Best Division in Football Goes 1-3 In Bowls

And that one win wasn't too impressive. Thank you very little Texas.

I don't think OU fans need a KU blog to pile on, but that was a game the Sooners just couldn't lose. So let me just lay it out there. You've successfully erased any shred of credibility that the Big 12 cultivated this year. After unwrapping the winning golden ticket for the south's slot to the Big 12 title game over Texas, you really owed it to the Horns to go out and clobber whatever opponent you came up against. Instead, you offer up a 24-14 non-effort  to a run-based Florida squad that was trying to give you the game in the first half. Two touchdowns? Is this a joke? Mission fail.

Of course, Texas can't say too much as things really started to fall apart when Tech played Lloyd Christmas in a public restroom to Ole Miss (47-34) during the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss of course beat the Gators earlier this year in Gainesville (31-30). That alone took Texas out of the mix for me. Barely surviving Big 10 Champ Ohio State (24-21) did little to impress. The Big 10 was 1-6 for the bowl season. You'd like to laugh, but the Big 12 could have easily ended up at 2-5.

As I often do, I'd like to blame Missouri. They kicked off the bowl season with that miserable effort against Northwestern. They squeaked it out despite themselves, but I think they set a bad tone for the Big 12.

On the upside, who looked good for the Big 12 in the bowl season? Yep, KU and Nebraska. Sure, we weren't matched up against the level of opponent that most of the south teams were, but we took care of business and the Huskers actually overachieved. What does it all mean? Well, I know Nebraska isn't going to be in awe of the south division next year and will be looking to make a statement when they face Tech and OU in Lincoln. I think KU needs to wipe the aura of mystique from their eyes as well when they face the big three in 2009. Respect is good, but clearly these guys aren't the indestructible comic-book style mega-forces that we have been sold on all year. It's time to really step into their world and shake it up. 

Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / ISU 2005

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
Continuing the series in chronological order, next up is the under-rated battle that took place with Iowa State to finish the 2005 season. The game had a playoff-type atmosphere as Clones needed a win to claim the North for a trip to the Big 12 title game in Houston and KU needed a win to secure a bowl bid. A pretty good number of red and yellow clad Iowa State fans were in house and I remember hearing a "Houston" cheer several times during the game. That was somewhat understandable as ISU actually jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first half. KU rallied though in the fourth and Brian Luke had to come in to for Jason Swanson when he was injured on a hit after a big completion. Luke scored on QB sneak TD that had to be over-turned by video review. Looking at the replay, it wasn't exactly visible that the ball went over, but the position of his torso and the ball meant that it had to be over the line. It was frightening in that the on-the-field call was no TD, so the video evidence had to be conclusive. From a logic standpoint, it was, but it didn't necessarily provide a clear-cut view of the ball crossing.

Luke then hit Derek Fine for the two-point conversion to tie the score at 14. ISU came back and scored to take a 21-14 lead. In the final minutes, Luke led another drive that featured a 35-yard pass to Marcus Henry then culminated with a 15-yard TD pass to Dexton Fields. Overtime saw the Cyclones miss a field goal on their possession. Enter Scott Webb with a 34-yard field goal that went right down the middle of the uprights for the 24-21 win and a trip to the Fort Worth Bowl. From the east side at that time, the explosion on the sideline from the players was something I've never seen before. Unfortunately, I've never seen any decent video of that as you really would have had to have a camera focused on the entire bench during the kick. A huge win for Mark Mangino, and I'm not sure that Iowa State really ever recovered from that one.

PHOTO THAT SAYS IT ALL:
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/galleries/2005/nov/26/ku_vs_iowa_state_112605/8456/

VIDEO LINK:
http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2005/nov/26/7500/

QUOTES:

"It was fun, I cleared everything from my head and tried to just do what I do everyday in practice. We're going bowling."
--Scott Webb

"I was just ready. I was excited to get the opportunity again. I'm excited, especially for all us seniors. Lets go bowling."
--Brian Luke

"This feels awesome to end the season like this. I was playing for our seniors. Guys have been here with for five years. We came here and been through some bumpy times, it hasn't been easy by any stretch, but to end it like this is something special."
--Brian Luke

"The kids reached back for a little extra. I'm glad those 20 guys get to play in another game. They deserve it."
--Mark Mangino

6 of 12 | More from Mangino's Greatest Hits

The 2008 KU Football Season in Seven Minutes

Baby Mangino Going for the Title

 National Title?

