Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoLARAMIE, WYO. ? After showing a lot of sparkle in the first two quarters, Kansas suffered through some defensive let-downs in the fourth quarter, but hung on for a 42-35 victory over Wyoming on Saturday in War Memorial Stadium.
“It’s a good victory for us,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “This is a tough environment for us to play in.”
The Jayhawks (2-1) comfortably led 42-21 midway through the fourth quarter before Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet led the Cowboys on a late charge. Bramlet was 18-for-18 and had two touchdowns in the quarter.
The first was a 4-yard pass to Ryan McGuffey with just less than five minutes remaining, and the second — which came after a successful onsides kick — was a 32-yard strike to Jovon Bouknight.
Wyoming (1-2) then attempted another onsides kick, but Charles Gordon recovered for the Jayhawks, who ran out the clock for the victory.
KU’s offense was firing on all cylinders in the first half, especially quarterback Bill Whittemore.
The senior signal caller was 6-of-7 passing for 183 yards and three touchdowns before halftime, and finished 12-of-15 for 269 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
“Bill’s Bill,” Mangino said. “He came out to play. Bill turned in a strong performance again, and that’s what we’ve come to expect from Bill.”
The Jayhawks easily moved the ball downfield against the Cowboys on the game’s opening drive, moving 80 yards in 10 plays. Whittemore started the drive with a 27-yard strike to Gordon, then the running game took over until Whittemore hit fullback Austine Nwabuisi with a six-yard touchdown pass on second-and-goal.
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Wyoming (1-2) struck back just four plays and 66 seconds later, when Bramlet hit McGuffey with a 33-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline after Shelton Simmons slipped while covering McGuffey. The score was the first passing touchdown KU had given up this season.
After Wyoming forced KU to punt and then earned a questionable first down, Brandon Perkins sacked Bramlet and forced a fumble, which David McMillan picked up and returned 53 yards for a touchdown. Johnny Beck’s point-after kick gave KU a 14-7 lead with 6:03 left in the first quarter.
Bramlett kept the ensuing drive alive with a third-and-11 completion to McGuffey and on the next play hit Bouknight wide open in the middle of the field for a 47-yard touchdown, tying the game at 14-all.
KU regained the lead just four plays later on an 8-yard run by Nwabuisi. The play was set up by a 16-yard run by Whittemore and his 45-yard pass to Lyonel Anderson.
The Jayhawks defense forced a three-and-out by the Cowboys on the next drive. KU appeared to have to punt as well facing fourth-and-two, but punter Curtis Ansel completed a shovel pass to Nick Reid for 26 yards. Two plays later, Whittemore threw a 32-yard touchdown to Gordon for a 28-14 lead.
“We put in a little trick play and it worked like a charm,” Reid said of the fake punt.
After another three-and-out by Wyoming, KU took over at the Cowboys’ 30-yard line. On first down, Whittemore hit Mark Simmons for the 70-yard touchdown pass. Simmons caught the ball at the 25-yard line and outran two defenders into the end zone.
Wyoming was driving to the end zone late in the second quarter, but KU’s defense stepped up and forced the Cowboys to punt. Kenneth Thompson broke up a pass on a blitz on first down, nearly intercepted Bramlet on second down and Monroe Weekley sacked Bramlet on third down. Weekley’s sack was his second of the game.
The Jayhawks appeared to have another big pass — a 65-yarder from Whittemore to Gordon — on their first drive of the second half, but the play was called back because of holding, and KU was forced to punt.
Wyoming drew within 14 points on its next possession, driving 66 yards in eight plays and three and a half minutes. McGuffy had three catches for 29 yards on the drive, Ivan Harrison had 23 rushing yards and Bouknight scored on a 7-yard reverse.
Whittemore marched the Jayhawks down field on the next drive, accounting for all 68 yards. Whittemore passed to Clark Green for 38 yards on two screen passes, rushed for four yards and hit Gordon for a wide-open 26-yard touchdown down the right sideline.
