The only thing worse than Kansas University’s loss to third-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday night was the health of the football team on Sunday.
“Not real good,” KU coach Terry Allen said a day after the Jayhawks’ 38-10 homecoming thumping against OU at Memorial Stadium. “We’re pretty beat up. We have a number of guys who might not play this week. We’ll just have to see.”
Among the Jayhawks listed on the injury report were freshman defensive back Leo Bookman (knee), sophomore running back Reggie Duncan (ankle), junior offensive right guard Kyle Grady (knee), red-shirt freshman quarterback Mario Kinsey (turf toe), freshman defensive back Santana Lane (ankle) and senior wide receiver Termaine Fulton (shoulder).
“Bookman is definitely out,” Allen said. “Everyone else would be total speculation at this point.”
Kinsey, who missed the last two plays of the second quarter, returned to the game, while Duncan said afterward he probably could have played if needed. But things didn’t look as good for Grady, who was sidelined by the same knee last season, nor Fulton, who’s right arm was in a sling as he came off the field.
“It’s all right,” Duncan said of his ankle after the game. “It’s a little sore right now. I tried to come back in the second half and I just couldn’t move. I couldn’t move laterally. I couldn’t move period. I wasn’t going to do anything to make it worse.”
It wasn’t all bad for the Jayhawks on Saturday night, though.
Among the highlights, Allen said, were the announced crowd of 48,700 fans the most since 1996 and the atmosphere for the nationally-televised night game against a highly-ranked opponent.
“It was great,” Allen said. “I wish we could have played a little better offensively. It was wonderful to be a part of it. It was pretty cool having Frank lead us out onto the field.”
Frank Seurer, the most prolific passer in Kansas history and now a fireman in Olathe, was on hand as part of the pregame ceremonies honoring fire fighters and law enforcement officials from the area. The ceremony also featured the largest traveling American flag in the nation measuring 100-by-53 yards and weighing in at 850 pounds and country music singer Coley McCabe singing God Bless America.
Inspired, the Jayhawks took an early 3-0 lead on freshman kicker Johnny Beck’s 37-yard field goal extending KU’s string of scoring first in every game but it was all Sooners after that as OU ran off 38 unanswered points.
Surprisingly, Allen and the Jayhawks didn’t have to stop and ask for directions on their way to Memorial Stadium.
Saturday was just KU’s second home game during a 36-day span, dating back to the Sept. 8 game against UCLA. While both were losses and by a combined score of 79-27 both were against pretty decent foes.
“I’d venture to say we’ve seen two of the top five teams in the country right here,” Allen said, “with that UCLA team and there’s no question about this Oklahoma team.”
In fact, the Bruins and Sooners were so similar in their offensive firepower, senior cornerback Andrew Davison was hard-pressed to say who could claim the better offense.
“I can’t say. Those are two good offenses, two different concepts,” said Davison, who snagged a career-high two interceptions. “I can’t really say about that, but those are two excellent offenses. They’ve both got good players on both teams. You can toss it up on that one.”
The Jayhawks will play host to Missouri on Saturday. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
“It’s a big football game for everybody,” Allen said. “It always is. It could be played in a backyard and both teams could be 0-10 and it would be a huge football game. That’s one of the things we talked to our football team about. I don’t think our defense feels bad about themselves, I think that our offense is frustrated, but the mindset of our football team is, ‘Hey we got beat by the defending national champions, who have won 19 in a row.’
“We want to be ready we will be ready when Missouri comes to town.”
The winner are: Allen revealed the team’s weekly award winners on Sunday. On offense it was junior wide receiver Byron Gasaway (career highs with five receptions for 48 yards), defense was senior defensive tackle Nate Dwyer (three tackles for a loss and a forced fumble) and special teams was senior Brandon Weir. The scout team players of the week were sophomore kicker Case Collard, of Leavenworth, and freshman defensive end Jacob Spence.
Davison was awarded both the hit of the game, and the play of the game his second interception.
