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KU vs. Minnesota

FINAL: KU 42/UM 21

TEMPE, Ariz. — Dezmon Briscoe caught 14 passes for 201 yards with three touchdowns, helping Kansas to a 42-21 victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium.

Todd Reesing was 27-for-35 for 313 yards with four touchdowns. Kerry Meier contributed 10 catches for 113 yards, adding both a passing and receiving touchdown.

KU 42/UM 21 — 1:33 left in 4th quarter

It looks like Ed Warinner decided enough was enough with the conservative gameplan.

KU came out firing on its next possession — and it worked. Reesing completed quick passes to Meier for 16, 5, 6 and 12 yards to help pick up three first downs.

Jake Sharp jumped over the pile for a 2-yard touchdown, and the Rock Chalk chant is going strong at Sun Devil Stadium. KU will pick up its third consecutive bowl win.

KU 35/UM 21 — 6:07 left in 4th quarter

After an illegal formation penalty negated a 36-yard pass play, Minnesota moved backwards on its next three plays. Two sacks came from Holt, who now has three sacks. He also has a sack in six straight games.

Facing fourth-and-32, the Gophers wisely punted it away.

KU 35/UM 21 — 10:56 left in 4th quarter

This one might not be in the bag just yet. KU’s drive stalls when Reesing is bear-hugged by Cedric McKinley for a 5-yard sack.

It won’t be easy for the Gophers, though. Using his rugby kick, Rojas pins UM back by getting a 63-yard punt to bounce out of bounds just inches in front of the goal line.

KU 35/UM 21 — 13:01 left in 4th quarter

After a KU punt, Minnesota comes back to make it a two-possession game. Weber connects with Decker for a 6-yard touchdown in the back corner of the end zone, and the Gophers aren’t out of it yet.

Decker has eight catches for 149 yards — both of those are Minnesota bowl records.

KU 35/UM 14 — 2:15 left in 3rd quarter

It’s rare that we see it, but Jacob Branstetter just missed a tackle on special teams. Just to prove he’s not your run-of-the-mill kicker, he chucked his helmet on the sidelines in frustration afterwards.

KU’s defense comes up with a huge stop on the goal line. Minnesota has second-and-goal on the KU 2 but can’t push the ball in the end zone on three consecutive running plays. The final stop on fourth-and-goal from the 1 is made by — who else? — Rivera and Mortensen.

KU 35/UM 14 — 7:53 left in 3rd quarter

The linebackers continue their exceptional game, as Rivera stripped the ball away from Eskridge and Mortensen recovered.

KU immediately pulled out its trick play, as after receiving a backwards pass, Meier threw a 32-yard TD pass over the top of the defense to Briscoe.

Briscoe also showed once again why he will be a pro receiver. From the press box, it looked as if Briscoe made a move to avoid a tackle at the 5-yard-line before he even caught the pass. It worked, as the nifty move enabled him to easily sidestep the UM defender before scoring.

KU 28/UM 14 — 9:59 left in 3rd quarter

The Reesing-to-Meier connection has turned into something special. On third-and-16, the two connected on a touch pass down the sideline for a 31-yard gain. Meier was well covered, but the pass was in a perfect spot and Meier came down with the tough grab.

Right after I compliment him, Meier drops a pass over the middle on a throw from Reesing on third-and-14. Rojas delivers a nice rugby-style punt for 49 yards to pin Minnesota back at its own 19.

KU 28/UM 14 — 12:46 left in 3rd quarter

KU’s linebackers look like they’re loving life right now. Minnesota has gone to its power package, and the ‘backers are flying to the line of scrimmage to make hits. Mike Rivera makes two big hits before Mortensen delivers a shot to UM quarterback Adam Weber on third down. The senior linebackers look pumped up, celebrating after each big tackle.

Minnesota goes three-and-out, and KU will take over at its own 16.

