Thank goodness the Naval Academy can’t beat Notre Dame in football. Otherwise, Nebraska’s mastery of Kansas would be the longest misery streak in the nation.
Notre Dame has won 37 straight over the Midshipmen and the Irish almost certainly will boost that number to 38 in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has won just 32 straight from Kansas and, by most reckoning, that number will climb to 33 tonight.
Players who were on the field in Lincoln that day in mid-October of 1968 when Kansas last bested the Cornhuskers are in their mid-50s now, and their recollections of the game are surely vague a suspicion confirmed when I talked to Bill Bell.
Bell, now Douglas County’s director of maintenance, was a junior punter/placekicker on that 1968 Kansas team. His 50-yard punt in the third quarter pinned the Huskers on their own one-yard line and eventually cajoled NU coach Bob Devaney to concede a safety.
“I don’t remember the safety,” Bell told me. “All I remember is it was a very tough fought game, and we did what we thought we would do.”
What the Jayhawks thought they would do was win because they had been winning all season. And they did, 23-13, by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Kansas was trailing 6-0 when Devaney decided it was better to give Kansas two points than try to punt out of his own end zone.
To tell the truth, that safety is about all I remember about the game, and the only reason I recalled it was because it precipitated one of the most grievous mis-quotes in the history of Sunflower State newspaper journalism.
After the game, Kansas coach Pepper Rodgers, surrounded by media-types, was asked what he thought about Devaney’s decision to concede the safety.
“I knew Devaney was courageous,” the outspoken Rodgers replied, “but I didn’t know he was that courageous.”
Newspapers and magazines it was Sports Illustrated’s cover story the next week all over the country ran that Rodgers quote, including the Wichita Eagle, although in a slightly different form.
The Eagle sportswriter had misunderstood Rodgers in the din of the post-game celebration and this is how the KU coach’s comment about the safety read in the state’s largest newspaper: “I knew Devaney was crazy, but I didn’t think he was that crazy.”
Needless to say, the Eagle ran a correction, but not before Rodgers had hastily called Devaney to assure the NU coach he had been misquoted.
Kansas went on to tie for the Big Eight championship with Oklahoma KU hasn’t won a league title since and advanced to the Orange Bowl where the Jayhawks bowed to Penn State, 15-14, in the infamous 12th Man Game.
Kansas would not have gone to Miami if it hadn’t scored two touchdowns in the last 10 minutes in Lincoln to overcome a 13-9 deficit. Both TDs were runs by All-America quarterback Bobby Douglass, the last with just 1:11 remaining.
One of the most interesting aspects, I think, of that ’68 team is that seven members live in Lawrence and only one of them Dr. Ken Wertzberger, a starting guard is a native.
The other six are guard Dave Aikins, reserve wingback Willie Amison, back-up defensive tackle Jim Bailey, fullback Mike Reeves, linebacker Emery Hicks and Bell. It’s also worth noting that one of the team managers that year was Dr. Charles Loveland, a Lawrence pediatrician.
Bell came from Falls Church, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb. After spending four years here, he kicked in the NFL for 2 1/2 seasons before returning to Lawrence and settling down.
“I went to my 35th high school reunion not too long ago,” Bell said, “and it made me even happier I decided to stay in Lawrence. I went by the house we lived in. It was a typical three-bedroom rancher, and it was for sale for $260,000. Who can afford that?”
And you thought housing costs in Lawrence were high.
Thank goodness the Naval Academy can’t beat Notre Dame in football. Otherwise, Nebraska’s mastery of Kansas would be the longest misery streak in the nation.
Notre Dame has won 37 straight over the Midshipmen and the Irish almost certainly will boost that number to 38 in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has won just 32 straight from Kansas and, by most reckoning, that number will climb to 33 tonight.
Players who were on the field in Lincoln that day in mid-October of 1968 when Kansas last bested the Cornhuskers are in their mid-50s now, and their recollections of the game are surely vague a suspicion confirmed when I talked to Bill Bell.
Bell, now Douglas County’s director of maintenance, was a junior punter/placekicker on that 1968 Kansas team. His 50-yard punt in the third quarter pinned the Huskers on their own one-yard line and eventually cajoled NU coach Bob Devaney to concede a safety.
“I don’t remember the safety,” Bell told me. “All I remember is it was a very tough fought game, and we did what we thought we would do.”
What the Jayhawks thought they would do was win because they had been winning all season. And they did, 23-13, by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Kansas was trailing 6-0 when Devaney decided it was better to give Kansas two points than try to punt out of his own end zone.
