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Football Notes: November 5, 2007

By Asher Fusco

Monday, November 5, 2007

Kansas, not Kansas State

It was a rough day all around for Kansas State. The Wildcats suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Iowa State Cyclones and received several boos several hundred miles south in Memorial Stadium. The first round of unrest came when one of the pregame skydivers landed near midfield sporting a silver and purple parachute. About two quarters later, referee Randy Christal made a shameful slip-up, announcing a Kansas timeout as a “timeout taken by Kansas State.” At that point, the crowd showered Christal with an unfriendly serenade of boos until he turned his microphone on and announced, “Correction — correction. Kansas.”

Photo Gallery

Football vs Nebraska

Record-breaking attendance

The numbers on the scoreboard weren’t the only big figures involved in Saturday’s game. The announced attendance of 51,910 set an all-time Memorial Stadium record, breaking the mark set at last year’s Kansas State game. The announced attendance at Memorial Stadium has topped 40,000 in each game this season — most likely a biproduct of the Jayhawks’ 9-0 start.

Holding on to the ball

Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing’s 30-of-41 passing performance was his most accurate of the season. Of course, it helps when the receivers catch the ball. Kansas receivers dropped just one pass against Nebraska, a drastic improvement from the group’s performance in recent weeks. After the game, coach Mark Mangino and Reesing both credited the receiving corps for its steady effort. Eight Jayhawks made at least one catch, and three gained more than 50 receiving yards.

Stuffing the run

There wasn’t much defense to speak of in the 76-39 game, but the Kansas run defense fared well. The Jayhawks gave up just 89 yards, 67 of which came in the fourth quarter when the game was far out of the Cornhuskers’ reach. Nebraska junior running back Marlon Lucky, who entered the contest ranked third in the Big 12 Conference in rushing yards, mustered only 15 yards on eight carries. Freshman running back Roy Helu paced Nebraska with 56 rushing yards on nine carries. Junior linebacker Mike Rivera was the most crucial cog in the Kansas run defense, making a team-high seven tackles and forcing a fumble.

Touchdown Todd Reesing

Reesing made some large-scale improvements to his impressive resume Saturday. In addition to setting the single-game school passing touchdown record (6), Reesing set a new Kansas single-season passing touchdown record (23). His 26 career touchdown passes are fourth in school history and his 2.543 passing yards rank 11th on the all-time school list. Reesing is now ranked 16th in the nation in passing efficiency. The Austin, Texas, native also garnered some praise from teammates and coaches. Mangino said the quarterback had the chance to be the best quarterback he had ever been associated with in his entire coaching career, and senior wide receiver Marcus Henry said he thought Reesing should contend for the Heisman trophy this season.

Renaissance man

Versatile sophomore receiver/quarterback Kerry Meier enjoyed what might have been his best all-around game of the season last Saturday. Meier made a career-high four receptions for 42 yards, scored his first career receiving touchdown, carried the ball once for five yards and even played quarterback in the fourth quarter. Because the game was already out of hand, Meier did not attempt any passes while playing quarterback. Meier is the first Kansas player to earn at least one rushing, one receiving and one passing touchdown in a season since Garfield Taylor accomplished the feat in 1981.

The Nebraska blues

Saturday afternoon was ugly in a few different ways for the once-proud Nebraska Cornhuskers. The loss was just Nebraska’s second in the past 39 games of the series, and Kansas gained more yards and scored more points than any Nebraska opponent in the 117-year, 1,179-game history of the program. The Cornhuskers’ current five-game losing streak is their longest since 1958, and the team is now tied for 10th in the Big 12 Conference standings, ahead of only Baylor. Junior quarterback Joe Ganz rolled up 405 passing yards in the first start of his career, but struggled mightily in the second half. Overall, Ganz completed just 50 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions.

Not so special teams.

Kansas’ special teams were a mixed bag against Nebraska, to say the least. Senior punter Kyle Tucker nearly had his first and only punt blocked, barely getting it off in time but booting the ball sky-high and just 22 yards downfield. Nebraska took over at the Kansas 46-yard line and used the short field to its advantage, scoring a touchdown about four minutes later. Kansas kicker Scott Webb set a single-game school record by making 10 point-after-TDs, but missed one point-after attempt and his only field goal attempt. Junior wide receiver Marcus Herford enjoyed an outstanding effort returning kickoffs. He recorded two 49-yard returns and averaged 33.8 yards per return overall. Herford entered the game ranked first in the Big 12 in yards per kick return.

— Asher Fusco

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