4B
KU 41 - ISU 10
THE UNIVERSITY OF DARBY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2006
Kansas 41 Iowa State 10 November 4,2006
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
Iowa State players sandwich senior running back Jon Cornish in a tackle attempt during the first half of Saturday's game in Ames, Iowa. Cornish rushed for 79 yards on 17 carries. Kansas defeated Iowa State 41-10.
Big 12 Rankings
The Big 12 is weaker than usual this year, and it may cost Texas a spot in the national championship. The only team they've lost to is the undisputed No. 1 team. "They're in. Case closed," voter Michael Phillips said. Other voters were looking ahead to the Sunflower Showdown in two weeks. "K-State still hasn't beaten anyone. It's the most deceiving record in football." Thor Nystrom said. Oklahoma's victory against Texas A&M was apparently more convincing than Nebraska taking down Missouri: the Sooners have the No. 2 spot.
1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. Nebraska
4. Texas A&M
5. Texas Tech
6. Missouri
7. Oklahoma State
8. Baylor
9. Kansas
10. Kansas State
11. Colorado
12. Iowa State
2.3.6
Defense 'very,very good'
BY SHAWN SHROYER
AMES, Iowa — During the first nine weeks of the season, the Kansas defense showed flashes of dominance. However, most of the time, the Jayhawks looked lost in pass coverage and inept at getting to the quarterback.
On Saturday, though, the Jayhawk defense got its act together, shutting down the Cyclones unlike any opponent it's faced this season. Kansas allowed a season-low 213 total yards of offense.
"The defense was very, very good today," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "Played the run very well, played the pass very well and got turnovers for our offense."
iowa State ran the ball 30 times, yielding just 33 yards. Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer passed for only 180 yards — 45 less than his season average — and no touchdowns to one interception.
As a result, Meyer only completed about half of his passes and Kansas sophomore cornerback Anib Talih.
Of course, the Kansas pass rush kept Meyer on the run most of the afternoon and he certainly wasn't the only player who turned the ball
Because Como and his fellow linemen got into the backfield on their own, he said it allowed the defense to drop seven players into coverage, rather than blitz extra players and force the secondary to play man coverage.
over for Iowa State as the Cyclones managed just 10 points. In addition to Meyer's interception, Iowa State lost three of five fumbles.
"We didn't blitz a lot, but we blitzed when we needed to and we kept them guessing." Como said.
When the pressure was on Kansas to end Iowa State's drives, rarely did the Jayhawks fail. Iowa State was 4-for-13 on third down conversions and was unsuccessful on all three of its fourth down conversion attempts.
Iowa State was without starting running back Stevie Hicks, so the key for Kansas was disrupting the Cyclones' passing game. The Jayhawks did just that, sacking Meyer six times — which doubled their previous high for sacks in a game this season — with the defensive line leading the attack.
Paul Como, senior defensive end, said the defense worked on pass rush tactics this week so it wouldn't have to rely as heavily on blitzes to create pressure.
"Our D-line played its ass off today," sophomore linebacker Joe Mortensen said.
Sometimes Meyer's legs got him in trouble and he actually scrambled into the waiting arms of Kansas defenders.
Defensive linemen recorded four of Kansas' six sacks and their ability to control the line of scrimmage and get to the quarterback was invaluable to the linebackers and secondary behind them.
"He tried to do a little too much, but he was just trying to give his team the best chance to win," Como said.
Mortensen and Como were just two of many Jayhawks who harassed Meyer regularly on Saturday. Mortensen led Kansas with two sacks while Como added a sack of his own and had one of Kansas' two quarterback hits.
picked off his fifth pass of the season, moving him into a tie for first in the Big 12.
The defensive line also preoccupied Iowa State's offensive linemen to free up Kansas' linebackers and secondary to shut down Iowa State's running game. Seven tackles behind the line helped hold Iowa State to its second worst rushing performance of the season.
"We were just running around there, free," Mortensen said. "We could just go straight to the ball"
Saturday's solid defensive performance was Kansas' second in as many weeks. More importantly, the Kansas defense is confident that it can be a strength for this team, rather than a weakness.