YEAR OF THE JAYHAWK IS GOING INTO OVERTIME

It's almost too much. First, you get within a couple of games of the BCS title contest, then you win the Orange Bowl, then a National Championship in basketball. Follow that with a sweep of KSU and MU in football and cap it off with back-to-back bowl wins. But wait, there's more. Baby Mangino is going for some sort of national title in some sort of Deadspin contest. The post is written in some sort of hipster code that probably only me and Bill Mayer don't understand, but the jist is if you click on the link below the Baby Mangino photo, you are indeed voting for Baby Mangino. When I voted, he had a slight lead. Could this really be happening?

http://deadspin.com/5123115/shoty-title-game-buzz-bissinger-vs-baby-mangino

Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / NU 2005

The End
It was a 36-year streak and it ended on this day with a 40-15 win for the Hawks in Lawrence. Plenty of big plays in this one highlighted by the 70+ yard TD run by Jon Cornish that broke it open. The run itself was symbolic as Cornish brushed aside that last NU tackler and enjoyed a long jaunt to the endzone. I always notice that toward the end of the run Jon secures the ball one final time. I always took it as a realization of the significance of that one single play -- one of the greatest in the history of KU football. It wasn't all Cornish though -- the defense harrassed Zac Taylor all day and Mark Simmons had a couple of big TD catches as Jason Swanson came into his own. The first Swanson to Simmons TD started the party off right and let the Huskers know that KU was there to play. Simmons' last TD was another circus diving catch.

Photo That Says It All:
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/galleries/2005/nov/05/ku_vs_nebraska_110505/7701/

More Video:
http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2005/nov/05/7298/

Quotes:

"The jubilation in the locker room was unprecedented. We have never celebrated so hard and been so happy about one victory."
--Jon Cornish

"We finally took that step where we beat the powerhouse Nebraska. I know they're not the Nebraska of old, but they're still Nebraska."
--Kevin Kane

"Having all those oldtimers come up and thank you for the first win since '68 -- it's such an incredible feeling. To be able to give that back to the fans and let them celebrate and have so much fun, and to be able to witness something lots of people haven't been able to witness their entire lives. Yes, it was one of the best feelings I've ever been a part of."
--Banks Floodman

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Sunday Morning Insight Bowl Film Review

Here's a good way to spend the last day of the winter break. You might as well check out as many video clips of the Insight Bowl that you can find. Here's a few of the best and always remember to watch in high quality when available:

First Play -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tz6AY1yL3I&feature=related

Reesing to Meier to tie at 14 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaLlaaxSso0&feature=related

Reesing to the Breeze (21-14) -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KDRcy8kldw&feature=related

Inside the Tent: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21

FROM THE HEARTH ROOM
The Jayhawks came at the Gophers in three's last night -- Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe on one side and James Holt, Mike Rivera and Joe Mortensen on the other side. One trio will return to terrorize Big 12 secondaries next year and the other cements their legacy with a dominating performance in an old-school game of tackle football. Boy, it was beautiful to watch Rivera and Mortensen playing the game the way they were meant to play -- running and smashing. Throw in Holt as Adam Weber's nightmare and it all makes Jayhawk football fans super happy. Hopefully, the NFL was watching their own network last because playing hurt all year against freak spread teams really doesn't show their strengths. Last night did and I sure hope all three at least get some attention from the NFL.

From the offensive side, the Jayhawks just have too many weapons and a chameleon-like ability to adapt. The Gophers went with throwing a ton of heat on Todd Reesing and had some success, but it didn't matter because Reesing again showed the five "d's" of minimizing a pass rush -- dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge (I assume Patches O'Houlihan was a relative). And after avoiding that rush, the gunslinger always comes out firing. Of course, Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier are a lot of fun to watch as they track down those bullets and usually turn up field for something we like to call YAC. Yep, the Gophers played hard, physical football, but the Hawks just had too many weapons.

