THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY,SEPTEMBER 24,2007
KU 55-FIU 3
7B
Mortensen makes big tackles
2019年教育综合改革方案
2019年教育工作计划
Junior linebacker Joe Mortensen goes for a tackle during the first half of the game Saturday night. Mortensen had 23 tackles and 14 solo tackles.
Dexton Fields, junior wide receiver, tries to shake a tackle from a Florida International defensive back during Saturday night's game. Fields had four receptions for 77 yards.
BY CASE KEEFER
Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN
ckeefer@kansan.com
Florida International had already faced two great defenses — Penn State and Miami (Fla.) before its trip to Lawrence on Saturday.
But after a 55-3 loss to Kansas, Florida International coach Mario Cristobal said the Jayhawks defense ranks right with the two nationally-renowned units.
"Excellent defense," Cristobal said. "They are very physical up front, do a great job stopping the run and mixing up their pressures as well. After we had great success running against Miami last week, they did a great job filling gaps."
Filling most of those gaps was junior middle linebacker Joe Mortensen. He has become the star of the Kansas defense after switching positions from outside linebacker before the season.
He led the team with 23 tackles and 14 solo tackles before the showdown with the Golden Panthers. But he seemed to catapult himself to another level in Saturday's game.
"I thought he was outstanding," said coach Mark Mangino. "He played hard, he played well, I don't know how many tackles he had but he had a bunch."
Mortensen finished the game with a team- and career- high, 13 tackles. He didn't limit himself to tackles, though. Mortensen forced a fumble, pressured the quarterback and applied tough coverage
of the Golden Panther's receivers.
F r o m
the start of
the game,
Mortensen was
a man on a mission. On two
of the Golden
Panthers' first
five plays,
Mortensen speed
Mortensen recorded at least three tackles in every quarter before exiting early in the fourth to let the reserves gain experience. When asked whether it was his best game, Mortensen didn't show much hesitation.
back and unleashed a strike that would have taken a heavyweight boxer to the ground. It caused Younger to throw a pass nowhere near a wide receiver and gave him a preview of what to expect the rest of the night.
"Yeah. They ran the ball a lot
"I thought he was outstanding. He played hard, he played well, I don't know how many tackles he had, but he had a bunch."
MARK MANGINO Head Football coach
and I had a lot of opportunities to make tackles." Mortensen said. "I love teams that run the ball."
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
through the offensive line and took down running back Amod Ned in the backfield.
One of Mortensen's biggest plays came on a reverse in the
But neither of those hits wound compare to what happened to FIU quarterback Wayne Younger on a second-and-11 play in the first quarter. Mortensen attacked a hole in the Golden Panthers pass protection, loaded his arms
second quarter. Ned attempted to hand the ball off to a receiver when he met the wrath of Mortensen. Ned fumbled the ball and Mike Rivera recovered to give the offense a chance to build upon its 20-3 lead.
But a play Mortensen almost made stuck out in his mind after the game. With 12 minutes
remaining in the fourth quarter, he recovered a fumble and appeared to return it for a touchdown before the play was ruled dead.
"It would've been nice if they would have gave it to me," Mortensen said. "It looked like a fumble to me. I thought it was a touchdown but I heard the whistle at the two-yard line."
View from press row
BY ASHER FUSCO
Touchdown or not, Mortensen terrorized anything and everything in his way Saturday night. And with Big 12 conference play looming a few weeks away, it couldn't have come at a better time for the Jayhawks.
GAME BALL GOES TO...
IT WAS OVER WHEN.
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL running back Amod Ned fumbled the ball away with two minutes to play in the first quarter. After 13 minutes of play, Kansas held just a seven-point advantage and was showing some early rust, turning the ball over once and committing two costly penalties, Florida International was on the move and into Kansas territory when junior linebacker Joe Mortensen jarred the ball loose from Ned's grasp. Sophomore safety Darril Stuckey grabbed the ball and returned it nine yards. From that point on, Kansas scored 45 points to Florida International's zero.
SHARK SKILL GOES TO... Aqib Talib. The Junior cornerback is the Jayhawks best player and one of the most exciting in the nation.
he showed why on Saturday. Just minutes after enduring a frightening collision that left him gasping for breath on the turf, Talib returned an interception from one end zone to the other for six points. Talib also did all of the little things correctly against Florida international, breaking up passes, sticking to receivers and playing the run with ferocity.
GAME TO FORGET.
