The atmosphere could change fast, but as of this morning Kansas University sports fans are talking basketball AND football. That’s a terrific change from past years in the Gridiron Futility Stakes. A 5-2 start can do that despite the great enthusiasm over Bill Self’s court crew.
Even with that stimulating basketball carnival last weekend, football remains in the conversational mix. KU has mustered some gridiron respectability, and it’s been noticed.
But as of today, into a four-ambush Valley of Death ride the noble Jayhawks. They get Kansas State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State on the road and Nebraska here. Miracles do happen, and what a fabulous feat it would be if KU upset KSU. Improbable, but not out of reach.
The ugly flip side is that Kansas could wind up so battered by the Big Four that it might not even be able to notch a break-even sixth win at Iowa State.
The fact these Kansas players have weathered adversity, created a belief in themselves and bought into what coach Mark Mangino is trying to do is the main reason so many feel good. As stablemate Chuck Woodling pointed out Wednesday, this KU gang is generating a little swagger, having taken its lumps and deciding it’s about to start dealing out some.
You talk not just to players but to family members and friends and it’s little wonder things are looking up. No matter how bloody the Jayhawks may be, they vow they will remain unbowed and that with effort and improvement their time will come. Maybe not today, but sometime, maybe yet this year.
Watch their focus on the sideline during a game. They’re into it. None of this wandering around visiting with Crimson Girls and hangers-on the way some of Terry Allen’s undisciplined guys did. If anybody showed up, and used, a cell phone as one dolt did during the Allen regime, he’d need immediate surgery for extrication from where the sun doesn’t shine, courtesy of the fiery Mangino.
It takes momentum to build the mentality that teams like Oklahoma have. But the more success these Jayhawks experience, the closer they’ll be to a Big 12 contender. Wins beget more wins. Nobody has spotlighted that better than Dick Jerardi of Knight Ridder in a recent piece about the fall from victorious grace by Penn State. Attitude has had a lot to do with the Nittany Lion tumble. Writes Jerardi:
“You expect to win when you always win (as Penn State once did). You expect to lose when you mostly lose. Both are self-fulfilling prophecies. When you watch Penn State these days, you see players who are waiting for something bad to happen.”
That pinpoints the mental outlook of the Jayhawks during the drift of the Allen regime. You don’t detect that defeatist tone now.
OK, Kansas State is favored by three touchdowns at Manhattan and the Wildcats are good enough to do that well in winning their 11th in a row against KU. Quarterback Ell Roberson and tailback Darren Sproles are horrendous weapons; even if KU can throttle one, can it master a doubleton?
Defense? K-State has it big-time and Bill Whittemore, his receivers and runners Clark Green and John Randle must be at their best. Don’t even think of how lost KU would be without Whittemore. It simply can’t happen.
People say defense means controlling the opponent. Nuts. It means getting the ball, via turnover or punt. Can KU keep the ball long enough to lessen the impact of Roberson, Sproles and a couple of those Purple receivers?
Yep, KU is trying to rebuild. It will take a little longer. But bear in mind that even if KSU wins today, KU will still have the longest victory streak — stretching over 13 games. Kansas once beat the ‘Cats like it owned them.
As of this morning, KU still leads Kansas State 61-34-5 in the series. Current KU (and K-State) fans are too young to recall that Kansas was 8-0 against the Cats from 1907 through 1915, 8-0 from 1945 through 1952, then 10-0 from 1956 through 1965.
Reader John Clinger once sent a proud footnote.
Said Clinger: “I would like to point out . . . KU once went 13 years without losing a football game to KSU. KU won from 1956 to 1965, tied in 1966, then Kansas won two more in 1967 and 1968. . . The fact KU went 13 years without losing a game to KSU feels so much better than just 10 (or 11) in a row. Some young people who view football through purple-colored glasses don’t realize there were ties before today’s overtime process. When I mention that figure of 13, many seem shocked.”
But in the worst of times, KU never has suffered through a 28-game (yes, 28) losing streak as K-State did from 1945 into 1948. The Cats lost their last seven games in ’45, went 0-9 in ’46 and 0-10 in ’47 and opened ’48 with losses to Illinois and Iowa State. . . . 28 in all, no ties.
The Streak ended with a victory over Arkansas State in the third game of ’48, then was followed by an 0-7 finish.
Once branded by Sports Illustrated as the worst major college football program in America, KSU has come a long, long way. No reason Kansas can’t augment its basketball prowess with winning football. Imagine the jubilation if the rocky road back would include an upset of the Purple Pumas today.
