My wife’s Uncle Bill was swallowing his last bite of Christmas turkey when Brigham Young’s Hema Heimuli stormed 94 yards with the opening kickoff.
Uncle Bill didn’t choke, though, because he, like me, had seen Kansas screw up the start of a bowl game before.
Immediately, I though of Name that Tune, the old television game show. Instead of notes, however, the contestants would bet in seconds.
“To me, I can score against Kansas in 13 seconds,” Brigham Young would tell the host.
“Hah, I can score against KU in 12 seconds,” Mississippi State would counter.
Mississippi Stateyou win! After KU’s Darren Green coughed up the opening kickoff of the 1981 Hall of Fame Bowlthe infamous bummer in BirminghamMSU scored on its first play, a 17-yard run by quarterback John Bond. Time elapsed: 12 seconds.
BYU’s Heimuli needed 13 seconds for his almost coast-to-coast adventure in Friday’s Aloha Bowl.
So the speed-scoring record against Kansas bowl teams is safe for at least another year, and probably longer because KU has never been to a postseason game in consecutive seasons.
Kansas come the closest in the early 70s when a pass-minded David Jaynes-led band of Jayhawks went to the Liberty Bowl in ’73 and a run-minded team featuring Nolan Cromwell and Lavern Smith went to the Sun Bowl in ’75.
In the ’74 sandwich season, the Jayhawks won four of their first five and seemed a cinch for December duty. Then they lost their last six, and KU officials panicked and dumped coach Don Fambrough.
Again in ’76, Kansas seemed well on its way to a bowl game, winning four of its first five. Then Cromwell wrecked a knee in the sixth game and KU limped home with a 6-5 record.
Kansas’ best post-bowl seasons were in 1948 (7-3) and 1962 (6-3-1). Too bad so few bowls existed thenheck, the Aloha Bowl is just 11 year oldand surely, those talented squads wouldn’t have had to quit in November.
Kansas’ worst post-bowl seasons were in 1969 (1-9) and 1982 (2-7-2). Doubtless Kansas is the only school in history to go from the Orange Bowl one year and one-win season the next.
That ’69 team lost a lot of skill playersnotably quarterback Bobby Douglass, defensive end John Zook and offensive tackle Keith Christensenbut it wasn’t exactly bankrupt with such talented returnees like fullback John Riggins, linebacker Emery Hicks and tight end John Mosier. It was, however, infested with overconfidence and underachievement.
The ’82 Jayhawks started on the wrong foot, bowing 13-10 to Wichita State in the opener, and never really recovered. Quarterback Frank Seurer had a decent junior year, but the running game was virtually non-existent and the defense sorely missed ’81 standouts Kyle McNorton, Greg Smith and Chris Toburen.
Kansas Overall record in post-bowl years is 26-34-3. What does that mean? Nothing.
We do know this much, however. If Glen Mason doesn’t find an adequate replacement for quarterback Chip Hilleary, the Kansas coach has a better chance of growing pineapples in his backyard than he does of becoming the first KU coach in history to go to a bowl in consecutive years.