"We've been trying to get more pressure and got better the last couple weeks." Como said, "We all came together and played real well today."
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@ kansan.com.
Todd Reesing, freshman quarterback, and Iowa State defensive end John Machado scramble for a loose ball during the second half of Saturday's game in Ames, Iowa. Kansas kept Iowa State to only 33 rushing yards on 30 attempts while the Jayhawks had 403 yards on 73 plays. Kansas defeated Iowa State 41-10.
jonathan Lamb, senior wide receiver, and Dexton Fields, sophomore wide receiver, block for jun
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
Lawrence Henderson, Lansing senior, waves a Jayhawk flag from the crowd during Saturday's game against Iowa State. Henderson drove to Ames, Iowa, with five of his friends to cheer on the Jayhawks. He tries to attend every road game that he can and traveled as far as Texas last season.
Kansas 41. Iowa State 10
Kansas 13 14 7 7 — 41
Iowa State 3 0 0 7 — 10
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
ISU — Culbertson, 36 yd field goal, 12:28.
KU — Murph, 50 yd pass from Meier (Webb kick blocked), 9:32.
KU — Fine, 29 yd pass from Reesing (Webb kick), 1:07.
Second Quarter
KU — Fine, 3 yd pass from Meier (Webb kick), 5:23.
KU — McAnderson, 4 yd run (Webb kick) :23.
Third Quarter
KU — Reesing, 1 yd run (Webb kick), 6:23.
Fourth Quarter
KU — McAnderson, 1 yd run (Webb kick), 11:11.
ISU — Kock, 1 yd run (Culbertson kick), 4:57.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
IDUAL STATISTICS
G. Klj: Cornish 17-79, McAnderson 7-42, Meier 14-19, Sharp 4-15, Reesing 4-14.
RUSHING — KU: Cornish 17-79, McAnderson 7-42, Meier 14-19, Sharp 4-15, Reesing 4-14.
ISU: Kock 6-31, Johnson 11-31, Team 1-(-7), Brandtner 1-(-10), Meyer 11-(-12),
PASSING — KU: Melter 17-22-2, Reesing 3-5-1.
ISU: Meyer 16-31-0
RECEIVING — KU: Lamb 5-16, Fine 4-37, Fields 3-21, Murph 2-59, Henry 2-22, Cornish 2-10, Sharp 7-9,
ISU: Moses 9-109, Flynn 3-25, Kock 2-26, Sumrall 1-13, Barkema 1-7.
RECORDS — Kansas 5-5, 2-4, Iowa State 7-0, 9-6.
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"It's the coach's decision," Meier said. "It hurts inside, but you have to stay positive and keep going."
Reesing said he was never sure when he would be going back
"on the head.
'They'd tell me before one series that I was going in, then the next series I'd be out," he said. "I didn't know what was going on."
Iowa State, who played without starters at wide receiver and running back, showed no sign of life on
"It hurts inside,but you have to stay positive and keep going."
KERRY MEIER Freshman quarterback
That didn't seem to matter
offense. That was certainly good news, considering the large lead the defense coughed up on Kansas' last road trip to Baylor.
"I felt like wed score
much, though Iowa States offense struggled to move the ball and when it did, the
Cyclones shot themselves in the foot with costly turnovers and pen-
some points," Mangino said. "The only question was whether our defense would be able to buckle down."
Kansas' defense certainly ben
efitted with Iowa State being forced to use backups on offense and it showed. The Cyclones were held to just 33 yards rushing on 30 carries and 213 yards overall. More than anything, the victory gave Kansas back the confidence and swagger that it started the season with. Considering that they finish
off the season against their two biggest rivals, a little confidence might be all that was needed.
That certainly looks like a possibility now.
"We'll just win on out and everything will be good," Meier joked.
Kansan senior sportswriter Ryan Schneider can be contacted at rschneider@kansan.com.
1
— Edited by Kristen Jarboe
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