THE UNIVERSITY HARRY KANSAN
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17,2007
KU 45-TOLEDO 13
7B
Reesing breaks sophomore passing record
Todd Reesing, sophomore quarterback, hands off to Brandon McAnderson, senior running back, in the second half against Toledo. Reesing threw four touchdown passes and finished the game with more than 300 passing yards.
Sarah Leonard/RANSM
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
BREAKING RECORDS
Todd Reesing's list of accomplishments is growing longer by the week. The quarterback set the Kansas single-game record for passing yards by a sophomore on Saturday with 313. Adam Barmann previously held the record with his 310-yard performance against Toledo in 2004. Reesing also matched another one of Barmann's records, becoming the most recent Jayhawk to throw for 200-plus yards in his first three starts since Barmann threw for 200-plus in four straight contests three seasons ago.
An announced attendance of 48,112 fans braved the chilly conditions to take in the Kansas victory. Saturday night's attendance figure was larger than all but one home game last season — Nov. 18 against Kansas State — and the largest so far this season.
ATTENDANCE RISING
QUICK SCORING
Kansas' new offense has often led to quick points this season. On Saturday, all of the Jayhawks' six scoring drives consumed less than two minutes. On the season, the Jayhawks have scored in less than two minutes 23 times. Despite the speedy nature of the Jayhawks' scoring drives, they usually chew up substantial chunks of yardage. Two of the team's drives against Toledo were more than 80 yards long. The team has recorded five drives of more than 80 yards in 2007.
On a night full of negatives for Toledo, the Rockets can take at least one positive from the game. Sophomore running back Dajuane Collins rushed for 102 yards on 14 carries, making him only the second running back in the last 15 games to rush for more than 100 yards against the Jayhawk defense. Kansas State running back Leon Patton also gained 102 yards against Kansas last season. Unfortunately for Collins and Patton, they both accumulated many of their yards against the Kansas second-stringers after the game was out of reach.
Marcus Henry dropped several passes but enjoyed another productive game. The senior wide receiver caught seven passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Henry is one of four Kansas players to record more than 100 receiving yards in three consecutive games.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Junior cornerback Aqib Talib has become a threat to go the distance every time he touches the football. He has scored three times this season and four of his six career receptions have resulted in touchdowns. Talib has caught a touchdown pass in four consecutive games, trying a school record set by Mark Simmons in 2003. Oddly enough, Talib has yet to score from his natural position, cornerback, and he has collected four times as many receptions as interceptions this season. He did not visit the end zone after his interception on Saturday night, but he showed quite a bit of elusiveness on the 18-yard return.
Junior offensive tackle Anthony Collins sat out the first offensive possession for disciplinary reasons, coach Mark Mangino said. Senior Cesar Rodriguez temporarily slid over to left tackle to fill in freshman Ian Wolfe started at right tackle. The game marked Rodriguez's 17th consecutive start and Wolfe's first career start.
OFFENSIVE LINE
QUARTERBACKS
Sophomore quarterback Kerry Meier lost his perfect season early in the fourth quarter Saturday. Entering the game, Meier's passing statistics were flawless: 7-of-7 for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Meier finished 2-of-4 against Toledo, throwing for 12 yards and losing a fumble late in the fourth quarter. In fairness to Meier, his season statistics still look good: 43
Marcus Henry, senior wide receiver, carries the ball down the field past Toledo defenders. Henry pulled in seven passes for more than 130 yards.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
rushing yards and an 82 percent completion percentage.
It was over when...
Game ball goes to...
Todd Reeing almost single-handedly engineered a five-play, 60-yard drive in the final two minutes of the first half. Toledo had just carved the Kansas lead down to 10 points and had stolen much of the life from the Memorial Stadium crowd when Reeing completed four of his next five passes, including a 26-year touchdown to freshman wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe. After the score, Kansas led 24-7 and entered halftime with plenty of momentum.