Halftime leaders

Kansas

Passing

Reesing 19-for-23, 221 yards, 4 TDs, INT

Rushing

Jake Sharp 11 carries, 54 yards

Todd Reesing 6 carries, 32 yards

Receiving

Dezmon Briscoe 10 catches, 147 yards, 2 TDs

Kerry Meier 5 catches, 43 yards, TD

Johnathan Wilson 2 catches, 17 yards, TD

Minnesota

Passing

Adam Weber 7-for-12, 79 yards

David Pittman 1-for-1, 75 yards

Rushing

DeLeon Eskridge 11 carries, 25 yards

Weber 3 carries, 6 yards

Receiving

Eric Decker 4 catches, 112 yards

David Pittman 2 catches, 13 yards

Also of note:

• KU has no penalties.

• Minnesota has just 13 carries for 45 yards.

• KU had 307 yards of total offense in the first half.

• UM had 31 offensive plays in the first half; KU had 40.

As well as KU played in the first half, it’s tough to see Minnesota getting back into this one. The Gophers will receive, though, and they are just one play away from making it a one-possession game. Trailing by 14 points, the Gophers might have to scrap any plans of running/ball control so they can try keep up with the Jayhawks offense. KU will need to avoid turnovers and also will need to be sound on special teams. If the Jayhawks do that, they should be able to stay in control of this one.

KU 28/UM 14 — Halftime

KU’s defense stops Minnesota with some help from a James Holt sack. Drew Dudley partially deflects the punt, which only goes 12 yards.

With 6 seconds left, Reesing throws a meaningless interception to end the half, blemishing his nearly perfect stat line.

KU 28/UM 14 — 1:07 left in 2nd quarter

KU’s spread offense is really giving Minnesota fits. Reesing completed his 14th straight pass during this drive, which set a new school record for consecutive completions.

It’s almost silly how open KU’s receivers are getting. The Gophers seem to be giving the Jayhawks receivers way too much cushion. Meanwhile, Briscoe’s up to 10 receptions for 147 yards. The all-time bowl record is 20 receptions.

Reesing completes a fallaway pass to Wilson for a 4-yard TD to end the drive. KU’s offense is looking as good as it has all year. Five possessions, four touchdowns, one punt.

KU 21/UM 14 — 6:55 left in 2nd quarter

KU’s defense forces a three-and-out. The tackles go to James Holt, Mike Rivera and Joe Mortensen.

KU 21/UM 14 — 8:49 left in 2nd quarter

After a UM punt, Reesing takes a huge shot by Deon Hightower. If I was an offensive coordinator, I would think twice about running option plays after that.

Sure enough, KU runs an option on the next play. Reesing makes sure to pitch it this time. Sharp gets 10 yards.

KU gets help from a pair of penalties to keep its drive going. After a sack, KU gains five yards on a delay-of-game penalty on the UM bench (huh?). On third-and-11, Reesing throws a desperation pass to the sideline, and Steve Davis is called for an iffy pass interference penalty after barely grazing Fields.

Three plays later, Reesing calmly waits for Briscoe to break open, finding him for a 6-yard TD pass. Reesing has now completed 10 straight passes, while Briscoe has six catches for 106 yards and two scores.

UM 14/KU 14 — 12 seconds left in 1st quarter

Sharp, despite having his name misspelled on the closed-captioned videoboard, has started to get going for KU. On a pair of option runs, he picks up 5 and 18 yards to help move the Jayhawks down the field. So far, he hasn’t shown any effects from injury/flu.

Reesing also has been precise on his passes today. One pass seemed to hang in the air forever before falling into the arms of Meier for a 21-yard gain. Later, Reesing floated another pass to Meier in the corner of the end zone for a 4-yard TD, and KU has tied it up.

So much for my pregame notes on KU’s low-scoring first quarters, I guess.

UM 14/KU 7 — 4:48 left in 1st quarter

There’s not a way to sugarcoat this: KU’s really missing Justin Thornton right now.

Decker catches two more passes, and he’s closing in on 100 receiving yards just six minutes into the game. Harper hasn’t provided much resistance early on.

Brandon Green catches a 29-yard pass over the middle, and Hoese gets a first down run on a fourth-and-1.