To tell the truth, that safety is about all I remember about the game, and the only reason I recalled it was because it precipitated one of the most grievous mis-quotes in the history of Sunflower State newspaper journalism.
After the game, Kansas coach Pepper Rodgers, surrounded by media-types, was asked what he thought about Devaney’s decision to concede the safety.
“I knew Devaney was courageous,” the outspoken Rodgers replied, “but I didn’t know he was that courageous.”
Newspapers and magazines it was Sports Illustrated’s cover story the next week all over the country ran that Rodgers quote, including the Wichita Eagle, although in a slightly different form.
The Eagle sportswriter had misunderstood Rodgers in the din of the post-game celebration and this is how the KU coach’s comment about the safety read in the state’s largest newspaper: “I knew Devaney was crazy, but I didn’t think he was that crazy.”
Needless to say, the Eagle ran a correction, but not before Rodgers had hastily called Devaney to assure the NU coach he had been misquoted.
Kansas went on to tie for the Big Eight championship with Oklahoma KU hasn’t won a league title since and advanced to the Orange Bowl where the Jayhawks bowed to Penn State, 15-14, in the infamous 12th Man Game.
Kansas would not have gone to Miami if it hadn’t scored two touchdowns in the last 10 minutes in Lincoln to overcome a 13-9 deficit. Both TDs were runs by All-America quarterback Bobby Douglass, the last with just 1:11 remaining.
One of the most interesting aspects, I think, of that ’68 team is that seven members live in Lawrence and only one of them Dr. Ken Wertzberger, a starting guard is a native.
The other six are guard Dave Aikins, reserve wingback Willie Amison, back-up defensive tackle Jim Bailey, fullback Mike Reeves, linebacker Emery Hicks and Bell. It’s also worth noting that one of the team managers that year was Dr. Charles Loveland, a Lawrence pediatrician.
Bell came from Falls Church, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb. After spending four years here, he kicked in the NFL for 2 1/2 seasons before returning to Lawrence and settling down.
“I went to my 35th high school reunion not too long ago,” Bell said, “and it made me even happier I decided to stay in Lawrence. I went by the house we lived in. It was a typical three-bedroom rancher, and it was for sale for $260,000. Who can afford that?”
And you thought housing costs in Lawrence were high.
Thank goodness the Naval Academy can’t beat Notre Dame in football. Otherwise, Nebraska’s mastery of Kansas would be the longest misery streak in the nation.
Notre Dame has won 37 straight over the Midshipmen and the Irish almost certainly will boost that number to 38 in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has won just 32 straight from Kansas and, by most reckoning, that number will climb to 33 tonight.
Players who were on the field in Lincoln that day in mid-October of 1968 when Kansas last bested the Cornhuskers are in their mid-50s now, and their recollections of the game are surely vague a suspicion confirmed when I talked to Bill Bell.
Bell, now Douglas County’s director of maintenance, was a junior punter/placekicker on that 1968 Kansas team. His 50-yard punt in the third quarter pinned the Huskers on their own one-yard line and eventually cajoled NU coach Bob Devaney to concede a safety.
“I don’t remember the safety,” Bell told me. “All I remember is it was a very tough fought game, and we did what we thought we would do.”
What the Jayhawks thought they would do was win because they had been winning all season. And they did, 23-13, by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Kansas was trailing 6-0 when Devaney decided it was better to give Kansas two points than try to punt out of his own end zone.
To tell the truth, that safety is about all I remember about the game, and the only reason I recalled it was because it precipitated one of the most grievous mis-quotes in the history of Sunflower State newspaper journalism.
After the game, Kansas coach Pepper Rodgers, surrounded by media-types, was asked what he thought about Devaney’s decision to concede the safety.
“I knew Devaney was courageous,” the outspoken Rodgers replied, “but I didn’t know he was that courageous.”
Newspapers and magazines it was Sports Illustrated’s cover story the next week all over the country ran that Rodgers quote, including the Wichita Eagle, although in a slightly different form.
The Eagle sportswriter had misunderstood Rodgers in the din of the post-game celebration and this is how the KU coach’s comment about the safety read in the state’s largest newspaper: “I knew Devaney was crazy, but I didn’t think he was that crazy.”
Needless to say, the Eagle ran a correction, but not before Rodgers had hastily called Devaney to assure the NU coach he had been misquoted.
Kansas went on to tie for the Big Eight championship with Oklahoma KU hasn’t won a league title since and advanced to the Orange Bowl where the Jayhawks bowed to Penn State, 15-14, in the infamous 12th Man Game.
