Dreams rebound for KU football fans

By George Diepenbrock     Sep 3, 2006

Judy Lessenden tailgated two hours before kickoff Saturday with some lofty goals in mind for her Jayhawks.

“I think they are going to be really good – win the North,” the Overland Park resident and Kansas University alumna said of KU’s Big 12 Conference division.

Some fans had similar aspirations as thousands wore blue and partied in around Memorial Stadium hours before KU’s opening game with Northwestern State, which KU ended up winning, 49-18.

“We’ve never seen the side streets so full around the stadium,” said Matt Brungardt, a Lawrence High School assistant principal.

Brungardt’s sons, Cole, 7, and Ross, 5, were throwing a football around outside an apartment building on Illinois Street.

“Throw a good pass like Kerry Meier, bud,” a passing fan said as he offered a high-five to Cole.

Fans said they were curious to see Meier, the redshirt freshman quarterback, on the field after he received so much media attention in the off-season. Last year’s Fort Worth Bowl win, plus late-season home victories over Iowa State, Nebraska and Missouri have helped breathe life into the program, fans said.

“We’ve been awful for a while. We finally have some momentum. It’s a lot more fun,” said Brian Wolf, a graduate student from Lenexa.

“I’d like to see Meier play well, obviously. Just because we lost so many guys on defense, I’d like to see them play as a whole,” said Wolf’s friend, Chris Cook, a 2005 KU graduate and a Washburn University law student.

Lessenden says she thinks the new defense and quarterback will give the team a boost.

“We haven’t had too much consistent quarterback-play the last two years,” she said. “If the defense is as smart as they were last year and more athletic, we can shut people down.”

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