Jayhawks put Sunflower Showdown on hold

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The hype is beginning to spread. Sports talk radio, internet message boards and newspapers started filling up with predictions in anticipation of Kansas’ Oct. 6 trip to Kansas State. But one group on campus has not yet turned its focus to the Sunflower Showdown — the Kansas football team.

Kansas will use the next few days to tighten up its play and work on some details before turning its attention to K-State next week, coach Mark Mangino said. The extra week leading into Big 12 Conference play will give the Jayhawks a bit of rest and an opportunity to make some additional adjustments in practice.

“It’s a good time for us to work on the little nuances, techniques and fundamentals that sometimes get lost during a week of game-planning,” Mangino said. “We think this is a very important week to improve our football team from that aspect.”

Mangino’s results in games following bye weeks are mixed. In his five seasons at Kansas, the team had a week-long pardon in all but one, 2002. In 2003, the Jayhawks followed their bye week with a 50-47 overtime loss at Colorado. The next season, Oklahoma drubbed Kansas 41-10 after the Jayhawks’ off week. In 2005, Kansas returned from its bye week and defeated Iowa State in overtime, clenching a bowl berth. Last season, the Jayhawks crushed K-State by 19 points after resting for a week.

The post-bye week results of the last two years are an encouraging sign for Kansas fans, especially considering who K-State spent this week preparing for. The Wildcats travel to Austin, Texas, on Saturday to face the No. 7 Texas Longhorns. Texas (4-0) is one of the best teams in the Big 12 Conference and should keep K-State from worrying too much about the upcoming Sunflower Showdown.

The Kansas players took Monday off before returning to practice on Tuesday. The Jayhawks will rest on Saturday before plunging into a week’s worth of frenzied media coverage and careful game-planning. But for now, Kansas is focusing more on Lawrence than Manhattan.

“We’re just going to focus on some fundamentals and work out some plays to get everything touched up for the Big 12,” sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing said. “But for right now, we’re not going to look ahead as much. We’re just going to work on our offense and get some things done.”

— Edited by Meghan Murphy

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