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Sunday, October 5, 2008

Miraculous recovery

KU overcomes awful first half

By Dugan Arnett

Kansas University receiver Kerry Meier (10) gives a celebratory bump to fellow receiver Johnathan Wilson following Meier's second touchdown. The Jayhawks rallied from a 20-0 deficit to beat Iowa State, 35-33, on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas University receiver Kerry Meier (10) gives a celebratory bump to fellow receiver Johnathan Wilson following Meier's second touchdown. The Jayhawks rallied from a 20-0 deficit to beat Iowa State, 35-33, on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

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Spodcasters Postgame: Iowa State

The guys (Tom Keegan and Eric Sorrentino) discuss KU's scare of a victory on Saturday at Iowa State. How big a concern was that first half for the future of KU's season? Who was the MVP of the game after the completely different second half? Other topics include the switch ...

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KU defeats ISU with 2nd half comeback

Well, it was the best of times...it was the worst of times. On Saturday - buried in a 20-point deficit - the Kansas football team picked itself up off the mat and mounted a comeback against Iowa State.

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KU vs. ISU

Audio clips

2008 KU-ISU football

Reader poll

Who was the Jayhawks' MVP in the 35-33 victory over Iowa State?

  • Todd Reesing (18/26, 320 yds, 3 TDs, INT) 21% 441 votes
  • Kerry Meier (125 rec. yds, 2 TDs) 26% 555 votes
  • Jake Sharp (79 yds rushing, 107 yds rec., 2 total TDs) 50% 1055 votes
  • Other 0% 19 votes

2070 total votes.

Go figure

8-14-59

Pass completions-attempts-yards by Todd Reesing in the first half

10-12-260

Pass completions-attempts-yards by Reesing in the second half

19-79

Rushes-yards by KU's Jake Sharp

3-107

Catches-yards by Sharp

+2

ISU's turnover margin (1 fumble, 1 INT, to 3 fumbles and 1 INT for Kansas)

6.7

Yards per offensive play by the Jayhawks (for 65 plays)

4.7

Yards per offensive play by the Cyclones (for 77 plays)

117

Rushing yards by the Jayhawks (to 97 for ISU)

5

First-half first downs by KU, including 3 on the final possession

0

Kansas punts in the second half

Ames, Iowa — On Saturday afternoon, Kansas University's football team played its worst half of the season.

Luckily for the Jayhawks, they followed it up with one of their best.

Thanks largely to a second-half surge in which it outscored host Iowa State by 22 points, Kansas managed to overcome a 20-point second-half deficit and escape Ames with a 35-33 victory in the third-biggest comeback in school history.

"That first half was really probably the worst collective half I've been a part of since I've been here," said quarterback Todd Reesing, who threw for 59 yards and an interception in the first two quarters.

He wasn't kidding.

Later this year, when members of the Kansas University athletic department are searching for footage for the football team's 2008 highlight video, they would be wise to skip over the first half.

Among the low-lights: Raymond Brown's dropped pass on a Kansas third down; a Jocques Crawford fumble that led to an Iowa State field goal; a rare Todd Reesing interception that led to another Cyclones score.

In the most glaring faux pas of the half, Brown bumped into Daymond Patterson on a punt-return play, sending Patterson stumbling and resulting in a fumble recovery by Iowa State.

When the self-destruction had ended, Kansas faced a 20-0 deficit to a team expected to be the weakest on its conference schedule.

The Jayhawks managed just 93 first-half yards - compared to 181 from Iowa State - and were held scoreless in a half for the first time all season.

In the locker room at halftime, however, coach Mark Mangino's message to his team was simple.

"I told them, 'Listen, we played very poorly,'" Mangino said. "'We can't play any worse. Let's face it, we played very poor football in the first half. But we can win this game, and we will win this game if you stay poised, stay calm and correct the things that we need to correct.'"

Check, check and check.

On the second offensive play of the third quarter, Reesing found running back Jake Sharp wide-open for a 67-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 20-7. Angus Quigley scored on a one-yard run one possession later, and receiver Kerry Meier followed that up by catching his first of two touchdown passes of the day, this one a 23-yarder from Reesing.

