4B
KANSAS 41,IOWA STATE 36
Kansas
6 | 14 | 7 | 14 - 41
THE UNIVERSITY HARRY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2009
Iowa State
6 | 6 | 18 | 6—36
Jayhawk Stat Leaders
Rushing
Toben Opurum 98 yds
Passing
Todd Reesing 442 yds
Receiving
Dezmon Briscoe
186 yds
Kansas Passing
Player C/ATT Yards Avg TD Int
Todd Reeing 37/49 442 9.0 4 1
Totals 37/49 442 9.0 4 1
Iowa State Passing
| | C/ATT | Yards | Avg | TD | Int |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Team | 25/40 | 293 | 7.3 | 2 | 0 |
Kansas Rushing
Player CAR Yards Avg TD Lg
Toben Opurum 24 98 4.1 1 12
Todd Reesing 5 12 2.4 1 8
**Totals** **31** **109** **3.5** **2** **12**
Iowa State Rushing
| | CAR | Yards | Avg | TD | LG |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Team | 43 | 219 | 5.1 | 3 | 22 |
Kansas Receiving
| Player | REC | Yards | Avg | TD | Lg |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Dezmon Briscoe | 12 | 186 | 15.5 | 2 | 46 |
| Kerry Meier | 16 | 142 | 8.9 | 2 | 21 |
| Tim Biere | 3 | 53 | 17.7 | 0 | 19 |
| Johnathan Wilson | 2 | 26 | 13.0 | 0 | 19 |
| Bradley McDougald | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Toben Opurum | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 10 |
| Totals | 37 | 442 | 11.9 | 4 | 46 |
Iowa State Receiving
| | REC | Yards | Avg | TD | Lg |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Team | 23 | 293 | 11.7 | 2 | 54 |
Kansas Kick Returns
Player No. Yards Avg TD Bradley McDougald 4 79 19.8 0 Dezmon Briscoe 3 47 15.7 0 Team 7 126 18.0 0
Iowa State Kick Returns
No Yards Avg Lg Team 7 138 19.7 28
Kansas Punt Returns
Player NO YDS AVG LG
Team 0 0 0 0
Iowa State Punt Returns
NO Yards Avg Lg Team 1 12 12.0 12
Kansas Kicking
Player FG PCT XP PTS
Jacob Branstetter 0/0 0.0 5/6 5
Team 0/0 0.0 5/6 5
Iowa State Kicking
FG PCT Long XP Pts
Team 1/1 100.0 0 1/3 4
Kansas Punting
Player TOT YDS TB -20 LG
Alonso Rojas 4 137 0 1 51
Team 4 137 0 1 51
Iowa State Punting
Team Tot Yards TB -20 LG 3 125 1 0 61
KANSAS FOOT
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Senior wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe celebrates a touchdown catch with a teammate. Briscoe caught 12 passes for a team-high 186 receiving yards to go along with two touchdowns.
like that."
Thornton, speaking from a frustrated heart, nailed the defense's current situation.
The weather was cold and windy and usually those winterish conditions tend to tilt the scale in favor of the defenses. Not Saturday, when neither the dropping temperatures nor gusts of wind could help Kansas' defense stop Iowa State's attack.
State outscored Kansas 18-7 in the third quarter, wrestling the lead away on multiple occasions.
The Cyclones opened the game with a touchdown and continued scoring even after the Jayhawks seemed to grab hold of the game with a 20-12 halftime lead. Iowa
"To play defense here the way we always talk about it is you can't be successful here without that good.
Mangino made it clear that he wasn't tossing the defense under the bus, but he also never attempted to downplay the disappointing nature of Kansas' performance.
"I really believe that maybe as a coach I need to get things simplified a little bit," Mangino said. "We may just have a little too much. My philosophy has always been I'd rather have less and be good fundamentally than have more and just be ragged fundamentally.
"Even the best fundamental teachers sometimes get caught up in the scheme business because it really looks good on the board. And I have to understand that what's great on the board may not be great for our players."
tough mental edge," coach Mark Mangino said. "I think some kids on the defense have it, but not all of them do. And I think some of them were exposed today. I knew in April they were going to be exposed — you all found out today."
Shortly after the game, Mangino addressed the issues surrounding Kansas' defense, and his analysis placed blame onto his own shoulders.
Whatever the case, Kansas easily played its worst defensive game of the season.
"I really believe that maybe as a coach I need to get things simplified a little bit."
The Jayhawks missed tackles, routinely allowed open receivers down the field and took a beating from Iowa State's running attack. Plus, Mangino and his players said many mistakes were simply fundamental, such as missed assignments
ch as missed assignments
MARK MANGINO Kansas coach
--and improper alignments.
"Regardless of what it is, you can't let that happen." Thornton said. "Even if you haven't seen it before, you have to be able to adjust on the go and get things taken care of during the game. There's no excuse for letting them do what they did to us."
For a unit attempting to shed a label of liability that carried over from last season's defense, Saturday's game marked a giant step backward.
Added sophomore cornerback Ryan Murphy: "We weren't seltine
off blocks. We weren't making tackles. We really just weren't making plays."
And, surprisingly,
the game literally was
decided in the final
minutes.
With Iowa State facing fourth and nine from Kansas' 31-yard line, the Jayhawks
Weston White/KANSA
blitzed, leaving their defensive backs in man coverage.
Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud scrambled away from defenders, lobbing a deep pass down the middle of the field that fell a few feet beyond the outstretched arms of a wide-open Darius Darks.
Sophomore nickel back ryan Murphy breaks up a pass along the sideline during the first half against Iowa State. Murphy had four tackles and a sack in the Jayhawks 41-36 victory against the Cyclones.
"When he launched that ball in the air and you take a peek and see the guy running wide open in the end zone, your heart definitely drops," Thornton said. "Just a few yards and we could have easily been sitting here disappointed."
Still, the unanimous consensus from Kansas' defense revolved around a simple theme.
"Somebody not long ago asked me about this' team compared to the 2007 team," Mangino said. "On
Sure, the Jayhawks were pleased to escape an early-season scare. But the unit revealed new holes and uncertainties that must be fixed.
offense, it's a fair comparison. But told you that you couldn't make a complete comparison because we had to mature in some areas. And obviously you see where we need to mature."
- Edited by Amanda Thompso
DII