Mangino's Greatest Hits: KU / Houston (2005 Fort Worth Bowl)

THE WINNING TRADITION BEGINS
You can't say that it was the greatest game from a competitive standpoint or that it had near the prestige of the contests we've battled in over the past couple of years. Still, at the time, the 42-13 Fort Worth Bowl win over Houston to cap off the careers of a lot Mangino's first era players felt pretty good and has the following distinctions:

• Mark Mangino's first bowl win at KU
• KU's first bowl win since 1995
• Clinched Mangino's first winning season at KU
• Saw a really large contingent of Jayhawk fans make the trip to Fort Worth (not the most prestigious bowl out there). Fifteen to 20k sounds about right to me and it set a nice precedent that KU fans have exceeded in the last two bowl games.

KU quarterback Jason Swanson was the game MVP hitting on 19-of-29 passes for 307 yards and four TDs, but it was team effort overall. Brian Murph took a punt return to the house. Jon Cornish had a big game (101 yds) and of course, the KU defense suffocated the Houston attack. The play that stood out for me though, was the Charlton Keith snag of Kevin Kolb's sideline pass and the resulting dive into the endzone. That all happened right in front of me and the KU fan section, so we had an up-close view of that action. The video doesn't do it justice.

PHOTO THAT SAYS IT ALL:
http://www2.kusports.com/photos/galleries/2005/dec/23/ku_vs_houston_122305/9546/

VIDEO LINKS:
6sports summary: http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2005/dec/23/7766/

Fan pep rally footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBRuM1LHfD0

QUOTES:

"That was a huge win for us. We practiced for three weeks and have been going at it since last November, so it was sweet to have something at the end of the tunnel for us."
--Jason Swanson

"Our defense shut the run down. They did a nice job of dinking and dunking for a little while. But our guys wore them down up front."
--Mark Mangino

"Our defense shut the run down. They did a nice job of dinking and dunking for a little while. But our guys wore them down up front."
--Mark Mangino

"We've come a long way. It's pretty neat to be a part of the foundation."
--Nick Reid

"I don't think the score is indicative of tonight's game. We had some bad things happen. We didn't coach or play very well so that's why things turned out the way it did."
--Art Briles (Houston coach at the time)

7 of 12 | More from Mangino's Greatest Hits

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

2008 KU Football Wish/To Do List -- 1/3 Season Report

So it's time to check progress on the list from this past summer:

--Big 12 Championship
Musicians like to say a bad practice makes for a good performance. September was a little mediocre, so let's assume the Jayhawks show us awesome in October   

--Charles Gordon is avenged on November 15, 2008
It shall be done

--A full house for opening day (borrowed from 2007)
Check (with a bonus sellout vs Sam Houston)

--The team properly channels the nationwide "just a scheduling fluke" media campaign and comes into the season with the exact right amount of focused anger/adrenaline

Nope

--Clint Bowen solves the spread offense

Haven't seen anything new yet

--Maxwell Onyegbule gets to Chase Daniel ... every down.
Hopefully, he's saving it all up for that one game

--Mike Rivera gets to Chase Daniel ... every down.
Our best pass rusher against USF, but he didn't start against Sam Houston. There are rumors about a possible injury

--RJ Jr and Darius Parish erase my fond memories of James McClinton

Actually, if you watch the interior play they're not doing too bad. Jamal Greene has shown some flashes as well. We haven't quite seen the consistent jump and penetration that McClinton had last year, but remember it took him a few years to get there as well.

--Todd Reesing 2008 exceed TR 2007

Check

--Dexton Fields and Dezmon Briscoe both go over 1,000

Would love to see Fields back for Iowa State. Seems to have big games against the Clones. Briscoe is pretty much on target despite a forgettable evening in Tampa and losing his start against Sam Houston. I'm pretty sure the Breeze will get the message. Time to be a leader.

--Ed Warriner blows my mind by staying ahead of the Big 12 with further innovation to last year's scheme

Other than a greater reliance on the shuttle pass, nothing new here and a season's worth of film has our opponents knowing us well. Todd Reesing will have to continue to pull rabbits out of the hat if we don't start showing some new features.

--Find a confident punt returner that can be a threat

Check

--Jeff Spikes lives up to the hype

Still at the front of the curve, but he has his moments.

--Marcus Herford becomes a legitimate Big 12 wide receiver threat (last chance man)

I'm not giving up the dream, but I would like to see the kick returns improve

--Jake Sharp -- 80 yard TD run at any point in the conference season or in the state of Florida

Hmmm. Let's adjust this to an 8 yard TD run 

--40,000 plus Jayhawk fans wearing blue at Arrowhead (adjusted down from 50k for our "home" game last year)

We'll see

--60,000 plus Jayhawk fans wearing blue at Arrowhead one week later

The fans will be there

--14 wins

Looks like we'll come up one short, but I can certainly live with 13-1