This weekend’s Sunflower Showdown will feature two of the most extraordinary quarterbacks to ever suit up for the Jayhawks and the Wildcats. In the Jayhawks’ corner, you have Todd Reesing, and for the Wildcats, you have Josh Freeman.

Reesing, the little guy listed at 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, has his Orange Bowl ring and is in the process of rewriting Kansas’ passing records. Freeman, listed at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, may be the best NFL quarterback prospect at Kansas State since AFC champion and longtime Patriots veteran Steve Grogan played at K-State more than three decades ago.

On the field, these guys look a lot different running their respective teams’ offenses. Reesing’s play is best described by Spencer Hall of the popular college football blog “Every Day Should Be Saturday.” After the Orange Bowl, Hall said that Reesing looked like “the world’s most badass high school QB playing at the college level.”

Freeman, who has the size of an NFL defensive end, is a dual threat to opposing teams and can run the ball at will. At the moment, Freeman has 13 rushing touchdowns to go along with 15 bombs through the air.

But off the field, these guys are something else, too. Reesing, a double major in economics and finance, is a straight A student likely headed to graduate school when he’s done being the Jayhawks’ gunslinger. Without a helmet and shoulder pads, you might not even be able to tell that Reesing is the starting quarterback for Kansas. Earlier this year, Lawrence Journal-World reporter Robert Riley didn’t even recognize Reesing when working on an “On the Street” feature.

Standing over half a foot taller than Reesing, there’s no mistaking Freeman. But what you may not know is that Freeman can tell a good story. When Freeman’s not in class or studying game film of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, he moonlights as a columnist for Sporting News Today. In his columns he’s written about everything from spending his fall break talking to the media after a tough loss to his pet python Corby. In one column, he talks about feeding Corby rabbits and how his roommates don’t like him keeping the snake in their living room.

Tomorrow’s game marks the 106th meeting between Kansas and Kansas State. In the past, the Jayhawks have seen the likes of quarterbacks Bobby Douglass, John Hadl and Nolan Cromwell. The Wildcats have had Grogan, Lynn Dickey and Michael Bishop at the helm of its offense. Taking a look back into the history books, it’s been a long time since both teams have had quarterbacks as good as they do now at the same time.

In 1968, Dickey and Douglass squared off i the n Manhattan. The Jayhawks won 38-29. Douglass went on to earn All-American honors and lead his team to the Orange Bowl. Dickey went on to set Kansas State passing records and was named all-time greatest quarterback in the Big Eight conference by the Associated Press.

Forty years later, the game of football has changed quite a bit. The spread offense has turned the gridiron into what now seems more like the game of basketball with cleats. This new style of football has allowed Freeman to set the all-time Kansas State records for passing yards and touchdowns. Reesing has already broken the Kansas record for touchdowns and could break the record for yards if he gets 244 yards this weekend. With that, this year’s Sunflower Showdown will be all about Freeman and Reesing.

— — Edited by Rachel Burchfield