Bouknight fumbled four plays into the Cowboys’ next drive, but KU couldn’t convert the turnover into points. On the 10th play of the drive, Johnny Beck’s 48-yard field goal attempt was wide right.
Bramlet then led the Cowboys on their final two scoring drives.
Green finished with 22 carries for 70 yards, and Whittemore rushed 11 times for 69 yards. Green had four catches for 45 yards, and Gordon had three catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
Bramlet finished 33-of-46 for 328 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 30 yards.
Derek Armah led Wyoming with 85 yards on 18 carries. Harrison added 29 yards on three carries. McGuffy had 13 catches for 135 yards, Bouknight had 99 yards and two touchdowns on four catches.
Wyoming outgained KU, 507-457, and had the ball for four more minutes, but had one more turnover and 11 more penalty yards. The Jayhawks finished with 162 rushing yards and 295 passing yards.
Andrew Hartsock/Journal-World PhotoManhattan ? Just when it looked like Kansas University was going to turn Kansas State’s turn-back-the-clock festivities into clean-KSU’s-clock day, the Jayhawks blew a main spring.
Still, KU held on for a 16-13 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday at Frank Myers Field.
“We go from a no-hitter to giving up 13 runs,” KU coach Bobby Randall said. “That was interesting. I never would have thought with Pete on the mound and an 11-run lead that we’d need more runs.”
They did. With Pete Smart (7-9) throwing 41/3 hitless innings, the Jayhawks (24-27 overall, 10-20 Big 12) built a snowman in the fifth and flirted with the league’s 12-run slaughter rule by storming to an 11-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
But KSU (19-29, 5-21) didn’t go away. The Wildcats, who finished last in the 11-team Big 12, scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, two in the sixth, three in the seventh, two in the eighth and five in the ninth to make it interesting.
Andrew Hartsock/Journal-World Photo“Hey, that’s baseball,” said KU second baseman Casey Spanish, who was 4-for-6 with two runs and an RBI. “Sometimes you get hot. Our offense came back and we put some more runs on the board.”
With the victory, the Jayhawks won the mythical Sunflower State title. They swept two games with depressed Wichita State, beat Baker and took two of three from K-State. Thus, Kansas was 5-1 against its in-state opponents this season.
“It’s very mythical,” Randall said. “What do we get, the red slipper? I wish we got free tickets to Worlds of Fun or something good.”
Randall was similarly disappointed in the execution of the Wildcats’ turn-back-the-clock celebration. The teams wore “vintage replica” jerseys to mark KSU’s 100 years of baseball. But the new unis merely consisted of new jerseys with old logos and the same pants and caps the teams had worn all season.
“It wasn’t as big a thrill as I thought it would be,” Randall said. “I thought we’d wear flannels. That’s what we should have done. I didn’t even get a quarter hot dog.”
He did, however, relish Smart’s performance. Smart, a 6-foot-7 lefty from Omaha, Neb., allowed six runs all earned off nine hits over 62/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two, just two days after getting two outs in the Jayhawks’ 11-inning victory in the series opener.
“He’d never pitched this much before,” Randall said. “Maybe bringing him in Friday night took more out of him than I thought it would. But he was in both games we won.”
Smart, though, insisted he didn’t run out of gas.
“Maybe mentally,” Smart said. “The first four innings, I was going pretty well with my fastball and splitter. I only threw one curve. Then I lost my focus. We got up big, and I thought I had it made.”
Scott Tallman, a Lawrence High graduate, took the loss for KSU. He surrendered 11 runs nine earned off 11 hits over 41/3 innings.
All four LHS grads in uniform played Sunday. KU’s Jeff Davis gave up seven runs off eight hits over the final 21/3 innings, and Kansas first baseman Shane Wedd was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs.
J.D. Loudabarger, KSU’s shortstop, was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.
John Nelson contributed four hits and three runs for the Jayhawks, while Brandon Smith was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Ryan Klocksien had two hits and two runs.
The Jayhawks will play host to Texas-Arlington on Saturday.