John Larson. 'The junior defensive end didn't throw for 300-plus yards or rack up triple-digit rushing totals, but he fared well against Toledo's best player. Larson, a former walk-on whose work ethic was praised by coach Mark Mangino, took on 325-pound offensive tackle John Greco for much of Saturday's game. Greco, a two-time All-MAC first team selection and surefire NFL prospect, made his fair share of devastating blocks, but Larson got the last word when he made an interception deep in Toledo territory and knocked down a pass the next time he was on the field.
Game to forget for...
Raimond Pendleton. Not only did the sophomore wide receiver go without a reception for the second consecutive game, but he committed a turnover that led to a Toledo touchdown. He dropped a punt late in the second quarter, and no Jayhawks could fall on the ball. The Rockets found the end zone on the next play for their only points of the first half. Pendleton returned three punts for a total of three yards in the game.
Stat of the game...
Three: The number of first downs Toledo managed in the first half. During that span, the Rockets ran 27 plays and gained an average of four yards per play. Meanwhile, Kansas attacked the Toledo defense with 21 first-half first downs, 373 first-half yards and an average of 6.9 yards per play. The Toledo offense finally picked up decent yardage in the fourth quarter, but by that time it was too little, too late.
Asher Fusco
Dropped passes plague offense
Asher Fusco
Phillip Strozier, freshman defensive back, jumps to knock down a pass by Toledo quarterback, Clint Croston. Crozier has two tackles and one defensive pass block so far this season.
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Todd Reesing did it again. The sophomore quarterback, ranked tenth in the nation in passing efficiency, put on another memorable performance in a 45-13 victory against Toledo Saturday, finishing with 313 yards and four touchdowns. But achieving those numbers wasn't as easy as it was in the first two games.
Reesing had to endure eight dropped balls from his receivers, pressure from Toledo's defense and additional hits taken during his career-high 11 carries.
"The inconsistency we showed on offense just shows we still have work to do," Reesing said. "We need to be sharper as a whole."
To le do ranked last in the nation with no sacks coming
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
It wasn't only the blitzes that beat up Reeing, though. The quarterback played a more prominent role in the Kansas rushing attack Saturday and endured more open-field tackles.
Reeing decided to keep the ball himself on an option play from the 12-yard line in the first half. He raced down to the one-yard line before being smashed like sandwich meat between two Rocket defenders. It was a hit the quarterback could have avoided if he would have realized he stepped out of bounds five yards before. But not all of the hits were preventable. In the second quarter, Toledo defen-
"There are no excuses for the dropped passes. We're not going to make any, and none will be accepted."
On the third play from scrimmage, Toledo defensive end Bernard Faithful came off of the edge and put a punishing hit on Reesing. Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he was surprised by Toledo's pass rush early in the game.
into the game. It was clear from the Jayhawks' first possession, though, that the Rockets were not leaving Memorial Stadium without a sack.
MARK MANGINO Kansas coach
"We got a lot of pressure in the first half," Mangino said. "Obviously, you can prepare for a lot of different blitzes, but they're always going to try to get one in on you that you haven't seen before."
sive lineman Alfred Martin took Reesing down well after he had thrown the ball. The 15-yard roughing the passer penalty gave Kansas an automatic first down.
Despite becoming more acquainted with
"I feel fine," he said. "That happens. They had some success, and that's just an attribute to them and having a good game plan and getting some pressure. I'm not worried about it; I'm going to be all right."
the turf, Reesing said he wasn't more beat up than usual.
Not all of Reesing's problems can be solved with rest and ice. Mangino said he was most concerned with the receivers not catching Reesing's passes.
"There are no excuses for the dropped passes," Mangino said. "We're not going to make any, and
none will be accepted. We can't do that if we want to be a good football team."
Reesing encountered more adversity against Toledo than in the first two games. While the offense may not have been perfect, Mangino said the game was a good
"We're not going to play flawless every week, but the kids have a good mental edge to them," he said. "Having a good mental edge is about overcoming mistakes."
test for his team.
—Edited by Chris Beattie
BIG POWER 12 RANKINGS
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.
1. Oklahoma
3. Missouri
2. Texas
4. Texas A&M
5. Kansas
6. Nebraska
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. Colorado
10. OklahomaState
11T. Baylor
11T. Iowa State