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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9,2009
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FALLING FLAT
PAGE 1B
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Senior quarterback Todd Reesing scramble for a 16-yard run before fumbling the ball on the 24-yard line. Reesing had one other fumble and an interception in Kansas' 17-10 loss to Kansas State.
What's the matter with Kansas?
The Jayhawks struggled in Manhattan and failed to recapture a season that began with high aspirations
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
MANHATTAN — Ten minutes before the game, a Kansas State fan jogged to the middle of the field wearing a No. 5 Kansas jersey and a Jayhawk beak resting on top of his head.
In the most basic form of
The jarring hit only foreshadowed the upcoming game, serving the same role as the increasingly haunting music in horror movies just before the killer pops on the screen.
As part of a pregame skit, he stood, raised his arms and was viciously flung to the turf by a blindside hit from Willie the Wildcat — Kansas State's half-cat, half-football player of a mascot.
description, Kansas was repeatedly thumped by Kansas State Saturday
— both by the Wildcats' aggressive defense and by their grind-it-out running game.
The Jayhawks couldn't stop the run, couldn't finish offensive drives and couldn't take care of the ball. And because of that, they left Manhattan stunned by a 17-10 loss.
"It's very frustrating right now," senior wide receiver Kerry Meier said.
The Jayhawks shared the same sentiments when looking back on the day's performance.
"We didn't come in here expecting things to turn out this way," junior offensive lineman Brad Thorson said.
"I felt like we beat ourselves."
Check out a photo gallery from the K-State game at Kansan.com.
@KANSAN.COM
junior cornerback Chris Harris said.
Kansas State scored first with a field goal; Kansas answered with a touchdown. The Wildcats
In a game with plenty of implications extending beyond a simple rivalry — in a Sunflower Showdown that featured two teams seething to silence the mouths of critics and doubters — a close contest unfolded inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
churned out yards on the ground; the Jayhawks decided to throw. And so on.
In doing so, Kansas State settled into the driver's seat in the Big 12 North race. Kansas, meanwhile, witnessed its chance of capturing the North all but disappear.
Yet the most telling and drastic variation between the two teams was simple: Kansas State committed fewer mistakes than Kansas.
"The turnovers, the penalties, a couple little things here and there, it doomed us," coach Mark Mangino said. "We have to face facts: They played smart football today and we did not."
Kansas had three turnovers while junior kicker Jacob Branstetter missed two costly field goals.
And in a continuously alarming trend, senior quarterback Todd Reeing accounted for all three miscues.
Reeing has always played his best when he has something to prove. He has ridden the role of underdog to an Orange Bowl victory and to the top of Kansas' record books.
And after a tumultuous three-game stretch dating back to Kansas' game against Colorado Oct. 17, Reesing certainly entered Saturday's game with plenty to prove.
Instead, Reesing continued to digress and his mistakes continued to hurt.
Reesing coughed the ball up.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 5B
COLUMN
Repeat of'90s losses and all
If you're in college right now, you likely spent your formative years in the '90s. You remember Pokémon, the Backstreet Boys, and those T-shirts that featured Bugs Bunny and Taz wearing baggy clothes and hats turned backwards. You, like me, probably think those things should remain where they were born — in the '90s. But more than boy bands or any other vestige of that decade, the specter I most wanted to stay in the past was that of Sunflower Showdown football.
Beginning in 1993, the word "showdown" became little more than a courtesy title — massacre would have been more appropriate. With coach and Central Kansas deity Bill Snyder at the helm, Kansas State trounced the Jayhawks repeatedly. Even the changing of the millennium didn't stop the trend; the Wildcats kept partying (and dominating) like it was 1999. Finally, in 2004, a former Snyder assistant named Mark Mangino ended the streak. Kansas State did win the following year, and when Snyder retired in 2005, he had a record of winning 13 of 14 against Kansas. Then began the Ron Prince era. For Kansas fans, it was a brief but glorious time that never having to say "just wait until basketball season" to the neighbors to the west
Dissatisfied with its football fortunes under Prince, K-State sought out Snyder to rescurve the program once more. At the time, observers quickly deemed the move foolish. There seemed to be no chance that Snyder could return the Wildcats to their '90s status as a top-10 program. It seemed more likely that Snyder would struggle mightily and
WOMEN'S BASKETBALI
SEE COLUMN ON PAGE 5B
Jayhawks battle it out in the trenches
Both Boogaard and Sutherland earned double-doubles
BY MAX ROTHMAN mrothman@kansan.com
Clumped with bodies both black and gold and crimson and blue, the paint was mobbed with action Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.
After a quiet opener last week against Pittsburg State, junior center Krysten Boogaard arrived with a storm, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The lofty center exhibited with potentially dominant influence that she can play for a team in need of a multi-dimensional threat.
Kansas defeated an injurydepleted Emporia State 85-48, leaving the overtime drama of the last time these teams met in the past.
Senior guard Sade Morris defends Emporia State guard Cassandra Boston during the first half of Kansas' exhibition game Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jahyhaws won their final exhibition game of the season against Emporia State. 85-48
"Like Aishah set the tone on the offensive boards last week, I thought she did it for us this week," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
expectations, Kansas' true dominance lived down low. Boogaard and sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, were authoritative in the paint, setting high picks for their guards and then rolling down low for easy layups and other high percentage shots.
While $^{12}$ senior guard-forward Danielle McCray's shooting met
It was a perpetually busy scene down on the blocks, but advantages in skill and size overcame the effects of the crowded lanes. Kansas' backcourt towered over anyone Emporia State threw its way. Boogaard, 6-foot-5, stood three inches taller than any Hornets player. Sutherland, 6-foot-2, was constantly matched a forward four inches shorter. As a result, both players had their way, finishing with a double-double of points and rebounds.
"I thought it was important to go inside early and often," Henrickson said.
Boogaard was able to reach the high goals she set for herself, which proved too much for Emporia State.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
"She's been working hard in practice to get that low post
Over a 23-second sample late in the first half, Boogaard highlighted her capabilities. After a bounced entry pass, she turned her right shoulder into the defender and laid it in with her left hand. On the very next play on the other end, she blocked a shot attempt, immediately turned into a sprint, ran the length of the floor and was delivered an easy layup by an assist from freshman guard Anuel Goodrich.
See more women's basketball coverage on 3B.
"The bigs just got to be ready for her?" McCray said of Goodrich.
Early in the second half, after helping defend and eventually stop senior guard Cassandra Boston mid-drive, Boogaard gathered a pass, waited for defenders to congregate and then found senior guard Sade Morris wide open in the corner. Morris nailed the shot and the fieldhouse erupted.
presence," McCray said
"If you play well in the paint
right away, it sucks up the perimeter defense and then you can kick it out to the wings," Boogaard said.
Emporia State struggled to find a groove, shooting only 29 percent in the first half. Boston knocked down some well-guarded three pointers, but the team's only easy points came when deceiving Kansas down low, drawing fouls
"When you let a team like that get in a rhythm offensively, they can make shots," Henrickson said.
and creating closer shots.
Despite defensive errors here and there, all the starters were gone with seven minutes left to play. That's a comfort level that will make any coach breathe a little easier.
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"That's what this time of the year is for." Henrickson said. "But this time of the year is over now. Now it's for real."
Follow Max Rothman at twiter.com/maxrothman.
Edited by Amanda Thompson