FOOTBALL
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MISSOURI
42
KANSAS
25
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25,1996
M
KANSAS GAME NOTES
MISSOURI 42, KANSAS 25
Kansas had just five first downs in the first half, but four of them came on its first drive. Kansas gained 69 of its 81 first-half yards on that scoring drive.
- Defensive tackle Dewey Houston did not play because of an injury. Dion Johnson and Dan Dercher took his place.
- Linebacker Ronnie Ward led the Jayhawks with eight tackles. He also has been picked to play the East-West Shrine Game in January.
- kansas has scored in 46 straight games, the second-longest streak in school history.
Senior wide receiver Isaac Byrd's five receptions gave him 101 for his career. He is the fourth Jayhawk to catch 100 career passes. He finished with 1,444 receiving yards.
Missouri's win snapped a three-game losing streak against Kansas.
Missouri leads the all-time series 49-47-9, including 26-13-2 in Columbia.
Missouri has not lost its final game of the season since 1993.
AP Top25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 23.
Kathleen Driscoll / KANSAN
Kansas senior linebacker Ronnie Ward hangs his head after the Jayhawks conclude their disappointment four-and-seven season Saturday. Ward, who led the Jayhawks with eight tackles, was one of 16 Jayhawks seniors to play their final game.
rank team rec pts
1. Florida (59) 10-0 1,667 1
2. Florida St. (5) 10-0 1,601 3
3. Arizona St. (3) 11-0 1,554 4
4. Nebraska 9-1 1,475 5
5. Colorado 9-1 1,382 6
6. Ohio St. 10-1 1,326 2
7. Brigham Young 12-1 1,207 8
8. Penn St. 10-2 1,206 7
9. Tennessee 8-2 1,042 9
10. Notre Dame 8-2 1,020 10
11. Northwestern 9-2 950 11
12. Washington 9-2 870 12
13. North Carolina 9-2 851 13
14. Kansas St. 9-2 793 14
15. Alabama 8-2 758 15
16. Syracuse 8-2 700 16
17. Virginia Tech 9-1 677 17
18. Michigan 8-3 625 21
19. LSU 8-2 576 18
20. Virginia 7-3 416 19
21. Wyoming 10-1 360 20
22. Iowa 8-3 237 24
23. Miami 7-3 203 25
24. Army 9-1 73 —
25. West Virginia 8-3 51 23
Other team receiving votes: Southern Miss. 31, Auburn 30, East Carolina 29, Navy 22, Tuxon 18, Clemson 8, Texas Tech 8, Houston 14, Stanton 2, Michigan St. 1, Utah 1.
USA Today/CNN Top 25
The Top 25 teams in USA Today/ NCN college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 24.
Last game a loss for'Hawks
rank team rec pts prv
1. Florida (52) 10-0 1,539 1
2. Florida St. (7) 10-0 1,480 3
3. Arizona St. (3) 11-0 1,429 4
4. Nebraska 9-1 1,375 5
5. Colorado 9-1 1,277 6
6. Ohio St. 10-1 1,182 2
7. Brigham Young 12-1 1,131 7
8. Penn St. 10-2 1,064 8
9. Virginia Tech 9-1 971 9
10. Tennessee 8-2 943 10
11. Northwestern 8-2 857 11
12. Alabama 8-2 822 12
13. Notre Dame 8-2 809 13
14. North Carolina 8-2 754 14
15. Washington 8-2 751 15
16. Kansas St. 9-2 663 16
17. Syracuse 8-2 608 17
18. Louisiana St. 8-2 482 18
19. Michigan 8-3 441 22
20. Wyoming 10-1 394 19
21. Virginia 7-3 363 19
22. Iowa 8-3 235 23
23. Miami 7-3 195 25
24. Army 9-1 113 —
25. West Virginia 8-3 80 24
Other teams receiving votes: Navy 46, Auburn
39, Cleveland 25, Texas Tech 18, East Carolina
15, Southern Mississippi 15, Houston 12,
Texas 10, South Carolina 3, Utah 3, Stanford
2, Wisconsin 2, San Diego State 1, UCLA 1.
Henley breaks rushing record
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
The preseason expectations that were so high officially came crashing down like the Tiger goalposts which were carted away by the overzealous Missouri student body, after Missouri's 42-25 thrashing of Kansas on Saturday at Faure Field.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — It was, as Kansas senior wide receiver Isaac Byrd described it, a miserable end to a miserable season.
"They just flat-out whipped us today," Kansas coach Glen Mason said. "We said going in it would be a story of who ran the football better, and, obviously, they won that battle hands down."
Missouri did win the battle, thanks to the Tiger duo of running back Brock Olivo and quarterback Corby Jones. Olivo rushed for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Jones ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
The Kansas running game, as it has been in all of its losses, was nonexistent. Senior running back June Henley rushed for 82 yards on 24 carries and ended the season with 1,349 rushing yards. But on his seventh carry of the game, he became the Jayhawks' career rushing leader, surpassing Tony Sands' mark of 3,788 yards. Henley finished his career with 3,841 yards.
