Final, KU wins 55-3
KU ended its non-conference season and headed into its bye week in the fashion it had hoped to, dominating an outmatched opponent.
KU finished the game with 615 yards of total offense – which ties for the fifth-highest single-game total in school history, the highest total since KU racked up 641 on Jacksonville State in 2003.
Todd Reesing bounced back from a bit of an off-night a week ago by completing 23-of-37 passes for 368 yards and a touchdown. Though he was picked for the first time this season, his single-game total of 415 yards ranks as the fourth-best performance in that category in program history.
Brandon McAnderson’s 105 yards put him over the 100-yard rushing barrier for the second time this season. Derek Fine was KU’s leading receiver with seven catches for 70 yards and a second half score.
The Jayhawks’ biggest defensive highlight was a 100-yard interception return for a score by All-American Aqib Talib – the first defensive TD of his KU career.
KU outscored its opponents 214-23 in four non-conference contests.
KU will have a week off before taking on Kansas State in Manhattan, the Big 12 Conference opener, on Oct. 6. The time of that game will be announced early this upcoming week.
9:19, fourth quarter, KU leads 55-3
Kerry Meier took over for Todd Reesing in the fourth quarter for the fourth straight time to start the season. He went to work right away, hitting Marcus Herford for a 16-yard gain on first down. It was followed by an eight-yard run up the middle by Brandon McAnderson, giving the Lawrence native 92 yards on 11 carries.
McAnderson then took a pitch up the right side for seven yards, further knocking on the 100-yard door. He took care of it moments later with a five-yard touchdown run, giving him 105 yards on the night and six rushing touchdowns on the season.
12:54, fourth quarter, KU leads 48-3
Aqib Talib kept the fireworks going for KU after a fireworks display ended a few miles east of the stadium. On third-and-five, Wayne Younger overshot a receiver in the end zone, wehre it was snatched by Aqib Talib.
On a twisting, lightning-fast return, Talib ran the ball back 102 yards for a score, aided by a bevy of huge blocks down the sideline. It rubbed more salt in the FIU wound, putting KU up 48-3.
The official scoring made it a 100-yard return, making it the longest interception return in school history, surpassing the previous record – a 98-yard return by John Hadl.
1:03, third quarter, KU leads 41-3
Wayne Younger hit Trenard Turner for 36 yards to start FIU’s next possession, showing that the Panthers still have some vested interest in this contest, pushing the ball into KU territory.
Then, after a timeout facing a third-and-three, Younger evaded the grasp of James Holt long enough to spot Eric Kirchenberg to ove the ball down to the KU 25-yard line.
The Panthers stalled, though, turning the ball over on downs, giving possession to KU at its own 25-yard line.
Todd Reesing started the drive by finding Fine for the sixth time on the night, followed by a pair of runs by Jake Sharp, going for 20 yards.
Derek Fine hauled in catch No. 7 on a third-and-three, giving him 70 yards on the night. Brandon McAnderson capped off the drive and atoned for his two fumbles earlier with a 23-yard touchdown up the gut of the defense. It gave KU a 41-3 lead, and gave the Jayhawks a total of 200 points scored this non-conference season.
8:38, third quarter, KU leads 34-3
Mike Rivera earned his second fumble recovery of the night on FIU’s ensuing possession, as the inability to sustain a drive has continued to cripple the Panthers.
It took one play for Reesing to set off some more fireworks. Thanks to a nifty little scramble around the pocket, he found a wide open Marcus Henry for 32 yards, setting KU up three feet from paydirt. From there, Reesing pitched the ball to Jake Sharp for a one-yard touchdown run, his third rushing score of the season.
9:46, third quarter, KU leads 27-3
After forcing FIU into a three-and-out, Jake Sharp ran for eight yards on first down – just his third carry of the game. He then bounced outside on second-and-two for a nice gain and a first down, but it was negated by a holding call against Marcus Henry.
Dexton Fields made up for the yardage lost with a 19-yard grab on second-and-12, pushing the ball to the FIU 19-yard line with a fresh set of downs. That catch gave Fields four catches for 77 yards.
On the next snap, Reesing threw a fade to the back-right corner of the end zone for tight end Derek Fine, who hauled in his fifth pass of the night for a 19-yard score, giving him 57 receiving yards on the night and Reesing 11 touchdown passes on the season.