Two plays later, Hoese runs in from two yards out.

By the way, Hoese has three runs this year: the first was the first touchdown today, the second was the fourth-down rush, and the third was the Gophers’ second TD. A guy that was overlooked in the spread offense has come through for UM in the power running game.

KU 7/UM 7 — 10:51 left in 1st quarter

A rare drop from Dezmon Briscoe halts KU’s next offensive possession. That’s probably something we’ve taken for granted from Briscoe this year. He has such great athleticism and speed, sometimes we forget how good his hands have been. I can’t remember many —if any — drops from him this year.

After Alonso Rojas’ punt, UM takes over at its own 21.

KU 7/UM 7 — 13:18 left in 1st quarter

Maybe the fireworks before the game were a sign of things to come.

On Minnesota’s first play from scrimmage, Eric Decker breaks free in the KU secondary for a 75-yard reception. He beat KU’s Kendrick Harper, who was trailing Decker from the get-go.

Three plays later, Jon Hoese plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out, and just 102 seconds in, we already have a shootout.

KU 7/UM 0 — 14:49 left in 1st quarter

Well that didn’t take long.

Dezmon Briscoe contributes to two plays to help the Jayhawks to a quick touchdown. Minnesota’s kickoff sails out of bounds, as the Gophers tried to kick the ball away from Briscoe, the kick returner. On KU’s first offensive play, Todd Reesing scrambles away from pressure, then finds an open Briscoe down the left sideline for a 60-yard TD. UM makes a huge mistake in allowing the speedy receiver to get behind the last defender.

I can’t imagine a better start for KU.

5:03 p.m.

KU wins the toss and will receive.

A few last-minute notes to keep in mind:

• KU is 16-25 all-time against teams from the Big Ten Conference.

• The Jayhawks have scored just 72 points in the first quarter this year (six points per game).

• KU has allowed just 56 points in the first quarter (4.6 points per game).

4:50 p.m.

Some (long-shot) predictions from the Journal-World staff for today's game:

Nick Krug, photographer: "Dezmon Briscoe will take a kickoff 'to the crib.'"

Tom Keegan, sports editor: "Darrell Stuckey will have a pick-six."

Jesse Newell, KUsports.com online editor: "The game will be tied at halftime, 10-10."

4:35 p.m.

Here are a few things I’m going to be watching for in today’s game:

• For KU, who will guard Minnesota receiver Eric Decker? Much like Kerry Meier, Decker has been hampered by injuries through much of the season. He’ll have a clean bill of health today, and with Justin Thornton out, the Jayhawks should be worried about that matchup. Will Daymond Patterson go against the 6-foot-2 Decker? If so, Decker will have a bit of a height advantage. What about Kendrick Harper? He hasn’t started since being replaced mid-season by Thornton. Does he have the speed to keep up? If the Jayhawks can find a way to limit Decker, they should have a great shot at coming away with a win.

• Will KU’s special teams be special? Moving Dezmon Briscoe to kick returner breathed some life into the KU special teams unit against Missouri. Can the Jayhawks make it two good games in a row on special teams? KU needed a couple of big special teams plays in last year’s Orange Bowl to come up with a victory. I’m looking to see if KU’s special teams can make one big play to create momentum today.

• How healthy is Jake Sharp? He was obviously hurting in the last game against Missouri, presumably with a rib injury. He's also been sick enough this week that the trainers quarantined him from the rest of the team. How will he run today? While it’s nice to think that KU will be able to pass the ball at will, most likely it will need to be balanced early to keep Minnesota’s defensive ends (including the dangerous Willie VanDeSteeg) honest.

Prediction: KU 31, Minnesota 20

Though this one might not be as easy as most think, I see KU pulling away late. Though the Jayhawks offense has been inconsistent at times, it still should be able to put up some points, especially with a healthy Meier back in the mix. I would say the biggest matchup will be KU’s defensive line against UM’s offensive line. If the Jayhawks can limit the Gophers’ running game to under 100 yards, they should be able to contain UM’s offense and pick up their second straight bowl victory.