Kansas senior center Jim Stiebel said the Jayhawks (4-7 overall, 2-6 Big 12 Conference) were not as emotional about this game as Missouri, and the raucous crowd of 36.821 fans, was.
"Obviously they were playing with a lot of emotion and heart," Stiebel said. "That can win you games. I'm not making excuses for how we played, though. We felt like we had as much talent, but I don't know if we had the leadership we needed."
The Tigers had much at stake in this game. The win gave Missouri (5-6 overall, 3-5 conference) five wins for the first time since 1987 and consecutive wins for the first time in the three years that Larry Smith has been head coach at Missouri.
What Kansas did have was yet another second-half collapse.
Missouri led 14-10 at halftime, thanks to the 80-yard run by Jones and a one-yard touchdown run by Olivo. Kansas got its first-half scores on a two-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ben Rutz to senior tight end Jim Moore and a 25-yard field goal by junior Jeff McCord.
Then it turned ugly.
The Tigers scored on four straight second-half possessions.
Jones had a 37-yard touchdown run and Olivio had two a touchdown run of 10 yard and another of one yard. Kenetta Williams made it 42-17 on a one-yard touchdown run.
Rutz, making his final start for Kansas, was 16-of-24 passing for 199 yards and three
courtdowns, but he was sacked five times.
Once again, Rutz' primary target was Byrd,
who led Kansas with five receptions for 73
yards.
touchdowns, but he was sacked five times.
Like everyone associated with the Jayhawks, Byrd had a hard time believing how far they had fallen in just one year.
"We're starting all over again and rebuilding," he said. "We took a major step back this year. Something went wrong this year, and I think we're having a hard time figuring out what exactly it was."
Mason said he also had trouble figuring out what went wrong.
"I really don't think we played to our full potential," Mason said. "I don't have the reason why. I wish I could pinpoint it. But I will be forced to keep looking because you want to be sure you don't make the same mistakes a year from now."
The game also was the final one for 16 Kansas seniors.
"You always have high hopes when you have a group like this," Mason said. "But let's face it, this season didn't work out like anyone expected. They've had some great moments, just not enough this year."
That includes Henley. He was as inconsistent as a 1,000-yard rusher could be, but he said he was proud of his season.
But as disappointing as the season was, Mason said the Jayhawks had to put it behind them and looked toward next season.
"I'm really happy I got it, but I think it's something I'll have to wait until the season's over to look at that," he said. "Right now, I'm upset with the season. Everybody's kind of down. Nobody on this team thought we had a chance at losing to Missouri."
"The '96 season is officially over, and we're on to the '97 season," he said.
Mason to stay with Jayhawks another season
Coach planning to make changes
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
Missouri fullback Ernest Blackwell eludes Jayhawk defenders during Saturday's win against the Jayhawks 42-26. Missouri defeated Kansas for the first time since 1992.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Despite a 4-7 record and losing his leading rusher, receiver and tackler, Kansas coach Glen Mason is actually looking forward to next year — a year he plans to spend at Kansas.
Despite being linked to the coaching vacancies at Illinois and Purdue, among others, Mason reiterated Saturday that he would stay at Kansas.
"I'm at Kansas," he said. "I've had some calls, but I haven't talked officially to anybody."
Mason said that he was not even looking at any other opportunities.
Last year after the Jayhawks' 10-2 season, he bolted for Georgia, then
changed his mind right before the Aloha Bowl and returned to Kansas.
But there's a big difference in the demand for a coach who went 10-2 and one who went 4-7.
In nine seasons at Kansas, Mason is 47-53-1, but it's hard to measure his success of late. He has done a good job of building the Jayhawks back to a respectable and competitive program. Mason took the Jayhawks from one win in 1988 to four in 1990 and then a 6-5 season in 1991. The Jayhawks went to the Aloha Bowl in 1992 with an 8-4 record, but like this season, they were unable to maintain that success.
Two straight bowl-less seasons ended with last year's 10-2 mark. But the Jayhawks completely fell apart this season, thanks in large part to quarterback problems, an inconsistent running game, a horrible defense and lack of leadership.
"You certainly can't blame all this on coach Mason," his wide shoulder receive Isaac Byrd said. "We brought a lot of on ourselves.
Byrd said he was unsure of Mason's status.
"I don't know if he'll go anywhere, but I think he's committed to Kansas," Byrd said. "But hey, you never know. He left last year."
Mason said that changes would be made.
"I'm going work my tail off," he said. "I don't have any specific things right now. Let's face it, I've made changes each and every year. We'll go back and rethink this thing and come up with a plan and make it better."
Mason may not go, but that doesn't mean his assistant coaches won't. Mason made two coaching changes after a disappointing 1994 season and changed position assignments for five coaches.
"I'm not going to say yes or no only because I wouldn't discuss it with you if I was definitely making changes or not making changes." Mason said of his coaching staff.
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