In college football, with so few games — at least compared to baseball and basketball — the season opener always is magnified. A victory fuels euphoria; a defeat breeds pessimism.
So it was Saturday night when Northwestern humbled Kansas University, 28-20, in the Great August Monsoon of 2003.
KU coach Mark Mangino declined to dwell on the negatives, however, saying he would talk only about the positives.
“At least that saves time,” quipped Bob Lutz of the Wichita Eagle, a veteran columnist who also wrote that “people aren’t stupid, and they’re not going to buy his rosy outlook for long.”
Kurt Caywood of the Topeka Capital-Journal, another longtime observer of KU football, pointed out that the Jayhawks “joined Duke, Navy and Indiana on the exclusive list of schools that have lost to Northwestern in the last calendar year.”
What really stuck a pin in my balloon, though, was the realization this Kansas team looked all too familiar. Consistency wins football games, and the Jayhawks again were lacking that important ingredient on both offense and defense.
How many times have we seen a KU team incapable of generating a time-consuming scoring drive? How many times have we seen a Kansas defense stuff opponents on first and second down, then surrender the big third-down play?
At the same time, long-suffering Kansas fans have watched helplessly as opposing running backs have run roughshod while KU’s running backs seem to plug away on a treadmill.
When all is said and done, perhaps the biggest disappointment of the season opener was KU’s inability to mount a running attack against a team that had an even worse defense than the Jayhawks had last year.
I realize KU has a retooled offensive line, but the fact the Jayhawks’ longest run of the night against Northwestern was a paltry 12 yards by tailback Clark Green is embarrassing. Green finished with 79 yards on 17 carries, perhaps providing evidence Kansas is destined for its seventh straight season without a 1,000-yard rusher.
No KU running back has passed the four-digit plateau since June Henley ran for a school record 1,349 yards in 1996.
To tell the truth, Saturday night’s score would have been a lot more lopsided if it weren’t for the interception run for a touchdown by defensive end David McMillan and the blocked punt carried in for a score by Darren Rus.
The final score doesn’t show how Northwestern dominated. The Wildcats ran 88 plays to the Jayhawks’ 57 and had nearly a 2-to-1 edge in time of possession. In light of those numbers, perhaps we shouldn’t be so harsh on the Jayhawks’ defense.
Bottom line, though, is that the negatives outweighed the positives and until Kansas shows it can win a game it has a chance to win, there will be more Doubting Thomases than Pollyannas dissecting the program.
In another vein, Kansas athletic department officials deserve a pat on the back for ignoring the age-old school tradition of inflating attendance figures. KU officials estimated Saturday night’s crowd at 27,775. In the past, I’m sure they would have listed that attendance in the low 30s range.
After last season, KU officials announced the average attendance had been 36,083 a game, but a later accounting showed the actual paid attendance was about 25,400. And, unless the Jayhawks make something happen in September, that number is doomed to be repeated.
With 11 games remaining, you have to hope the Jayhawks will do something — anything — soon to rekindle the dying flame. The season may not be over until its over, but it will be if the Jayhawks don’t make something happen in their next three games.
As things stand now, no KU team has been able to fashion a winning season after losing its opener since 1975.
