Mayer: Victory vindicates Jayhawks

By Bill Mayer     Jan 5, 2008

Paraphrasing Old Bear Bryant again, when you finish a football season victoriously at 12-1, you don’t explain or apologize about the teams you beat.

Throw in a nationally televised triumph in one of the elite bowl games and the prospect of finishing among the top five or six clubs in the final ratings; the Kansas Nation has a delightful trophy to cuddle up to on cold and lonely nights.

So Kansas began its surprising run with victories over four acknowledged cupcakes. It wound up defeating, in the Orange Bowl where its third visit proved to be the charm, a Virginia Tech outfit that many felt deserved a pre-game No. 3 rating. KU didn’t luck into this Miami triumph the way Georgia Tech did against the Jayhawks in ’48 and Penn State did in ’69. The Jayhawks beat the favored Hokies at their own game.

As for the “nobodys” Kansas defeated en route to its historical 12-win level, Kansas State, Colorado, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M aren’t quadriplegics. Three of them also played in bowl games, and two of them won.

The Jayhawks had a lousy start against a top-notch Missouri team and fell despite a heroic last-minute surge. No disgrace in losing to somebody that good. Both MU and KU could wind up in the nation’s top six. Too bad the lone loss was to such a fierce rival. Yet would anyone trade a win over MU for this Orange Bowl delight?

Mizzou had an impressive victory over Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. As the game ended, MU radio network guys were speculating over whether coach Gary Pinkel and Co. have inaugurated a dynasty; top people such as quarterback Chase Daniel will return.

The Tigers are drooling about 2008 just as Kansas has every right to be delightfully optimistic. KU, too, has a quarterback of quality, the imperturbable Todd Reesing. And scratch all that stuff about how KU has “ordinary” athletes who just happen to work together well. These guys may not have the hype that players in more “traditional” programs get, but they are far better than many think, and they have a mentality that clearly wins.

One of KU’s major problems over the years is that it has had greats such as Ray Evans, Ralph Miller, John Hadl, Gale Sayers, John Riggins et al but too often has lacked the numbers necessary for consistent achievement. Coach Mark Mangino and Co. steadily have added smart and productive, though underpublicized, kids to the ranks. While there’s no Hadl or Sayers right now, the recruiters are assembling the numbers that can create more success.

But we have to be practical. KU actually could be a better team next season yet still fall short of anything like 12-1 or Big 12 titles of any sort. Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech replace Baylor, O-State and A&M on the schedule. Missouri again will be outstanding. Nebraska and Colorado could be better. Foes like Texas and Oklahoma still turn down kids that Kansas might embrace, like, maybe Todd Reesing. And they, always, have “numbers.”

After its ’48 bowl heartbreak, KU had a 7-3 season. The ’61 Bluebonnet Bowl victory was followed by 6-3-1. After the ’68 bowl team went 9-2, a 1-9 disaster hit in ’69. KU was 10-2 and won the Aloha Bowl in ’95, then nose-dived to 4-7.

The current Jayhawks have great momentum, incentive and pride and now realize just how good they are and can be. Mangino and Co. need to keep “sawin’ wood” and turning out more designer furniture to prove conclusively this marvelous season was no fluke.

Don’t bet against them, the coaches or their kids.

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