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KU vs. Missouri

Kansas City, Mo. — With Missouri University standout and national all-purpose-yardage leader Jeremy Maclin on the field during Saturday’s Border War matchup at Arrowhead Stadium, there was a good chance fans would be treated to a standout performance by an electric, do-it-all performer.

And they were.

It just wasn’t Maclin.

In addition to catching nine passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, KU sophomore receiver Dezmon Briscoe replaced struggling kick returner Marcus Herford and returned seven kicks for 195 yards — a 28-yard average — to finish with a game-high 310 all-purpose yards and emerge as an impressive special-teams weapon.

“I made some personnel changes a couple of weeks ago that I thought were good, and then the return (team) didn’t have rhythm,” said Kansas coach Mark Mangino, whose team entered the game last in the nation in kickoff returns. “So then I just felt that we needed to change the return man, too, and it ended up being good for us.”

Briscoe’s surprising effort — he never had returned kicks during his time at Kansas — gave the Jayhawks some of the best field position they’ve had all season and helped set the tone for quarterback Todd Reesing’s 375-yard, four-touchdown performance.

“(They) told me that I could be the starting kickoff returner,” said Briscoe, who said the move came about after he was messing around with the kick-return unit after a recent practice. “It’s a great honor to get back there and just do what I can do.”

In a reversal of roles, meanwhile, Herford was part of one of the game’s biggest plays, catching a 31-yard pass late in the fourth quarter that set up an eight-yard Kansas touchdown one play later that gave the Jayhawks a 33-30 lead.

It was Herford’s first catch of the season and one that Mangino said illustrated the team-first mentality of Herford, who was a preseason all-Big 12 selection at kick returner.

“He’ll be the first to admit that things weren’t great on that kickoff return,” Mangino said of Herford. “Nobody was more disappointed than him. ... Give the kid credit. Instead of pout, he goes out and makes a play in the final drive of the game.”

As for the kick-returner position, however, it looks as if Briscoe will be handling those duties heading into Kansas’ yet-to-be-determined bowl game.

Despite sustaining a harsh blow during a return late in the game, Briscoe said Saturday that he’s more than willing to proceed as the team’s top return man.

And his coach didn’t seem to have much problem with that.

“The only thing is we’re running Dezmon kind of thin,” said Mangino. “But he’ll have some time to rest before our next game, so he’ll be OK.”