Thad Allender/Journal-World PhotoColumbia, Mo. ? The teams already were gone, and the bleachers were well on their way to being empty. But the northwest corner of Faurot Field on Saturday was a party that made all the frustrations of an agonizing season seem light years away.
There, about a thousand Kansas University football fans cheered. They waved the wheat. They chanted, “Scoreboard,” and, “Just like last year,” and, “This is our house,” to the few Missouri fans who dared to stick around and see the Border War football game end the way it did.
For Kansas, a 31-14 victory over MU on Saturday had few implications outside of pride, but, nonetheless, a 4-7 season never could be any sweeter for Jayhawk fans — simply because both Kansas State and Missouri left the field with the Rock Chalk Chant swirling around the venue, a sure sign that KU got the better of them that day.
“We don’t qualify for postseason play,” KU coach Mark Mangino said, “but things couldn’t have ended any better for us.”
The Jayhawks — on both offense and defense — turned in one of their best performances of the year Saturday — against a team that despises them most, in a stadium that screams intimidation and trouble every time the archrival pays a visit.
But MU was the team that ended up doomed on this day. Among other devastating setbacks, the Tigers were held to minus-6 rushing yards against KU, including minus-41 yards by Brad Smith, one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in college football. The MU junior was sacked six times, three coming from senior David McMillan, who may have played the best game of his career knowing it was his last as a Jayhawk.
“It was a great way to go out,” said McMillan, who also forced a fumble Saturday. “I wanted to make it memorable.”
McMillan led an inspired defensive effort that made sure KU’s lead was safe before letting Mizzou do anything on offense. The Jayhawks were up 28-0 before the Tigers scored in the fourth quarter, and the constant pressure on Smith made sure a four-touchdown lead would be more than enough.
The offense, meanwhile, was just as sharp, led by the guts and poise of quarterback Brian Luke. The junior’s first career start may have been good enough to cement his spot in the hearts of KU fans forever, thanks to 239 yards passing, two touchdowns and a brilliant first half in which he led KU to a 21-0 lead.
“What an exhibition he put on out there,” Mangino said. “He’s been so resilient.”
Luke and running back Clark Green — who finished with 149 yards of total offense — together pounded the ball downfield, leading to a 12-yard Green touchdown in the first quarter, an eight-yard touchdown pass by Luke in the second and a one-yard TD run by fullback Austine Nwabuisi just before halftime.
Missouri already looked deflated, and a 30-yard touchdown strike from Luke to Lyonel Anderson early in the third quarter sent many of the 53,480 fans home early.
The Tigers (4-6) weren’t done fighting, as two fourth-quarter touchdowns proved. But KU kept making key stops on defense, thanks to intense pressure from the defensive line and sticky coverage in the secondary.
The last stand ended when Charles Gordon intercepted his seventh pass of the season, returned it to Mizzou territory, then watched as senior Johnny Beck booted a 35-yard field goal to ice the game and give the northwest corner of Faurot Field enough confidence to go ahead with KU’s famed Rock Chalk Chant.
“I’m happy, and it’s satisfying because I know how much this game means to the people in the state of Kansas,” Mangino said. “I know it’s important to them, and we never want to let our fans down.”
KU now heads home for the winter.
| -6Rushing yards by Missouri-41Rushing yards for Missouri QB Brad Smith, the first time in his career he had been held to negative yards1-for-16MU’s successful third-down conversion rate |
Missouri has one more game — next week at Iowa State — but KU’s victory assured there won’t be a postseason for the Tigers. At 4-6, Missouri officially was eliminated from postseason consideration with the loss.
Bet the bank that nobody in KU’s locker room felt too bad about it.
“We take pride in knocking anybody out of bowl contention,” Luke said. “I won’t lie. It’s nice.”
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