4:10 p.m.

Linebacker Mike Rivera was working some with the offense this week, so I went ahead and added him to the poll on the left.

I'll go on record to say that Dexton Fields will have KU's first TD tonight.

4:05 p.m.

After walking into the stadium, I think it's safe to say that there are far more KU fans here than Minnesota fans. Everywhere you look, blue-shirted fans seem to be hanging around.

We'll see if that observation holds true as people start to filter into here at Sun Devil Stadium.

3:05 p.m.

Here are some YouTube goodies while we wait for kickoff:

• Doesn't the Fort Worth Bowl seem like longer than three years ago? Nice block by Dexton in this one. Jon Cornish looks like Jerome Bettis on his second TD run.

• One of my favorite postgame interviews ever.

• Tony T. says to take the Jayhawks and the points. That is, if you want to trust Tony T. with your money.

2 p.m. CST

After spending a few days around the Minnesota football team, I will have to say this about UM coach Tim Brewster: He’s a passionate guy.

When he says Minnesota has as good a football history as any school in the nation, he says it with conviction. He believes it. And he believes that his program is headed in the right direction as it takes on Kansas in the Insight Bowl later today.

Brewster has already commented that, to him, this is the first game of the 2009 season. It’s not a bad stance to take; it gives his team something to play for in what otherwise could be considered an insignificant bowl game.

I’ll say this about Brewster as well: He’s also a fiery guy.

I don’t know if you caught some of the end-of-practice video we had on KUsports.com earlier in the week, but check it out if you haven’t. At the end of practice Monday, Brewster was yelling and screaming much like the preachers I see while flipping through TV channels at 3 a.m.

Though we were too far away to hear most of it (I think that’s probably a good thing), I will say that through part of the speech he was singling out some of his offensive and defensive linemen. He was challenging them to dominate the line of scrimmage. He was urging them to overpower KU in today’s game. He didn’t hesitate to get up in players’ faces, either.

I also heard him say “65 plays” a few times. We’ve heard talk through the last month about the Gophers’ switch to more of a power running game, and from standing at practice, I think Brewster’s serious about it.

Anyway, back to 65 plays. I think the point of the message was for his team to dominate time of possession, keep the ball and sustain long drives. He already told reporters earlier this week that he realized his team was the underdog, so one of his plans was to shorten the game and limit possessions.

So is 65 plays a magical number for a victory? Obviously, lots of factors go into the number of offensive plays, and if a team is trailing most of the game, oftentimes it will rack up fourth-quarter plays to skew the numbers.

Still, with the importance Brewster is putting on offensive plays, it seems like, statistically, there should be some correlation between offensive plays and wins.

Here’s the research: The following is the number of offensive plays Minnesota had in each game, followed by the result of each game.

Northern Illinois: 68 plays (W: 31-27)

Bowling Green: 70 plays (W: 42-17)

Montana State: 63 plays (W: 35-23)

Florida Atlantic: 64 plays (W: 37-3)

Ohio State: 64 plays (L: 34-21)

Indiana: 81 plays (W: 16-7)

Illinois: 61 plays (W: 27-20)

Purdue: 68 plays (W: 17-6)

Northwestern: 77 plays (L: 24-17)

Michigan: 52 plays (L: 29-6)

Wisconsin: 59 plays (L: 35-32)

Iowa: 51 plays (L: 55-0)

So, in games with 65 or more plays, Minnesota was 4-1 this season. In games with 64 plays or fewer, Minnesota was 3-4.

Perhaps most significant is Minnesota’s last three games where it has run 52, 59 and 51 plays, respectively (for an average of 54 per game). Two of the Gophers’ worst three losses came during that stretch. Obviously, Brewster looked back at the numbers and noticed this statistic as well.

So for those of you at home or near a computer, there’s something extra to look for in this game. Will Minnesota make its magical goal of 65 plays? If the Gophers do, will they win?

We’ll see if Brewster’s theory holds up against KU later today.