Robinett: Hawks have new confidence
This year’s team remains tough, fights through mistakes
In past years, the football team would never have fought back from the numerous setbacks it faced at No. 24 Kansas State, but this year is different. The K-State game could mark a turning point for the program.
Monday, October 8th, 2007
With a 30-24 victory at Kansas State, the Jayhawks put conventional wisdom to rest in three different ways.
No way could they win on the road, especially in Manhattan where they hadn’t done so since 1989, when I was only four years old. No way could they defeat a ranked team. And no way could they do both these things under the pressure of a television audience. The numbers were there. They said Kansas would lose.
In this case, the numbers lied. Kansas accomplished it all.
“I told our players that this was the day – that the time was right,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “Our program and our players are confident. They feel good about themselves, and they feel like this 2007 team can win anywhere.”
Mangino was right. Saturday was the day. The Jayhawks just made their biggest leap as a program since topping No. 4 Colorado on the road in 1995 to move to 5-0 under coach Glen Mason. That was the year Kansas finished ranked in the top 10 with a 10-2 record, giving it all kinds of momentum and a 1996 preseason ranking.
Then there were two untimely defensive penalties: a questionable roughing the kicker call that kept a KSU drive alive, and a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty that moved a third-and-six to an easily convertible third-and-inches in the KSU red zone.
Too bad one dropped pass squandered it all. The pass would have sent No. 20 Kansas to a 3-0 record by basically clinching a victory at Utah.
Remember Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala, the “Bad Ma’afala” who played for the Utes and the Pittsburgh Steelers? He ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns that night. But Kansas’ June Henley was the real star, with 220 rushing yards in a Heisman-worthy performance. The nation was watching on ESPN2, and the Jayhawks played well enough to win.
Utah was out of timeouts, and Kansas had the ball and the lead late in the fourth quarter. But the slot receiver dropped a throw on a wide-open, five-yard curl on third-and-four with 2:37 left. Kansas punted, Utah scored and Kansas got the ball back and went four-and-out.
The thrilling 45-42 loss sent the team into a downward spiral of six losses in eight games. The slide drove Glen Mason to the University of Minnesota and sent the program back into the toilet bowl as fast as it had climbed out with the hire of Terry Allen, who averaged four wins a season and never made a bowl game.
On Saturday, the Jayhawks faced the same situation as 1996. They made all the same mistakes they’d made before, which should have lost them the game and a chance to make the biggest statement KU football had made in 12 years.
First there were the three interceptions, along with a few more dangerous passes, by sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing. He looked relaxed and eventually settled down, but he didn’t play well in the first quarter. He continually threw into coverage, but luckily he rarely paid the price. Coming away from an awful first 15 minutes down only 7-0 was a huge victory for the offense’s confidence. It has the defense to thank for keeping Kansas State in check.
Then there were two untimely defensive penalties: a questionable roughing the kicker call that kept a KSU drive alive, and a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty that moved a third-and-six to an easily convertible third-and-inches in the KSU red zone. The results were a field goal and a touchdown for Kansas State.
Then there was the fourth-and-one from inside the 20-yard line that Kansas didn’t convert, which left Kansas State within four points, 21-17. It seemed like a good decision to go for the touchdown and Kansas State’s throat, but the play call was horrendous. On third-and-one, why run an option to sophomore running back Jake Sharp when the defense expects a run? Senior running back Brandon McAnderson bumped and bruised through defenders all day for 81 rushing yards on only 12 carries, while Sharp got most of his yards on misdirection and draw plays. A handoff to McAnderson or a Reesing bootleg would have had a better chance to succeed.
Then there were the seven dropped passes, including a sure touchdown by senior tight end Derek Fine that would have put the game away for good, and another by junior wide receiver Dexton Fields that led to a KSU interception and subsequent touchdown – not to mention sophomore wide receiver Raimond Pendleton’s slippery fingers on punt returns.
And then came the worst of them all: a botched snap on an extra-point attempt that could have been the difference between overtime and a loss if Kansas State had scored a late touchdown.
It looked like the same old story.
But what these Jayhawks have that the others didn’t is that swagger, that confidence to know that no matter what, they’re going to make the plays to win close games in the fourth quarter.
“This year we have more experience, and we kept our confidence at the end of the game,” junior cornerback Aqib Talib said.
He’s right.
Last year, the Jayhawks wouldn’t have come back and scored the game-winning touchdown after Kansas State took back the lead. They proved it at Baylor.
Last year, they wouldn’t have made two crucial interceptions – one by junior defensive back Kendrick Harper and the other by Talib – that halted potential game-winning drives for Kansas State. They proved it at Nebraska and at home against Texas A&M.
Last year, the Kansas defense would have let Kansas State take advantage of the offense’s late-game mistakes. They proved it at Toledo.
Not this year. Kansas will hold onto its late leads. This year, 6-6 turns into 10-2. This year, we party like it’s 1995.
But as big of a turning point this win will be for the 2007 Kansas football team, the question is sustainability. In 1996, Kansas let all the program’s momentum slip through its fingers with one dropped pass.
These Jayhawks won’t let that happen, not this year at least. With Saturday’s win, Kansas picked up right where it left off in 1996 — ranked No. 20 in the AP poll.
“It’s one of those games that proves to everybody in college football that KU is one of those teams to beat,” Talib said. “It was a statement game.”
He’s right again.
Kansas is now officially a dangerous program, one that’s on the rise in college football and looking to climb higher. The nation should take notice.
Robinett is Sports Editor for The Kansan.
— Edited by Matt Erickson
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