Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / CU 2007

SOMETHING SPECIAL BREWING
By this time, KU fans knew something special could be in the works if the 6-0 Jayhawks could pull off a win in Boulder. Mark Mangino only had two conference road wins in his first five years and KU had already notched a big one in Manhattan.

The matchup with Colorado had a little more national attention and you could see intensity on both sides of the ball. It shaped up to be a defensive battle throughout the first half, but Todd Reesing did go on one of his long gallups. Scott Webb pulled off a crazy one-step 48 yard field goal to give KU a 3-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, CU answered on a trick play-action TD pass that put them up 7-3. KU answered with a Jake Sharp TD about 90 seconds later and retained the lead throughout. The Hawks pushed it out to 19-7 on Derek Fine TD catch in the fourth, but the Buffs did tighten it up and KU had to make a defensive stand at the end of the game to preserve the 19-14 win.

The 7-0 Jayhawks would be ranked #9 in the BCS poll -- rarified air for KU football diehards. Nationally though, the Jayhawks were starting to bristle the national pundits and their concept of the natural college football order. The "who have they played" chorus was growing and it had a verse that would change each week and went something like, "we'll see how they do in College Station, we'll see how they do in Stillwater."

Fans pretended to be annoyed, and the team used it as motivation. A perfect balance and a great ride.

PHOTO THAT SAYS IT ALL:
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/galleries/2007/oct/20/ku_vs_colorado/36652/

VIDEO LINKS:
6sports summary: http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2007/oct/21/15682/

QUOTES:

"We have some hard-nosed, tough kids. We have some talented kids, but the heart and soul of this team is the overachiever, hard-nosed kids. They were the ones that really buckled down here tonight."
--Mark Mangino

"We never feel unbeatable. You just have to prepare every week : Once you go out there feeling unbeatable, that's when you end up upset."
Aqib Talib

"I was just trying to get it down as fast as I could. If I didn't get it down the first time, I was going to run. Webb had an awesome kick. A (48)-yard, one-step kick."
--Kyle Tucker

"It was crazy, exciting. We're 7-0 now. We're ready to go out and get eight."
--Kyle Tucker

More from the series: Mangino's Greatest Hits

Comments

[moyae84]

The most amazing kick I ever saw.

Didn't it make the Sportscenter Top 10?

[DJ]

I think I was too busy celebrating to know if it made Sportscenter ... but I do remember thinking this never happens for KU.

[fabio]

Amazing weekend. The CU student section in the 4th Qtr was the loudest student section I had ever heard. Ive seen some impressive student sections. Our section on CUs last drive sounded like a student section we were so loud. I remember coach made a comment about us on the Mark Mangino TV Show. Something to the effect of our fans werent afraid to let themselves be heard. They gave us great support. The next morning the Denver area was covered in a blizzard and we were worried for a bit we were gonna be snowed in but were able to drive out of it in time.
Its not an easy haul across western Kansas and eastern Colorado, but this trip was absolutely worth it.
I also believe the morning before the game was one of the times that Corso really called us out.