U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Jayhawk FOOTBALL
Kansas 40 Colorado 24
Matt Flickner/KANSAN
Colorado's Donnell Leomiti (3) and Steve Rosga (15) team up and tackle Kansas senior wide receiver Ashoundal Smith during Saturday's game at Boulder, Colo. Smith recorded 87 yards, propelling him past the 1,000-yard mark for career receiving yards.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1995
CONFERENCE
RESULTS
Kansas 40
Colorado 24
Kansas St. 30 Missouri 0
Oklahoma 39
Iowa State 26
STANDINGS
SECTION B
After losing early last weekend, Christie Sim wins the Big Eight Indoor. Page 3B
Conf. Overall
Kansas 1.0 5.0
Kansas St. 1.0 5.0
Nebraska 1.0 5.0
Colorado 1.1 5.1
Oklahoma 1.1 4.1
Iowa St. 0.1 2.3
Missouri .01 2.3
Okla. St. 0.1 1.4
AP Top 25
A reversal of fortunes
With a 40-24 victory against Colorado, Kansas jumped from No. 24 to No. 10. The Big Eight Conference teams are ranked in the Top 25 and eight teams from the Big 12 Conference, which begins play next year, are in this week's Associated Press Top 25.
Gillens receiving letter from Baylor 80, Arkansas
79, Staten Island 81, Louisiana State 40, Illinois
36, Kentucky 30, Kansas 30, SOU 24,
24, North Carolina 18, Tennessee 12,
Alabama St. B, 17, Virginia Tech 1,
7
rank team req. pts. pw.
1. Florida St. (40) 5-0 1,527 1
2. Nebraska (16) 5-0 1,500 2
3. Florida (2) 5-0 1,406 3
4. Ohio St. (4) 5-0 1,386 5
5. Southern Cal 5-0 1,321 5
6. Tennessee 5-1 1,187 10
7. Auburn 4-1 1,177 11
8. Kansas St. 5-0 1,044 13
9. Colorado 5-1 1,037 4
10. Kansas 5-0 1,095 24
11. Michigan 5-1 809 7
12. Alabama 4-1 765 16
13. Oklahoma 4-1 767 14
14. Northwestern 4-1 882 25
15. Oregon 4-1 663 17
16. Stanford 4-0 169 19
17. Notre Dame 4-2 608 23
18. Texas 4-1 508 20
19. Virginia 5-2 492 9
20. Penn St. 3-2 447 12
21. Wisconsin 2-1 380 8
22. Texas A&M 2-2 380 8
23. Iowa 4-0 109 1
24. Washington 3-2 103 15
25. Texas Tech 2-1 81
The Associated Press KANSAN
TENNIS
BELIEVE IT!
By Robert Sinclair
Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — Kansas senior running back L.T. Levine predicted the Jayhawks would need a flawless performance to be successful against then-No. 4 Colorado.
Call it self-fulfillment prophecy as the now-No. 10 Jayhawks shocked the Buffaloes as well as the college football world with their 40-24 victory on Saturday.
Perhaps the only people not surprised at the outcome were Kansas football coach Glen Mason and his team.
"I very seldom go out on the line and tell my players I really think we're going to win," Mason said. "They'll tell you, I told them (that) all week long. I had a gut feeling. Don't ask me why."
The victory propelled the Jayhawks into the top 10 for the first time since they were ranked No. 8 on October 5, 1976. The win also tied the Jayhawks with Florida State, Iowa and Southern California for the second-longest winning streak in Division I-A at six games.
Mason couldn't have come up with his 50th career victory at a more opportune time than in his first win against Colorado and his first against a ranked team. Also, it was Kansas' first victory against a team in the top 10 since beating then-No. 2 Oklahoma 28-11 on October 27, 1984.
Incidentally, that year also marks the last time the Jayhawks were wic-
torious against the Buffaloes.
"My hat's off to the Kansas team and coach staff," Colorado football coach Rick Neuheisel sald. "They played an excellent game. They were as effective as anybody against our defense, and I thought their defense was outstanding."
