4B
KANSAS 30,COLORADO 34
Kansas
3 | 7 | 13 | 7 — 30
Colorado
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2009
0
24|3|7-34
Jayhawk Stat Leaders
Rushing
Passing
Receiving
KANSAS FOOT
Junior wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe pulls in a 25-yard pass from senior quarterback Todd Reesing to pull ahead 30-27. Briscoe had eight catches for 154 yards and a touchdown in Kansas' 34-30 loss.
Senior linebacker Arist Wright forces a fumble on Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen before being recovered by sophomore nickel back Ryan Murphy. The Jayhawks recovered two fumbles against the Buffaloes, converting both for field goals.
Weston White/KANSAN
Notes
Jake Sharp stages return to Kansas' starting lineup
Kansas coach Mark Mangino spent the last three weeks answering questions about when, exactly, senior running back Jake Sharp would return. That won't happen anymore.
In his first game since suffering an undisclosed injury in the week leading up to Kansas' game against Duke on Sept. 19, Sharp carried the ball 13 times for 29 yards. He averaged just 2.2 yards per carry and his longest run was for five yards.
"I didn't think Jake had a lot of running room today," Mangino said. "I think their line stunts and things gave us a lot of trouble. Jake's pretty healthy, though, and that's a good thing. But I don't think we gave him
Mangino said Colorado's defensive line — and Kansas' offensive line — had a lot to do with those less-than-impressive numbers.
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
versial offensive pass interference call. Cutting in front of Meier, Wilson appeared to free up his fellow receiver with a "pick" on a Colorado defender.
"That's a routine play," coach Mark Mangino said before trailing off. "No comment."
Reesing was a bit more direct.
"I'm still trying to figure out that pass-interference call," he said. "I don't know what that's about."
Facing a team that entered Saturday 1-4 — including a 54-38 loss to Toledo earlier this season — Kansas allowed Colorado to hang around early.
Only the twist in this week's game was rather unexpected: Kansas' offense — yes, the offense — struggled for much of the first half. The defense, in turn, played solidly, although the unit failed to dominate at any point.
In front of a verbally raucous crowd, Kansas' slow start for the second consecutive week only poured fuel on the fire for the 50,000-plus fans hoping to witness an unset.
Kansas scored the game's first three points before Colorado rattled off 24 points in the second quarter.
"We dug a hole for ourselves," Mangino said. "We can't blame anybody but ourselves."
After the game, still wearing his uniform pants and tight-fit under-shirt, Reesing heaped a portion of the blame onto his own plate.
Twice in the first half, Reesing turned the ball over (one fumble, one interception), allowing the Buffaloes to start drives at the
Jayhawks' three-yard line each time. It certainly didn't help a defense playing by the bend-but-dont-break theory.
"I turned the ball over twice and gave them 14 easy points." Reesing said. "We can't spot a team 14 points on the road."
Added Briscoe: "The defense came to play but the offense didn't. The offense put the defense in a tough position."
The Jayhawks actually grabbed a 30-27 lead early in the fourth quarter on a touchdown
Yet in what many have come to expect, Kansas rallied.
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pass from Reesing to Briscoe, who described the comeback attempt as "one of the gutsiest efforts of a team I've ever played on."
He also acknowledged that it was the most dappointing loss that hed been a part of in his three years at Kansas.
"Around here we have the
24-hour rule," Briscoe said. "If we win, we celebrate for 24 hours and then we prepare for the next team. Unfortunately we lost so we have to treat it like a hangover: 24 hours and let it go. We can't sit back and be like, 'Oh, we lost to Colorado because we have Oklahoma right in front of us.'"
On a day when Big 12 North front runners Missouri and Nebraska were defeated with relative ease by South opponents, Kansas could have taken a small step forward in the race to the Big 12 championship game.
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