Sharp carries Kansas to victory
Junior Jake Sharp rushed a career high 31 times for 118 yards and three touchdowns.
By B.J. Rains (Contact)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
Noticing their buddy was a little down in the dumps, quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receiver Kerry Meier decided to pull running back Jake Sharp aside from practice a few weeks ago for a chat.
The three are close friends off the field and the two encouraged Sharp to stay positive. They promised him that his time would soon come.
Video by Tyler Waugh
View highlights from KU's victory Saturday over Colorado.
It came on Saturday. Making his first start in almost a month, Sharp looked more like the player who had 821 yards rushing as a backup last year than the one who had only 62 yards rushing in the first three games of the season.
Sharp had a career high 31 carries, rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 16 Kansas to a 30-14 victory over Colorado on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
“He’s really come to life,” said coach Mark Mangino. “He’s really comfortable, and we’re really pleased with his performance. He’s a guy that plays well based on sheer determination. He has a lot of heart, and we all respect that.”
Kansas battled poor field position for much of the first quarter and fell behind 7-0 for the second straight game. But that’s when Sharp went to work, rushing five times for 37 yards on the Jayhawks next drive including a 1-yard touchdown run that tied the game 7-7 with 8:56 left in the second quarter.
“I just told Jake that he has to keep his head up and keep fighting,” Reesing said. “We kind of had a round robin thing going at running back and were trying to find someone with that consistency. Jake’s a hard working kid. He kept his chin up and continued to learn and it’s paid off for him. He’s had two good games and he just needs to keep going in that direction.”
Sharp’s 31 carries were the most for a Kansas running back since Jon Cornish in 2006 and his 118 yards rushing were the most by a Jayhawk since Brandon McAnderson rushed for 132 yards against Oklahoma State last season.
“I guess for anyone who has ever doubted the fact that I can’t do that, there you go,” Sharp said. “If you keep working hard and plugging away it usually comes back to you. And it did.”
Kansas led 9-7 halftime but could have trailed if not for a strong performance from the KU defense. Kendrick Harper and Darrell Stuckey both had an interception and Jake Laptad sacked Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins in the end zone for a safety, the first KU safety since Maxwell Onyegbule had a sack against Southeastern Louisiana last season.
“The defense bailed out the special teams,” Mangino said.
The special teams unit struggled to say the least, having problems in almost every phase. Daymond Patterson and Dexton Fields both fumbled punt returns, Jacob Branstetter missed a 39-yard field goal, and Marcus Herford averaged just 13 yards on two kick returns against the worst kickoff coverage team in the nation in Colorado.
The Jayhawks average starting field position on the first five drives was their own 16-yard line with their best start in that span being just the 24-yard line.
“I’ll make sure that we get that corrected,” Mangino said. “That is my No. 1 priority going into practice this week.”
Reesing completed 27 of 34 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown, a five-yard strike to Dezmon Briscoe that capped a 12 play, 78 yard drive that made it 16-7 Kansas late in the third quarter. Reesing now needs just six completions to move past Frank Seuer for the school record.
Sharp, who had just 21 carries his entire freshman season in 2006, added touchdown runs of seven and eight yards in the fourth quarter as the Jayhawks pulled away for the 16-point victory.
Kansas now travels to Oklahoma for a nationally televised ABC matchup on Saturday against the Oklahoma Sooners, who had been the No. 1 team in the nation before losing 45-35 to Texas on Saturday.
After opening the season 5-1 and 2-0 in conference play, Kansas will now play four top-10 teams in a span of seven weeks.
“I see a great opportunity,” Mangino said. “I see an opportunity for our football program to make a statement.”
Discussion
All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.
Share your 2¢
Requires free registration.