FOOTBALL
KU
SECTION B
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1996
COLORADO
20
KANSAS
7
GAME NOTES
Maurice Gaddie started Saturday after missing the Texas Tech game with a shoulder injury. Gaddie and Tony Blevins were the team's safeties. Jason Harris and Jamie Harris were cornerbacks.
Running back June Henley has lost the Jayhawks' only two fumbles of the season.
Henley added a one-yard touchdown, his 13th of the season, one shy of the school record.
Linebacker Ronnie Ward led the team with 16 tackles.
Linebacker Jason Thoren missed the second half because of a strained knee in the first half.
Colorado won its ninth straight game on the road, a school record. Kansas hasn't defeated the Buffaloes in Lawrence since 1984.
Both teams tried trick plays that failed. Colorado faked a 49-yard field goal attempt. Holder Steve Rosga ran with the ball. He was seven yards shy of a first down.
Henley and quarterback Matt Johner botched a reverse. They didn't cleanly execute the handoff.
AP Top 25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses. Records through Oct. 19.
rank team rec pts prev
1. Florida (57) 7-0 1,664 1
2. Ohio St. (4) 6-0 1,574 2
3. Florida St. (5) 5-0 1,572 3
4. Arizona St. (1) 7-0 1,476 4
5. Nebraska 5-1 1,397 5
6. Tennessee 4-1 1,333 6
7. Alabama 7-0 1,252 7
8. Colorado 5-1 1,181 9
9. North Carolina 5-1 1,140 11
10. Michigan 5-1 998 13
11. Northwestern 6-1 977 14
12. West Virginia 7-1 941 15
13. LSU 5-1 759 17
14. Virginia 5-1 711 20
15. Brigham Young 7-1 673 18
16. Kansas St. 6-1 643 21
17. Penn St. 6-2 570 10
18. Wyoming 8-0 482 23
19. Notre Dame 4-2 444 8
20. Iowa 5-1 408 —
21. Utah 6-1 300 24
22. Auburn 5-2 234 16
23. Washington 4-2 224 25
24. Southern Miss. 6-1 212 —
25. Miami 4-2 119 12
Others receiving votes: California 117, Virginia Tech 90, East Carolina 79, Army 47, Washington St. 42, Air Force 38, Georgia Tech 26, Syracuse 26, San Diego St. 8, Wisconsin 6, Navy 5, Texas Tech 4, Southern Cal 3.
USA Today/CNN Top 25
The Top 25 teams in the USA Today/CNN college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses. Records through Oct. 20.
rank team rec pts prev
1. Florida (56) 7-0 1,544 1
2. Florida St. (5) 5-0 1,468 2
3. Ohio St. (1) 6-0 1,440 3
4. Arizona St. 7-0 1,326 5
5. Nebraska 5-1 1,286 4
6. Alabama 7-0 1,200 7
7. Tennessee 4-1 1,187 6
8. Colorado 5-1 1,089 10
9. North Carolina 5-1 947 11
10. Michigan 5-1 915 12
11. West Virginia 7-0 902 14
12. Northwestern 6-1 806 15
13. Virginia 5-1 731 17
14. Kansas St. 6-1 697 19
15. Louisiana St. 5-1 690 18
16. Brigham Young 7-1 551 20
17. Penn St. 6-2 497 8
18. Wyoming 8-0 481 22
19. Iowa 5-1 361 —
20. Notre Dame 4-2 359 9
21. Virginia Tech 4-1 342 23
22. Utah 6-1 265 25
23. Miami 4-2 178 13
24. Washington 4-2 173 —
25. California 5-1 160 21
Others receiving votes: Auburn 157, Southern Mississippi 105, Syracuse 84, Army 60, Air Force 40, Georgia Tech 37, East Carolina 34, San Diego State 17, Southern California 14, Washington State 13, Navy 9, Texas Tech 7.
INSIDE
SPORTS INDEX
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 6B
Late Night
Coverage ... 3B
Sports Front ... 3B
Buffaloes stuff Jayhawks
Chris Hamilton / KANSAN
Eric Galbreath, junior fullback, tries for more yardage as Colorado shuts down Kansas' offense.
Colorado defense restrains offense to seven points
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
Isaac Byrd stood in the media room following Kansas' 20-7 loss to No.9 Colorado on Saturday wearing his 1995 Aloha Bowl champions T-shirt and struggling to come up with answers as to what is wrong with this year's team.
The Aloha Bowl and the success last season is quickly becoming a distant memory to Byrd and the rest of the Jayhawks after Saturday's homecoming folly before 48,500 people at Memorial Stadium.
The Jayhawks (3-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12 Conference) needed a win to salvage their bowl hopes, but instead they turned in their poorest offensive performance of the season and blew several scoring opportunities.
Just how low did the Jayhawks' offense go?
Their limbo-like totals included season lows in total yards (190), total plays (59), passing yards (115) and first downs (13).