By the end of the third quarter, Kansas had taken a 21-20 lead, and by the final stages of the fourth quarter, they'd built that into a 35-26 advantage, one they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.

Reesing finished 18-for-26 for 319 yards, and Sharp - who has struggled recently in limited action - had his best game of the season, compiling 186 total yards and two touchdowns while the defense redeemed itself after a sluggish first half.

"We haven't been in a hole like that," sophomore cornerback Chris Harris said. "But we know with our offense, if we get stops, 20 points is nothing. We know if we come out and get stops, we would score."

Both teams' players and coaches took turns grasping for an adjective to best describe their teams' respective rough patches.

"Atrocious," is how Reesing described the Jayhawks' first half.

"Abysmal," Iowa State Gene Chizik called his team's final possession, a potential game-winning drive that ended after Kansas held strong for four straight plays to force a turnover on downs.

The good news for Kansas, however, is that it returns to Lawrence unsettled but unscathed, set to prepare for what figures to be a bit more formidable opponent in Colorado, a team that nearly upset the Jayhawks in Boulder last season.

"I think it did (wake us up)," said Meier, who finished with 125 yards and two scores, his third game with more than 100 yards receiving. "This is the Big 12, and everybody's going to be good. Bottom to top, it's a tough conference. I don't think we woke up real quick, and it took us two quarters to get woke up.

"But once we did and we got rolling, it was OK."

KU vs. ISU: Postgame

Comments

  1. klong (anonymous) says…

    It was good to see them fight back after being down on the road like that. But with that being said, they need to play a full game and not just fall asleep for a quarter or half.

  2. jayhawkinATL (anonymous) says…

    Agreed, klong.

  3. mvjayhawk (anonymous) says…

    this group of kids is notorious for not getting out of the gate....especially against our North brethren. But coming from 20 down on the road in your league is a real accomplishment...a feat highly unlikely to be duplicated in a BCS conference game this year. It looks like this game was a coming out party for two players....Mike Rivera and Jake Sharp. Both played very well...and we need them to have a chance at bigger and better things this year. and how 'bout Kerry Meier? Mr. Steady just keeps getting it done....can you cay 100 receptions? He has 44 right now....well on the way. and #5 just keeps getting it done. He makes a lot of football plays, that make a difference. We need to do a better job of protecting him...because we're never out of a game with him. Let's get them 'Buffs...go Jayhawks!

  4. DWINOP (anonymous) says…

    How is it that we lose a grand total of 2 starters on defense and now our vaunted D is getting boatraced all over the field?Why in the world does Bowen have his D-backs playing 8 yards off receivers rather than jamming them at the line?Why can't we get any freaking pressure on the QB?Why can't we protect our own QB against inferior defenders?Nice comeback win against a team that had no business leading KU by 20. And Coach, don't blow sunshine up my behind by telling me how ISU is just like KU was a few years ago.Time to get some big problems fixed or we're going to get pulverized at OU, Tech, UT, MU and at Nebraska.Right now, 6-6 looks like the ceiling for this team.

  5. klong (anonymous) says…

    dwinop- i agree with you about the D-backs playing back. I would have thought they would have changed that with Harper back. Playing like that, teams can throw a 5 or 6 yard pass every time on us. I have to say that I am not happy at all with Bowen.

  6. jbrownjib (anonymous) says…

    The offensive and defensive lines for OU, Texas, and MU are no joke. TT just romped KSU, MU blew out NU in Neb, and Texas walked all over CU. KU sqeaked by ISU, who is one of the weakest teams in the Big 12 or at least on our schedule. I hope this team watched the rest of the Big 12 games because their schedule doesn't get any easier. Time to get real and play at a higher level. I hope this team doesn't get spanked like NU did last night. CU is the last opportunity to shine before BCS quality hits home. Go Jayhawks!

  7. justanotherfan (anonymous) says…

    After yesterday, I would have to say that KU looked like the 6th best Big XII team. The way our D played yesterday, we would be lucky to hold OU, UT, Tech or Mizzou under 50. With our first half, they would have logged about 35 right there. Thats pretty scary.We have to get better. The expectations are higher.