THE GOOD
Overall, the crowd looked small, but geez, I was pretty pleased with what seemed like a lot KU fans in the stadium. Gopher fans seemed to represent pretty well also. Really, it looked there just weren't many neutral Phoenix fans there.

THE BAD
I'll have to go with starting off the Fox/NFL Network HD broadcast with closed caption in the middle of the screen. Also, the back-to-back offensive three-and-outs after the goal line stand in the second half. The first one was somewhat understandable considering starting in your own endzone, but the second sure left our defense out on the field for a long time. 

THE SWEET
It's so hard not to think about next year. Of the three north contenders, KU is the only one with a returning QB and we get the Huskers in Memorial and the Tigers at a neutral site. Again, last night was about starting 2009 off on the right foot and consider that mission accomplished. In fact, all of the bowl games (except the "title" game on January 8) have the feel of early exhibitions for the following season. Maybe they should move them to August.

WHAT'S NEXT
Signing day on February 4.

KU Game Day: KU vs Minnesota - Insight Bowl

UM wideout Eric Decker in action / credit: BohPhoto (flickr cc)

Ready For Decker?

Series: 3-3
Time: Wednesday, December 31, 5:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Sun Devil Stadium
Location: Tempe, AZ
TV: NFL Network, WDAF 4
Line: KU (-9)

Bowl Records
KU 5-6
UM 5-7

History 
1893 UM 12, KU 6
1896 UM 12, KU 0 (in KC)
1966 KU 16, UM 14
1971 UM 38, KU 20
1972 KU 34, UM 28
1973 KU 34, UM 19

The Scene
All kinds of crazy story lines as KU heads into this bowl match-up. First off, KU is playing in back-to-back bowl games for the first time ever. That won't seem quite as cool if they get upset by a Minnesota team that finished the season with a 55-0 home loss to Iowa. Also, you have Justin Thornton and John Larson out for the game and Jake Sharp recovering from the flu. Did he infect anyone else? Hopefully, he's been hanging out with the Gophers. And finally, what do you think of the Big 12 so far? OSU did not represent the "best division in college football" so well last night, so the mighty Spread 12 is now 1-1 this bowl season thanks to an overtime "skin o' th teeth" win by the Tigers. The Jayhawks are under some serious pressure to not let this snowball start running down the wrong side of the hill. Believe me the Big 10 would love to take a bite out of the Big 12 this year.

The Key
I'm going to have to throw out a few things for this game. Usually, I like to go with pass rush, but I'm thinking the Gophers are going to try to run on us despite the fact that they are a spread team. Can the Jayhawks still play physical football? If they do shut down the UM run game, that brings up key #2. Are we going to get good coverage out of Kendrick Harper and Chris Harris? Obviously, there will be a point when UM will go to leading offensive threat -- wideout Eric Decker. We'll need a good performance by the secondary to keep him in check and that makes for a good opportunity for redemption for both Harper and Harris. On the offensive side of the ball, David Lawrence mentioned this morning that the Gophers play the 3-4. Based on the KSU game, we should like that. If Jake Sharp, doesn't look full speed tonight, it wouldn't be a bad time for Jocques Crawford to have a big game. I fully expect Todd Reesing and his crew to be "on" this evening.

The Motivation
All kinds of motivation. Really, this kicks off the 2009 season and the Jayhawks want to get that rolling now. A division title is realistic, but it won't seem so if the Hawks can't handle a Big 10 middleweight. Another item to consider for KU is the Mangino Era record against non-conference BCS teams (2-4). With Duke on the slate next September, the opportunity to even that record starts tonight.

"I’m kind of disappointed that they’re a spread offense. like to spread out the ball. It’s stuff that we’ve seen all year, nothing too surprising"
--James Holt

Link to Photo | BohPhoto Flickr CC

KU Football Recycle: Time To Get Serious

Okay, we'll take a few days off from the "Mangino's Greatest Hits" series as it's time to focus in on the Gophers. First, we need to catch up on a little news:

TOBEN OPURUM
Denverjhawk at RCT has done it again with another great interview. This time with four-star running back Toben Opurum. Go there now.

