Sports
The University Daily Kansan
Six photographs illustrate Kansas' awesome victory from Saturday's game against the Missouri Tigers. PAGE 4B
1B
Monday, September 29, 2003
Kansas 35 - Missouri 14
Kansas senior quarterback Bill Whittemore splits the Missouri defensive line for the second of his two rushing touchdowns Saturday. Whittemore completed 14 of 22 passes for 111 yards in the Jayhawks' 35-14 victory against the Tigers
Kansas takes Border War lead
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
Eleven months ago, the Kansas football team endured a nightmarish afternoon in Columbia, Mo. Hollywood screenwriters couldn't have written a more perfect revenge plot than Saturday's 35-14 domination of the rival Tigers in front of a capacity crowd.
Not only did the drove of students add another memorable goalpost to the now famous Potter Lake collection, but second-year Kansas coach Mark Mangino brought a new tradition to Kansas.
Following a game which saw the Jayhawks score 22 unanswered points to stage one of the school's biggest upsets in recent memory, Mangino had his players emerge from the locker room and get a team photo in front of the scoreboard while singing the school fight song.
This is something Mangino said his teams at Oklahoma used to do after big victories, and he now plans on adding the memento to the collection hanging in
his basement.
Just as unforgettable as the post-game pandemonium was the action that took place for 60 minutes on the field in front of a sellout crowd of 50,071.
On a day perfect for football, with comfortable temperatures and hardly a cloud in the sky, Memorial Stadium's surrounding area saw an atmosphere unlike any other. Students camped in front of the entrance Friday night and plumes of barbecue smoke filled the air over the parking lots. More importantly, Kansas and Missouri dueled in a game for the ages. The Border War's 112th meeting will be one to remember.
After freshman receiver Charles Gordon dazzled the crowd with a 61-yard punt return early in the first quarter, senior quarterback Bill Whittemore started the scoring with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
Whittemore, who went down with a season-ending knee injury in last year's 36-12 debacle in Columbia, impressed his coaches by managing the game well. What got their attention even earlier was his demeanor before the game.
"He never once, all week, said this was a big game for him personally, or that he wanted to beat them because of an unfortunate accident that he had last year," Mangino said. "I looked in his eyes before the opening kick, and they told a story."
After a botched extra point from Johnny Beck, the Jayhawks led 6-0, but relinquished the lead when Missouri's all-world talent, quarterback Brad Snith, led an impressive 11-play drive that ended in the sophomore scoring on a four-yard touchdown run.
Both the Jayhawks and Tigers, whose offenses ranked among the best in Division I-A entering the game, were silenced by mistakes. Along with personal foul penalties on both sides that resulted from the game's elevated emotion, fundamentals on offense haunted Kansas. The biggest was one by freshman receiver Moderick Johnson, who after separating himself by 20 yards from the defense early in the second quarter, dropped a wide-open pass from Whittimore in the end zone.
The biggest turning points in this game came in the late second and third quarters.
The Jayhawks' final drive of the first half blended both the run and air assault, keeping the Tigers defense on its toes. Johnson redeemed himself with a huge nine-yard snag on a fourth-and-five play, and sophomore tailback Clark Green scored the first of his two touchdowns on a four-yard scamper just five plays later to put the Jayhawks up 13-7.
Kansas took the lead into the half having established a solid offensive presence, but drove home the point in the third quarter.
After Smith found receiver Darius Outlaw for a nine-yard score to open up the second half, Kansas took over.
Trailing 14-13, Kansas constructed a 14-play, 72-yard drive to march down the field and drain some of the game clock in the process.
With 11 plays on the march coming on the ground, it was fitting that Green added the exclamation point by dragging Missouri defenders across the goal line for his second score. A two-point conversion toss from Whittimore to senior tight end Denver Lattimore put Kansas up by
"He never once, all week, said this was a big game for him personally, or that he wanted to beat them because of an unfortunate accident that he had last year. I looked in his eyes before the opening kick, and they told a story."
Mark Mangino
Football coach, on Bill Whittemore
seven — a lead they would never let go of.
"It kept them on their toes, we were wearing them down," Green said. "I mean a 14-play drive and 11 of them running, oh my God. I didn't even know we had that long of a drive."
SEE BORDER WAR ON PAGE 3B
Mangino deserves acclaim for big victory
It was a cold December night in 2001 when the man who is now Kansas' football coach walked into Allen Fieldhouse.
ball coach wanked into the sideline as he made his way down the sideline toward his seat, the 16,300 fans there to watch the Kansas basketball team take on Wake Forest rose to their feet and cheered wildly. The ovation was even louder at halftime when Mark Mangino was officially introduced as the man who would lay the jayhawks onto the gridiron.
The speech Mangino gave was filled with the same clichés and rhetoric heard anytime a coach is hired, with one notable exception. Mangino said the next time Kansas fans cheered that loudly for him, he wanted to have done something to earn it.
Now he has.
A year ago, no one could have predicted Kansas would not pitch a victory as big as the one over No. 23 Missouri Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Remember, this was a队 that won only twice last year; an unimpressive victory over Southwest Missouri State, a Division 1-A team, and a squeaker versus Tulsa, the worst team in Division 1-A. For the Jayhawks to thoroughly smack around a ranked opponent, even an overrated one like the Tigers, is unfathomable, surprising even the team's biggest supporter.
sports commentary
"I've absolutely been amazed how far he's brought this football team," said former Kansas player and coach Don Fam-
Shane Mettlen smettilen@kansan.com
brough, who Mangino has called unconditionally loyal to the program. "I told him at the start of two-a-days, 'Coach, there is no resemblance between this team and the one you had a year ago.' I never thought we'd be this far this soon."
The victory itself isn't even the biggest shocker. It's the way it happened. The Jayhawks suffered kicking problems, penalties, and a dropped pass on an otherwise sure touchdown, yet kept their composure and dominated every other aspect of the game. And they did it in front of 50,071 people who screamed, jumped around, and waved the wheat all game long.
At last, Kansas put together the necessary components for a big-time college football atmosphere; a fierce rivalry, a ranked opponent, pumped up fans and a gorgeous campus setting. The only thing missing was the ESPN Gameday crew with Lee Corso in a goofy hat.
Mangino is the man to thank for all that
Not only has he put a competitive team on the field quicker than anyone could have imagined, but he's also created more enthusiasm about the program than most Kansas fans have seen in their lifetimes.
Kansas now has a legitimate shot at receiving a bid for a bowl game. The team only needs two more victories to be eligible. That is a monumental accomplishment for a team that was at the bottom of the football world only a year ago.
So if you see Mark Mangino around town this week, go ahead and give him a hand. He's earned it.
Mettlen is a Lucas senior in journalism and sports editor.
Texas Tech 49
Mississippi 45