  8. rockchalkblock (anonymous) says…

    I dont think anyone is giving the D any credit, they are the reason it wasn't a 28-0 at half time, during second quarter they stepped up, and if you noticed when we pressed recievers we made plays, I have never heard of playing more then 6 yards off the ball, safteys are the only people that should be more than 8 yards off the ball. Bowen needs to shape up or ship out if this continous against CU!!

  9. Hawkish4bigM (anonymous) says…

    This article points out one of the reasons why I chose the handle that I did. Mangino demonstrates that he really believes in his players by staying calm in the storm and telling them they can and will win this game. We have a great coach! I just hope from here on out we come out doing what we do best, slinging the ball. I would like to see more quick slants, more sweeps when we do run the ball, and throwing deep right off the bat. Special teams need work. Bottom line: We must outscore our opponents from here on out.

  10. KU (anonymous) says…

    Here's the way I saw the first half:We started in the hole with field position because ISU was smart and took the wind. Our offense did us no favors by backfiring the first several possessions and ISU kept getting the ball near the 50. For some crazy reason in the first half, we decided it would be a good idea to blitz from everywhere on first, second and third downs. Because of this, we were out of position and ISU gouged us repeatedly in the first half.Throw in a few turnovers and you have a 20-0 deficit.It really looked like the only major defensive adjustment at halftime was to just sit in our base defense most of the time on 1st and 2nd downs and only blitz on obvious passing downs. We were in better position to make plays and we did. I think we caused 3 or 4 three and outs in a row to start the third quarter.Our offense had better field position and they finally executed. End of story.

  11. JBurtin (anonymous) says…

    It's the players, not the coordinator.If you jam them right at the line you risk getting beat deep, so our corners were supposed to play just far enough off to bait them into throwing the short passes to the flat. The hope is that your defensive ends have gotten deep enough to possibly bat those passes down or tip them up for an interception. Knowing that the DE is there is supposed to force the QB to loft his passes where our cornerback can run underneath it.The problem is that our DE's weren't getting any pressure in the first half, and it allowed their QB to throw a nice sharp pass to his receivers that the cornerback had no chance of making a break on.In the second half we stopped getting beat on the line, so we stopped getting beat in the flat.I'm highly encouraged by what we witnessed yesterday. It was definitely ugly as our team tried to play as if they were playing SHS again instead of a Big Twelve team. However, the thought of having this embarrassing loss seemed to wake the team up for the first time this year.In the second quarter I saw our D line finally start to play hard enough to get pressure and open up our defensive schemes. And though we didn't score on the last drive of the first half, I felt that our offense was finally ready to return to last year's form.It's easy to look at the final score and think that we're in big trouble in conference play, but if you look at the fact that this team was able to score 35 points in a half, while only allowing 13, then it's easy to see how much of a blowout this game could have been.In the second half I saw a KU team that I haven't seen in any quarter all year long. Even when we were playing opponents much weaker than Iowa State.Offensively:Pass and Run blocking were both solid on the lineHandoffs were more crisp in the run gameReceivers blocked well to turn short plays into long onesDefensively:Good pressure with a four man frontEvery pass was contested in the airLinebackers reacted quickly and met runningbacks in the backfieldIn short, I think the team finally realized that it's football season again.We still have a heck of a tough road ahead of us, but at least now I think we'll be watching a team that isn't going to roll over and die when we're playing tough opponents. I've never personally cared that much what the final win total of a season was as long as I see good effort from the players.That's the biggest difference between Terry Allen football and Mark Mangino football. In the Mark Mangino era, win or lose, I'm nearly always proud of my team and the effort they give on the field.

  12. kansaspike (anonymous) says…

    Is Crawford officially #3 now? Hope so.Gotta think split duties as #1 back between Sharp and Quigs.

