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KU vs. ISU

Ames, Iowa — When the opportunity presented itself for Kansas University to leave its field-goal team on the sidelines and go for a touchdown instead, Kerry Meier knew his name would be called.

And as he usually does, the Jayhawks' most sure-handed football receiver delivered on a challenging fourth-and-seven with Kansas trailing Iowa State on the road in the third quarter.

Talk about a crowd silencer.

Meier ran a perfect route, and Todd Reesing found him, in stride, running by the Cyclones defense for a 23-yard touchdown pass in KU's 35-33 road victory over Iowa State on Saturday.

The Jayhawks went ahead, 21-20, after the touchdown with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter. They didn't trail again.

"My number was called, and I knew my teammates were looking at me and looking for a big play to happen," said Meier, who finished with seven catches for 125 yards and two scores in an otherwise inconsistent outing from the KU offense. "Sure enough, we got the right play call and kept moving."

Coaches Mark Mangino and Ed Warinner called an aggressive third quarter, electing to go for it on two separate fourth downs on the same drive, which ended in the touchdown pass to Meier. The other gamble came on a fourth-and-three call from the Iowa State 32-yard line. Reesing found senior receiver Dexton Fields, who returned to action after missing four games with an ankle injury, for a six-yard gain to keep the chains and the KU momentum moving forward.

Once Iowa State forced Kansas into another fourth down, Meier - and Mangino, for that matter - didn't flinch or concern themselves with the seven yards they had to pick up. The Jayhawks were going for it.

"I had no thought in mind about kicking a field goal, and I don't think he did either," Meier said of Mangino. "At that point, we were moving the ball and had some confidence."

Mangino corroborated Meier's reasoning with his thoughts to roll the dice.

"Is it risky? Yeah, it's risky to make that call, but you have a feeling for your kids and players," Mangino said. "The only people who know those players better than me are their parents. I'm with them every day. I know how they think. I know their mind-set, and you could see that they wanted to keep moving the ball."

Meier completed his demolishing of the ISU secondary when he caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Reesing to put the Jayhawks ahead, 35-26, with 3:39 remaining in the final quarter. It marked the third consecutive game Meier went over 100 yards.

After trailing, 20-0, at the half, Kansas played out six possessions in the second half. Five of them resulted in touchdowns, two of them courtesy of the ever-so-reliable Meier.

"It all started with the O-line," Meier said of the second-half turnarond. "They bought Todd a little bit of time and if you give Todd just a little time, he's going to find you."

Consequently, Meier twice found the endzone and KU found its first Big 12 Conference victory of the season.