Kansas would not have gone to Miami if it hadn’t scored two touchdowns in the last 10 minutes in Lincoln to overcome a 13-9 deficit. Both TDs were runs by All-America quarterback Bobby Douglass, the last with just 1:11 remaining.
One of the most interesting aspects, I think, of that ’68 team is that seven members live in Lawrence and only one of them Dr. Ken Wertzberger, a starting guard is a native.
The other six are guard Dave Aikins, reserve wingback Willie Amison, back-up defensive tackle Jim Bailey, fullback Mike Reeves, linebacker Emery Hicks and Bell. It’s also worth noting that one of the team managers that year was Dr. Charles Loveland, a Lawrence pediatrician.
Bell came from Falls Church, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb. After spending four years here, he kicked in the NFL for 2 1/2 seasons before returning to Lawrence and settling down.
“I went to my 35th high school reunion not too long ago,” Bell said, “and it made me even happier I decided to stay in Lawrence. I went by the house we lived in. It was a typical three-bedroom rancher, and it was for sale for $260,000. Who can afford that?”
And you thought housing costs in Lawrence were high.
Thank goodness the Naval Academy can’t beat Notre Dame in football. Otherwise, Nebraska’s mastery of Kansas would be the longest misery streak in the nation.
Notre Dame has won 37 straight over the Midshipmen and the Irish almost certainly will boost that number to 38 in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has won just 32 straight from Kansas and, by most reckoning, that number will climb to 33 tonight.
Players who were on the field in Lincoln that day in mid-October of 1968 when Kansas last bested the Cornhuskers are in their mid-50s now, and their recollections of the game are surely vague a suspicion confirmed when I talked to Bill Bell.
Bell, now Douglas County’s director of maintenance, was a junior punter/placekicker on that 1968 Kansas team. His 50-yard punt in the third quarter pinned the Huskers on their own one-yard line and eventually cajoled NU coach Bob Devaney to concede a safety.
“I don’t remember the safety,” Bell told me. “All I remember is it was a very tough fought game, and we did what we thought we would do.”
What the Jayhawks thought they would do was win because they had been winning all season. And they did, 23-13, by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Kansas was trailing 6-0 when Devaney decided it was better to give Kansas two points than try to punt out of his own end zone.
To tell the truth, that safety is about all I remember about the game, and the only reason I recalled it was because it precipitated one of the most grievous mis-quotes in the history of Sunflower State newspaper journalism.
After the game, Kansas coach Pepper Rodgers, surrounded by media-types, was asked what he thought about Devaney’s decision to concede the safety.
“I knew Devaney was courageous,” the outspoken Rodgers replied, “but I didn’t know he was that courageous.”
Newspapers and magazines it was Sports Illustrated’s cover story the next week all over the country ran that Rodgers quote, including the Wichita Eagle, although in a slightly different form.
The Eagle sportswriter had misunderstood Rodgers in the din of the post-game celebration and this is how the KU coach’s comment about the safety read in the state’s largest newspaper: “I knew Devaney was crazy, but I didn’t think he was that crazy.”
Needless to say, the Eagle ran a correction, but not before Rodgers had hastily called Devaney to assure the NU coach he had been misquoted.
Kansas went on to tie for the Big Eight championship with Oklahoma KU hasn’t won a league title since and advanced to the Orange Bowl where the Jayhawks bowed to Penn State, 15-14, in the infamous 12th Man Game.
Kansas would not have gone to Miami if it hadn’t scored two touchdowns in the last 10 minutes in Lincoln to overcome a 13-9 deficit. Both TDs were runs by All-America quarterback Bobby Douglass, the last with just 1:11 remaining.
One of the most interesting aspects, I think, of that ’68 team is that seven members live in Lawrence and only one of them Dr. Ken Wertzberger, a starting guard is a native.
The other six are guard Dave Aikins, reserve wingback Willie Amison, back-up defensive tackle Jim Bailey, fullback Mike Reeves, linebacker Emery Hicks and Bell. It’s also worth noting that one of the team managers that year was Dr. Charles Loveland, a Lawrence pediatrician.
Bell came from Falls Church, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb. After spending four years here, he kicked in the NFL for 2 1/2 seasons before returning to Lawrence and settling down.
“I went to my 35th high school reunion not too long ago,” Bell said, “and it made me even happier I decided to stay in Lawrence. I went by the house we lived in. It was a typical three-bedroom rancher, and it was for sale for $260,000. Who can afford that?”
And you thought housing costs in Lawrence were high.