  13. rockchalkblock (anonymous) says…

    JB obviously doesnt know what he's talking about on the deffensive side of the ball, how many times do you remember with Young that we sat at the first down marker on first down in cover 3 and 2? when did Young Blitz? THe linebackers where not scrapping correctly they where sitting back in gaps not filling and that is what happens when your sitting on your heals becuase the defensive cordinator doesn't give you a good play call. Experience is everythign and Bowen doesn't have it like Young did. So i think its unfair to call out the players cuase these are the same guys from last year minus TWO count them TWO players! And you can make that one cuase sometimes Johnson looked like a taller version of James.

  14. thiknthinhawk (anonymous) says…

    When you combine a poor effort with any, any Big12 road game, you should expect the first half that happened. ISU is not OU, MU, etc, but- this is the best conference in the country- even the eastern pundits have to admit that. ISU is a D1 team in the best conference- lets not blow this out of proportion. Making mistakes and playing poorly against ISU or any team will make a first half like this happen. Remember how people wanted to moan about the South Florida loss? We only lost by a lucky last second field goal on the road. Naysayers-gimme a break!.....uh, we won. Not only that, but in a major comeback. Did Southern Cal comeback against osu?nope.

  15. justanotherfan (anonymous) says…

    thiknthin,I get what you're saying, but let's be candid about what happened yesterday. For one half, we got it handed to us by the 10th or 11th best team in our conference. ISU is by far the WORST team we will see the rest of the season. What scares me more is that we can't stop the pass, and we play in a conference that has four of the best passing teams in the country, not including us. Look at what the other ranked Big XII teams did. #21 OSU had an overmatched A&M team coming to town. What did they do? Jumped out 21-0 in the first quarter on the way to a 56-28 beatdown.#7 Texas Tech put up 38 before the half on the way to a 58-28 win. #5 Texas went on the road to Colorado and even with their offense underperforming and turning the ball over, beat the Buffs like they stole something.#4 Missouri went to Lincoln and massacred the Huskers. I won't even talk about how ugly that got.#1 OU went to Waco and did what you are supposed to do to an overmatched team on the road - jump out 28-0 after 1 quarter, leave the home team wondering what hit them, and move on to next weekend.Just like in basketball, when we look bad, I'm not afraid to say it. Yesterday we looked like the 6th best team in the Big XII. That still makes us a good football team, but when you have to play four of the five in front of you, it doesn't look too promising.

  16. hawk_bred20 (anonymous) says…

    rochchalkblock- I don't know why you would say that JBurtin doesn't know what he's talking about and then go on to say that we should be the same defense from last year because we only lost 2 players. I think you know who those players were, they were both NFL quality and one of which was a first round pick, Talib. Now I too, think this defense should be better, but when you lose a talent like Talib, and your nickel back from last year (Harris when Harper was healthy) is your best corner in the next season, there is obviously going to be some growing pains.Bowen may very well be the problem, but I don't see what evidence you have that makes that case. One thing I do see: Barfield, Powell, and Murphy are not ready for Big 12 football yet. Harper is obviously not back to himself, and our secondary as a whole, is much different without an All-American back there. Coaches are important, but they aren't the ones on the field covering and tackling.Finally, this game was a little worrisome to me. But let's not all jump off the bandwagon just yet. Last season, on October 20th, Oklahoma went into Aimes and was down 7-0 at the half to the Cyclones. It was tied 7-7 going into the 4th, and it took a 10 nothing shutout in the 4th for the Sooners to prevail 17-7 last season. After watching this years Iowa St. team, I think they are much improved from a year ago.Let's not forget, this is still the Big 12. If you think that the big 4 besides us aren't going to struggle on the road against a lesser team later in the season, then you have a very short memory of the way college football goes. That being said, a great win to come back like this, but we have to play better the rest of the way.

  17. fihsch (anonymous) says…

    Before we jump on the D-Coordinator, don't forget that the defence and the secondary got tourched by Nebraska at home even with Talib last year. I don't recall that our front 4 put up much of a pressure on opposing QBs last year either. Maybe other teams have just found the weakness in our defense and start to exploit it. We many well be the 6th best team in Big 12 ( I think it's more like the 4th behind OU, MU and Tx), but KU Football is still very exciting and the future is looking good.