Johner, just a week removed from a career-high 268 yards, finished nine of 16 passing for 110 yards and one touchdown.
he was replaced with 2:19 left in the first quarter by Ben Rutz. Rutz was one of two for five yards. He took the Jayhawks on two drives that resulted in two missed scoring opportunities.
"We intended to do that all along," Kansas coach Glen Mason said. "We thought he deserved to go in."
On Rutz's first drive, he took the offense to Colorado's 37-yard line, but placekicker Jeff McCord missed the 55-yard field goal attempt.
After Colorado (5-1, 3-0) went four plays and, Byrd returned a punt 57 yards to the Buffaloes' 20. On the seventh play of the drive, with 11:18 left in the second quarter, senior running back June Henley lost a fumble at the one-yard line.
"I don't know what happened," Henley said. "I got hit and the ball came out, I guess. I'll have to watch the film."
On Colorado's ensuing drive, quarterback Koy Detmer was intercepted by safety Tony Blevins, but again the Jayhawks couldn't score.
The Buffaloes' Jason Lesley kicked a 20-yard field goal with one second left in the half for a 10-0 lead. Colorado scored a touchdown on a 20-yard pass from Detmer to wide receiver Rae Carruth on its first
drive of the second half, going ahead to 17-0.
It was the second-straight solid performance by the Kansas defense, which held Detmer, the nation's eighth-ranked quarterback, to a season-low 242 yards on 17 of 35 passing. He also threw three interceptions, two to Blevins and one to senior linebacker Ronnie Ward. Detmer had thrown only two all season.
"I think the defense played outstanding today," Blevins said. "We really came together and played the type of game we're capable of."
Mason also was pleased with the defense. "I think our defensive effort was good."
enough." he said.
The Jayhawks finally scored when they converted Ward's interception into a Henley one-yard touchdown run with 5:01 left in the third quarter.
Colorado added a 32-yard field goal with 4:42 left in the game.
Byrd, who had just three catches for 31 yards, said the Jayhawks needed to go back to team ball.
"At the beginning of the year we were mixing up our passing game, throwing to different receivers," he said. "Somehow we have to get the other receivers involved in the offense. When we do that, we've been successful."
Kansas offensive coordinator Golden Pat Ruel still is searching for answers.
"We've gotten ourselves into a funk," Ruel said. "It's a confidence thing. But you need some success first if you want confidence."
Henley rushed for 80 yards on 25 carries.
"We just have to go back to the fundamentals," Henley said. "We've got to go to the drawing board."
Next week the Jayhawks travel to Lincoln, Neb., to play the two-time defending national champions.
"If we play like this, can we beat Nebraska?" tight end Jim Moore asked. "No, I don't think so. But if we play like we're capable of, then I know we can."
Kansas collapses under frustration
Edmée Rodriguez / KANSAN
Colorado's Lendon Henry is tackled by the Kansas linebacking crew of Ronnie Ward, Chris Jones and Jason Thoren. Kansas lost the game 20-7.
By Cameron Heeg
Kansan sportswriter
After Saturday's 20-7 loss to Colorado, Kansas football coach Glen Mason reflected on missed opportunities.
"We were having trouble building any momentum in the game," Mason said. "There are no easy answers, but when we got the ball on offense, we weren't doing very much with it."
The Jayhawks punted the ball five times, missed a 55-yard field goal attempt, converted only seven points of of interceptions by defensive back Tony Blevins and line backer Ronnie Ward And running back June Henley fumbled the ball on the one yard line in a third and-goal situation.
"We were having trouble building any momentum in the game."
On the first interception from Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer in the second quarter, Blevins returned the ball to the Colorado 34-yard line. From there Kansas converted on its first series of downs, but then was pushed to punt on fourth and 21.
Glen Mason Kansas head football coach
Byrd described the offensive breakdown as a buildup of frustration. The offense was frustrated with all the missed opportunities and they weren't concentrating, he said.
"The turning point of the game should have been when I returned that punt," Byrd said. Kansas was only down 7-0 at the time. "We should have been better moving the ball, especially in the red zone."
The series of plays capped by Henley's fumble originated from a 57-yard punt return by wide receiver Isaac Byrd. He returned the ball to the Colorado 20-yard line and was shoved out of bounds by punter Nick Pietsch.
Ward's interception of Detmer ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Henley, but, Detner's third interception had the same unfruitful results as the first.
With 8:22 left in the game and the score at 17-7, Blevins picked Detmer for the second time. The Jayhawks converted one first
down but eventually were forced to go for it on fourth-and-two. Kansas quarterback Matt Johner threw an incomplete pass to wide receiver John Gordon.
"Most of the time we didn't execute, and we did a lot of things to kill ourselves," Johner said. "The defense played real well for us, but it comes down again to being accountable for ourselves."
Kansas, 3-3, heads to Lincoln, Neb., next week to take on the 1-Huskers.