FOUR-STAR DE
Hot pot of coffee, folks. Mark Mangino and his staff have put together a great class. While I was celebrating Festivus in central Kansas, Rivals reported that the Jayhawks landed four-star JUCO defensive end Quintin Woods from Bakersfield, CA. Woods is 6-6/245 and runs a 4.65 forty according to the recruiting site. Looks like he choose KU over KSU, Washington St. UTEP and Boise State.

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS
Seriously, Justin Thornton and John Larson are out for the Insight Bowl? C'mon. Throw in the flu for Jake Sharp and I'm wondering what is going on here. All indications are that Sharp will play, but it's still a concern. It's too bad to see a senior like Larson miss his final game. I've always liked this kid and rooted for him. Hopefully, he'll be feeling better soon.

JUSTIN THORNTON EXPANDED THOUGHTS
This one hurts. The Minnesota game is really the start of 2009 and I really think having a big corner like JT is one of the key factors in facing the Spread 12 conference. I'm not sure if the NFL is in his future, but I'd certainly be thinking about it if I was him and I'd be preparing for next year. You get one shot at this, so I'd leave nothing to chance. Of course, that's easy to say sitting in my chair, but sometimes you wish you could give these young guys a visit from the ghost of football future.

MIZZOU REPRESENTS?
That wasn't exactly the emphatic statement we were expecting from a Big 12 vs Big 10 matchup. There are a number of things to comment on, but I'll start with KU better start taking Minnesota a little more seriously. Maybe Mizzou is just an emotional shell after ... well, I don't know what you would call the 2008 campaign for them. Maybe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Quality Wins. Anyway, hopefully OSU can be a little more effective against Oregon. If not, get ready for Big 12 exposure.

THE CHASE DANIEL COMEDY HOUR
It was more like three hours. Seriously, not to pile on Chase Daniel, but something has to have happened. He really looked bad. I didn't see the wind whipping around inside the Alamo Dome, so that probably wasn't the factor on misfiring on virtually every open MU receiver deep. How about running up to the line of scrimmage on third and five and heaving it out of bounds instead of diving for the first? How about the bomb into the stands that got the Mizzou fans booing as Tommy Saunders jogged down the sidelines? If a guy ever played a football game stoned, that's what I think it would look like. Strange, but maybe it was just a case of a senior pressing too hard in his final games.

GARY PINKEL'S GAME MANAGEMENT MASTER CLASS
So, you're approaching the 20-yard line with a little over 30 seconds left and two time outs in a tie game at the end of regulation. You run off 15 seconds just for fun and do two running plays that lose five yards to get to the center of the field for a 44-yard field goal attempt? Hmm. Maybe he was afraid of Chase producing some sort of turnover, but I'm thinking I would have even thrown the ball one more time to get near the fifteen or more. Still, even if I'm running, I would have come up with something a little more serious than an empty backfield Chase Daniel run. By the way, that field goal would have been good from 39. It all ended up okay, but still overtime seemed un-necessary.

NOT MUCH ON THE GOPHERS HERE
Hey, I work cheap. We'll get some real content up for the big game. 

Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / MU 2005

Link to the KUsports.com Highlights 

This one gets a little lost among some of the other, but the 13-3 win over Missouri in 2005 was key for the season. The week before Jason Swanson got some time in a blowout loss at Colorado. You started to see that KU might finally have a leader at QB and sure enough the Jayhawks were a whole different team against the Tigers. The game ended a four-game losing streak and also introduced us to Aqib Talib as he intercepted a Brad Smith pitch for a huge turnover. His take:

"He kind of pitched it and dude didn't catch it," said Talib

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Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / MU 2004

Following Charles Gordon Gate the Jayhawks put on their red sox and headed to Columbia as Clark Green ripped through the heart of Mizzou's defense. This game was never close and a lot of people were surprised Pinkel survived this one. This game was available via webcast and this quote came from the Missouri broadcast team shortly after halftime:

"A lot of Missouri fans are now enjoying this one from the parking lot."

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Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / KSU 2004

K-State fans were blind-sided by this one for some reason. It ended the "Decade of Dominance" and signified and immediate shift in power. K-State squeezed out another win in Manhattan in 2005, but otherwise, it's been all KU. John Randle and Mark Simmons starred in this one as the game ended with Jayhawk fans jumping the fence from the hill to get on the field and snag a goalpost.

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