  18. OmahaKUAlum (anonymous) says…

    Hawk Bred, I'm not sure how you CAN'T make a case against Bowen being the problem on defense. Yes, the players need to go out on the field and execute the game plan, but we have a terrible game plan on defense. We play at least 6 or 7 yards off the receivers and don't jam/get contact at the line to try to bump them off their routes. When they get a free jump like that and are unimpeded on running their routes, even an average quarterback like Arnaud can pick apart the defense. Just imagine what QB's like Daniel and Bradford are going to do! We need to get a better defensive scheme, and quick!! Don't even get me started on our abysmal lack of a pass rush!I hope this game woke up our players. ISU is by far the worst conference opponent we will play this year (trust me, my husband is an ISU fan and has season tickets, so I see them play A LOT!) and we can't afford to dig ourselves holes to try to climb out of! That being said, when we are executing, we look nearly unstoppable. We looked very sharp in the third quarter, and as a KU fan in a sea of ISU fans, no one was happier than me after that third quarter! Here's hoping the defense can fix some problems and the offense continues to improve!

  19. JBurtin (anonymous) says…

    "JB obviously doesnt know what he's talking about on the deffensive side of the ball, how many times do you remember with Young that we sat at the first down marker on first down in cover 3 and 2? when did Young Blitz? THe linebackers where not scrapping correctly they where sitting back in gaps not filling and that is what happens when your sitting on your heals becuase the defensive cordinator doesn't give you a good play call. Experience is everythign and Bowen doesn't have it like Young did. So i think its unfair to call out the players cuase these are the same guys from last year minus TWO count them TWO players! And you can make that one cuase sometimes Johnson looked like a taller version of James."I guess I'll start taking your opinion more seriously when you learn how to speak english.

  20. hawk_bred20 (anonymous) says…

    OmahaKUAlum- "Hawk Bred, I'm not sure how you CAN'T make a case against Bowen being the problem on defense. Yes, the players need to go out on the field and execute the game plan, but we have a terrible game plan on defense. We play at least 6 or 7 yards off the receivers and don't jam/get contact at the line to try to bump them off their routes. When they get a free jump like that and are unimpeded on running their routes, even an average quarterback like Arnaud can pick apart the defense."My question to that is, What have you seen that let's you know our corners are good enough to jam receivers at the line and not get burned deep? What I've seen is our corners consistently getting beaten deep early in the season, South Florida and even Sam Houston St. burned us deep on long TD passes (that's sad). I believe that if the plan is to leave a 6-7 yard cusion, then it's because our coaches (who see these players play every day, btw) know that if we don't give some space, we will get beat everytime. (If Arnaud is as good as the other QB's in the big 12, 4th down yesterday would've won them the game.)Look, I'm not here to say that Bowen isn't the problem, but I'm still not getting any substantial evidence that he is, and it's not just a case of protecting our not as talented, young cornerbacks.Let's not forget, Bill Young was the D-Coordinator in 2006 when KU had one of the worst passing defenses in the NCAA. Anyone who was at the Oklahoma St. game on 10/14/06 like I was, saw Adarius Bowman catch 13 balls for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. I doubt too many people were praising Bill Young's schemes after that game, or that season, for that matter.

  21. KU (anonymous) says…

    hawk_bred........I agree with your last post. Have any of the posters here actually tried to jam a Big 12 receiver coming off the line of scrimmage? It sounds easy, but what happens after the first contact? Any good receiver WILL get a quick release and the DB will be playing chase. It takes a heck of a talented corner to jam people at the line of scrimmage and not get beat deep.Why do you think punt return teams put two....TWO......defenders on the "bullet"? It's because one-on-one, it's nearly impossible to keep a great athlete from getting a release by jamming at the line.That said, we DO need to close down that cushion a little bit. Six or 7 yards is OK if you don't backpedal 2 or 3 yards habitually at the snap of the ball on every play. If you are 8 to 10 yards off the line of scrimmage every play, you'll get dinked and dunked all the way down the field.