The Kansas offense racked up 495 total yards and the most points Colorado has given up in its past 29 games dating back to a 52-7 loss to Nebraska on October 31, 1992.
Kansas senior quarterback Mark Williams had a big game, completing 25 passes on 35 attempts for 299 yards and one touchdown. Also, he didn't throw an interception, and although he fumbled the ball twice, he recovered both.
Williams continued his undefeated streak as a starter — now at six games — and earned some high praise from Neuheisel.
"He had what I thought was an excellent quarterbacking day," the former UCLA quarterback said. "He looked a lot like a quarterback who used to play here: Kordell Stewart."
The Kansas coach also was proud of his quarterback, even though he wasn't perfect.
"He threw one bad pass, really bad pass, today," Mason said. "It was a completion back across the middle to (June) Henley, and Henley made a great catch for the first down. I chewed his butt out big time for that."
Despite the success of the offense,
the story of the game — as it has
See FOOTBALL, Page 6B.
Matt Flickner / KANBAN
Colorado sophomore tailback Herchell Troutman fumbles the ball deep in Kansas territory during the third quarter of Kansas' 40-24 victory. Kansas sophomore linebacker Jason Thoren recovered the ball in the end zone, and the Jayhawks went on to defeat then-No. 4 Colorado on Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
Kansas approached game with quiet confidence
Kansas senior wide receiver Isaac Byrd drags his feet and stays in bounds as he hauls down one of his seven receptions, which totaled 70 yards.
Matt Flickner/KAMBAN
Mason and Jayhawks believe 40-24 victory was not an upset
By Robert Sinclair Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — There were very few people — if any — who actually gave the Kansas football team much of a chance at beating then-No. 4 Colorado on Saturday in Boulder.
By the same token, many people probably didn't believe either the 40-24 final score the first time they saw it or Kansas' first top 10 ranking since October 5. 1976.
And yet, the Jayhawks never doubted themselves for a minute.
"I don't think anybody but us thought we'd come in here today and leave the victors," Kansas sophomore nose tackle Brett McGraw said. "I know when we came in here today our team knew what we were coming here for."
Kansas, even though it was undefeated and ranked in the top 25, was a surprisingly big underdog against Colorado. Why was this the case?
Kansas football coach Glen Mason was 1-20 against the "Big Three" of Nebraska, Colorado and Oklahoma — his lonest win coming against the Sooners — and had never defeated a nationally ranked opponent.
The Buffaloes were at home, where they had a record of 36-3-2 dating back to 1988, including 10 consecutive victories at Folsom Field. They also were owners of a nine-game overall winning streak as well as a 10-game home winning streak.
The Jayhawks' opponents hadn't been of a high caliber while the Buffaloes were one of two teams in the nation, Ohio State being the other, that already had defeated three ranked teams.
Nevertheless, Mason summed up the quiet confidence which his Jayhawks possessed as they prepared for the obstacle which loomed before them like the Rocky Mountains.
Whether it was due to the extra week of practice since the team's
"That wasn't an upset today," he said. "It's only an upset if, in your own mind, you think that you're the lesser team. I didn't think we were a lesser team. I really didn't."
last game, the assistance of former Colorado coaches, defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz and secondary coach David Gibbs, or even raw talent, Kansas proved to the Buffaloes and to the nation that it is a team to be reckoned with.
"They didn't believe it at halftime and we were like, 'Hey, let's just pour it on now,' Kansas junior center Jim Stiebel said. "I didn't think that they believed in us. I don't think anybody did. Look at (ESPN college football analyst) Lee Corso. He didn't believe in us."
Perhaps it was the feeling of us against-the-world that made this team so close. Whatever the reason, the Jayhawks are off to their best start since 1968 — the last time they went to the Orange Bowl — and Stieber believes that it is due to the team's unity.
"It was a team effort. I don't think anybody really stood out today," he said. "If one person wasn't giving their all I don't think that we could have done it. I think everybody gave their absolute best."
NOTES AND QUOTES: More from
the Jayhawks' victory. Page CB.
STATISTICS: All the final numbers. Page2B.