Wright leads Northwestern to 28-20 victory

By Liz Heuben     Aug 30, 2003

In the end, Northwestern had too much Jason Wright and KU had too many turnovers and too little luck.

Wright, the Wildcats’ senior running back, tied career highs of 196 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 41 carries, and the Jayhawks didn’t have enough big plays in a 28-20 loss to the Wildcats on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the rain.

The Jayhawks (0-1) turned the ball over five times, including a fumble by quarterback Bill Whittemore in the final few seconds with KU facing first-and-10 deep in Northwestern territory.

Whittemore, who finished 12-of-28 for 240 yards, also threw an interception, as did Brian Luke, and both John Randle and Charles Gordon turned the ball over on fumbles. Adding to the miscues, Johnny Beck missed a field goal in the first half.

“We played hard tonight,” head coach Mark Mangino said. “I was proud of our team because we played hard the whole time. We did make a few mistakes. I am disappointed that we did not win and there is a lockerroom full of disappointed kids. After this game I want to dwell on the positives.”

After a scoreless first quarter where neither team could muster much on offense, Northwestern (1-0) scored twice in the second quarter on runs by Wright. The first touchdown came just a few plays after Randle’s fumble, caused by a vicious hit by Louis Ayeni.

The third quarter appeared to be a repeat of the first, as neither team could score, until Whittemore exhibited some of his trademark scrambling in throwing for the Jayhawks’ first touchdown of the season with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

Whittemore dropped back to pass, rolled right, stopped and then rolled left before connecting with Mark Simmons on the left sideline. Simmons then juked past most of the Wildcats’ secondary, running all the way over to the right sideline and received a crushing block by running back Clark Green near the 10-yard line before scoring. The 74-yard completion was Whittemore’s longest career pass.

“That was a big play and we need to continue to make big plays like that,” Whittemore said. “We have the capability of making those plays every game.”

Just 1:31 later, David McMillan picked off a pass by Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez in the middle of the field and returned it to the end zone, tying the game.

Wright gave the Wildcats the lead on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

With just more than five minutes remaining, the Jayhawks scored on another big play — a 20-yard blocked-punt return by Darren Rus. KU holder Curtis Ansel couldn’t handle the snap on the point-after attempt, though, and the Jayhawks still trailed by a point, 21-20.

The Jayhawks had an opportunity to stop the Wildcats deep in KU territory two drives later, but an offsides penalty gave Northwestern a first-and-goal from the two-yard line. Two plays later, Wright upped the Wildcats’ lead to eight points.

With just more than a minute remaining in the game, Whittemore moved the Jayhawks deep into Wildcat territory with a Hail Mary pass to Gordon, but after spiking the ball and stopping the clock with four seconds left, Whittemore fumbled while scrambling, ending KU’s chances.

Green finished with 79 yards on 17 carries, and freshman tailback Randle gained 10 yards on four carries. Simmons finished with a career-high 113 yards on three receptions, and Gordon had 90 yards on four catches.

Ansel averaged 48.3 yards on four punts, including a 59-yard punt in the first quarter.

Wildcat quarterback Brett Basanez was 23-of-36 passing for 219 yards and an interception, and Roger Jordan caught seven passes for 111 yards.

Northwestern had the ball nearly twice as long as KU (39:57 to 20:03), gained more than twice the rushing yardage (235 to 100), and had 25 first downs compared to just 14 for the Jayhawks.

After the game, Mangino thanked the fans who had braved the rain and stayed until the end.

“The first thing I want to do is thank every loyal Jayhawk fan that stuck it out tonight,” he said. “Myself and the team appreciate it, and I wish I could write each and every one of them a thank-you letter. It is the kidn of fan support that Kansas should expect and they deserve a good product.”

NOTES

  • hittemore is now 13th on the Kansas career passing yards list (1,906).
  • McMillan’s interception was the second of his career and his first career touchdown.
  • right’s 196 yards was the most by a KU opponent since Chris Brown rushed for 309 yards Oct. 12, 2002. It was the eighth 100-yard game of Wright’s career, and his 144 first-half yards were a career best for either half.
  • The loss snapped KU’s four-game win streak in home openers.
  • Eight Jayhawks made their first career starts, and 13 played in their first career game.

Keep logged on to KUsports.com for expanded post-game coverage, including stats, audio and photos.

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