Manhattan ? That was “Tuxedo Tony” Sands, not Kerwin Bell. But the deja vu was haunting.
Sands rushed for 217 yards including touchdown gallops of 62 and 59 yards to help Kansas blunt Kansas State, 21-16, on Saturday afternoon at KSU Stadium.
It was KU’s first victory here since Bell rushed for 216 yards to help the Jayhawks squeeze the Wildcats, 20-18, back in 1980.
“Tony Sands is as tough a football player pound for pound as I’ve been around,” a joyous Kansas coach Glen Mason said.
Sands is listed at 5-6 and 174 pounds, but claims to be taller.
“Five-seven is what I am,” Sands said afterward, decked out in his customary game-day tuxedo, “but six-two right now is how I feel.”
Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of his performance, though, was the fact he carried the ball a body-punishing 31 times, and sounded like he had just climbed out of bed.
“NO, I’M not sore,” he smiled as he held court for a throng of reporters outside KU’s locker room. “I’m ready to go party. I’m gonna relax on the bus. When I get to Lawrence is when I’m gonna do my partying.”
The sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., wouldn’t have to change his clothes to party, that’s for sure. He wears a tuxedo to every KU football game, hence his nickname.
Sands went dancing because the Jayhawks didn’t dance Saturday afternoon with what brung ’em. KU virtually ignored the pass.
“We wanted to mix it up more, to be quite honest,” Mason said. “But we got away from the game plan and ran more. Besides, our passing wasn’t very good today, I’ll tell you that.”
It sure wasn’t. Much of the time, veteran quarterback Kelly Donohoe looked like a left-handed quarterback trying to throw right-handed.
“I didn’t feel well throwing,” admitted Donohoe who completed just 3 of 11 passes for 39 yards. “I’ve had some 400-yard games, though, and I’d throw ’em away for a win. This is my first road win since I’ve been a part of the team.”
ONLY FIFTH-YEAR seniors were around the last time the Jayhawks won on the road 19 games ago when they toppled Hawaii in the 1985 season opener.
“I was at Hawaii in ’85 and that seems like a real long time ago,” said offensive tackle Bill Hundelt.
Five years IS a long time, but Mason couldn’t have cared less, he said, about the numbers involved.
“The thing it means most is the guys are happy and smiling riding home instead of just sitting there,” he said. “I don’t care about the records.”
For sure, during the last two minutes or so, Mason confided he was wondering if his players would be statues on that Lawrence-bound bus.
Kansas State was deep in KU territory, moving the ball consistently with plenty of time left on the clock, threatening to score a go-ahead touchdown..
“You have to block negative things out of your head,” Mason said. “But I felt like Mike Tyson was coming at me what with all the negative thoughts I had in that drive.”
IT WASN’T until linebacker Roger Robben stopped KSU sub quarterback Paul Watson starter Carl Straw left with a shoulder injury four plays earlier for a three-yard loss on a fourth and three at the KU 20 that positive thoughts entered Mason’s head.
No doubt if some mystic had told the KU coach before the game that the Jayhawks would complete only three passes, but still win, well. . .
“I just never got the feeling we ever got uncorked,” Mason said about the feeble passing attack. “It wasn’t going. It wasn’t there. It’s like golf. When your driver isn’t working you go to your three-wood. Today, we went to the three-wood.
Chalk up one more nickname for KU’s unbreakable bric-a-brac running back “Three-Wood Tony” Sands.
Kansas, now 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Big Eight, will play its home finale next Saturday against Oklahoma State.
