall, and we rose to the occasion a few times. That's a good thing to see in these early games. We gave up a field goal that we really didn't want to but we will learn from that and make it better next week."
— Edited by Andy Greenhaw
Freshman wide receiver Daymond Patterson (28) celebrates with teammates after returning a punt 75 yards for a touchdown during the second quarter of Saturday's game. Kansas defeated FIU 40-19.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore punter Alonso Rojas celebrates after connecting on a 47-yard field goal Saturday. Rojas hit both of his field goal attempts in the name.
MONTEMAYOR (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
his 18-yarder to Sharp. Warriner insisted Kansas wanted to run more but it just didn't work out that way when FIU started blitzing and putting more defenders in the box — pretty much what any team does to combat the run.
The problem was the FIU defense isn't exactly a world beater. Eight of FIU's defensive starters returned from a unit that ranked 105th against the run in 2007. FIU gave up an average of 203.8 rushing yards per game last season and more than five yards-per carry. The Jayhawks' rushing for Saturday: 36 carries for 128 yards — an average of 3.6 yards-per carry.
Even those numbers are skewed
a bit. Third stringer Angus Quigley actually led the team in rushing, mopping up the FIU defense for 71 yards in nine carries in garbage time. His 7.8 average could have been supplemented by a score if he had not been tackled at the one-yard line to close the game.
If Crawford's injury is worse than he or his coaches let on, Quigley should be the interim bruiser while Sharp runs finesse plays and catches passes.
Either way, Kansas running backs are going to have to be implemented more in future contests or this season may take a turn for the worse. Reesing may be one of the best quarterbacks to wear crimson and blue
Since last season's opener, on only two occasions have Kansas running backs had less yards than they did Saturday: the Nov. 24 loss to Missouri (42 rushing yards) and their Jan. 3 Orange Bowl victory against Virginia Tech.
but the competition he will face this year has had more than 12 months to study and prepare to make life a little harder on him.
They're two polar-opposite games, but there's no Ajib Talib to run back any picks this year so should Kansas fail to establish its one-three punch, I'm banking on tough times ahead.
Edited by Andy Greenhaw
Senior linebacker James Holt flies through the hole to stop FIU running back A'mod Ned during the second half of the game Saturday. Holt record
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