Chris Cook. The Florida International punter got plenty of tries on Saturday night but did not make the most of his opportunities. His first punt was blocked in the end zone for a Kansas touchdown and he sliced two second-half kicks out of bounds. Cook punted seven times and averaged 34.1 yards per kick.
STAT OF THE GAME.
14. The Kansas defense made it hard on Florida international by recording 14 tackles-for-loss. Junior linebackers Joe Mortensen and Mike Rivera were especially active in the backfield, combining for six stops behind the line of scrimmage. The Jayhawks' presence in the opposing team's backfield was especially impressive considering the Golden Panthers' offensive line was not all that shoddy. Mortensen and Rivera showcased their speed, bursting over and around blockers often.
—Edited by Darla Slipke
Asher Fusco
Football notes
TALIB'S TOUCHDOWN
Aqib Talib's 100-yard interception return was not just a crowd-pleaser. It also broke the school record for the longest interception return and even impressed the star cornerback himself.
"That was probably the best play I've ever made," Talib said. "I went 99 yards one time in high school, but it wasn't intercepting a deep ball. A deep ball is a little more exciting." The junior has scored a touchdown in each of the last five games, dating back to last season, and has recorded two interceptions and 18 tackles this season.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
BOOK
— The Jayhawks continued adding to the school's team and individual record books. The team's 615 yards of total offense ranks as the fifth-highest single-game mark in program history, and its 4-0 record is its best since 1995. Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing's 368 passing yards stands at ninth in school history, and his 415 yards of total offense is fifth. If he continued picking up passing yards at his current rate, Reesing would finish with 3,597 passing yards and shatter the school's single-season record of 2.995.
— Junior linebacker Joe Mortensen continued to punish opponents at a record-setting pace. Mortensen recorded a season-high 13 tackles and 3.5 tackles-for-loss. Mortensen is currently on pace to finish 2007 with 108 tackles, three sacks and 27 tackles-for-loss. The Kansas single-season tackles-for-loss record is currently 23, set by Charlton Keith in 2005.
TIME FOR RESERVES
Bean
Another blowout victory allowed some younger players to gain a bit of
late-game experience. Freshman running back Donte Beane made his jayhawk debut, rushing for 16 yards on five cars. Junior safety Tang Bacheyie made the most of his playing time.
making four tackles as a reserve.
SCORING FAST
Kansas' habit of scoring quickly continued against Florida International. The Jayhawks' most time-consuming scoring drive ate just 3:48 of game time, and their quickest lasted only 13 seconds. Florida International actually held onto the ball longer than Kansas by a margin of nearly five minutes. But the inflated number of chances did not help the Golden Panthers. They averaged just 3.5 yards per play and never found the end zone.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Senior wide receiver Marcus Henry saw his three-game streak of 100-plus receiving yards come to an end, but he wasn't to blame. The Jayhawks spread the ball around to 11 receivers, including Talib, reserve wide receivers Jeff Foster and Marcus Herford, and sophomore quarterback Kerry Meier. The 11 Kansas receivers combined to record 25 reception and 391 yards. Henry made two catches for 38 yards.
FORCING TURNOVERS
After Kansas' second game of the season, when the Jayhawks had totaled just one takeaway, Kansas coach Mark Mangino said the team's lack of forced turnovers was a concern. Two games later, Kansas has ten takeaways. The defense stole possession four times against Toledo and five times against Florida International. On Saturday, junior linebacker Mike Rivera recovered two fumbles and sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey recovered one. Two Jayhawks intercepted passes: Talib and sophomore safety Justin Thornton.
CAREER FIRSTS
Brown
receiver Raymond Brown recorded his first career blocked punt in the first quarter. Freshman linebacker Dakota Lewis scored his first career touchdown on the sar.
Several Jayhawks recorded career firsts on Saturday night. Junior wide
play. Later in the first half, freshman tight end Bradley Dedeaux made his first career reception. The pass was originally intended for senior tight end Derek Fine, but Dedeaux corralled the ball after it bounced off of Fine's fingertips.
ATTENDANCE
Saturday's announced attendance was 42,134, but the gaps in the crowd were sizeable, and many fans started filing out of Memorial Stadium early in the third quarter. The announced attendance figure was the smallest of the season so far.
— Asher Fusco
Each week, Sports Editor Travis Robinett, football writer Asher Fusco and Big 12 football writer Case Keefer will vote on the Big 12 power rankings.
BIG POWER 12 RANKINGS
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Missouri
4. Kansas
5. Nebraska
6. Kansas State
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas Tech
10. Colorado
11. Baylor
12. Iowa State