11:53, third quarter, KU leads 20-3
KU started the second half offensively just like it started the first, with Todd Reesing going to Dexton Fields. After an 11-yard pass to Fields, Reesing found Derek Fine after a rollout for 21 yards.
Jake Sharp then took an option pitch for eight yards, followed by a five-yard Todd Reesing run for the Jayhawks’ third first down of the drive.
Reesing made it four first downs by hitting Derek Fine over the middle for 10 yards, giving Fine four catches on the night for 38 yards.
On third-and-10, it was a scary moment for KU. Reesing went down the seam for Aqib Talib, but as the pass floated, Talib was hammered by Ashlyn Parker, forcing the ball to fly into the end zone, where Cory Fleming secured the ball, marking Reesing’s first interception of the 2007 season.
Halftime, KU leads 20-3
Wayne Younger’s legs continued to be the best form of offense for FIU. He had a 22-yard run to set his team up at its own 44 with just over three minutes to go in the half, but A’mod Ned put it to waste two plays later with a fumble in the backfield, recovered by Mike Rivera.
KU returned the favor just seconds later, as Brandon McAnderson lost his second fumble of the game after scooting the ball for a first down on a short reception.
The Panthers couldn’t do anything with the ball, as they were forced to punt on fourth-and-12 at their own 34.
Reesing hit Derek Fine and Jake Sharp on back-to-back passes to star tthe drive with a minute left in the half. After an incompletion, Marcus Henry had his first catch of the game at the 42-yard line, but the clock was kept running despite his best efforts to get out of bounds at his own 42-yard line.
The Jayhawks were forced to punt with 13 seconds to go, but after a circus return, the game went to the half with KU leading 20-3.
In the first half, Reesing was 15-of-26 for 244 yards. Brandon McAnderson had seven carries for 55 yards, but lost a pair of fumbles.
4:27, second quarter, KU leads 20-3
FIU’s ensuing possession was aided early by a 15-yard facemasking call against Todd Haselhorst, pushing the ball to the 37-yard line after an 11-yard run. It wiped out the effect of a holding call against FIU on the runback.
Joe Mortensen ran down Younger while he was rolling left for a loss of two, and then Mike Rivera poked away a short pass on second-and-12, forcing another third-and-long for the Panthers. Younger misfired short after rolling right, giving the ball to KU again via punt.
A 41-yard punt earned no return from Raimond Pendleton, who fielded it on a hop, giving KU the ball at its own 24-yard line with 6:45 left in the first half.
Brandon McAnderson took an inside give 19 yards on the first play of the drive, but after that, KU struggled for two snaps and even had to call a timeout to sort out some confusion.
Facing a third-and-nine, Reesing struck Sharp over the middle, who swung outside and picked up 31 yards and a big first down to the FIU 26.
After the offense stalled out, Scott Webb hit a 37-yard field goal to put KU up 20-3.
8:33, second quarter, KU leads 17-3
FIU converted on a third-and-14 when Younger hit Greg Ellingson over the middle for exactly 14 yards.
After two more snaps, though, they were left with a thougher third down conversion, with 17 yards to go from their own 28-yard line. Younger threw the ball to John Ellis in the flat, who was held up by James McClinton and finsihed off by Mike Rivera, forcing the Panthers to punt.
Reesing started KU’s next possession from his own 21-yard line, and after a deflected pass on first down, struck Briscoe for 13 yards on second-and-10. Briscoe had three catches for 53 yards after that snag. It was followed by a five-yard gain on Jake Sharp’s first carry of the game.
Reesing followed it with a 19-yard strike over the middle of the field to Aqib Talib to put the ball at the FIU 29. Then, Reesing checked down to Sharp over the middle for a nine-yard gain to put the ball at the cusp of the red zone.
Some luck went Kansas’ way on second-and-one, as a short pass went off the fingertips of Derek Fine on a high toss, and the deflection was pulled in by backup tight end Bradley Dedeaux, setting KU up with second-and-goal at the FIU nine.
After a timeout, Todd Reesing took a broken play up the middle for a nine-yard touchdown on second down. Scott Webb’s extra point put KU up 17-3.
14:54, second quarter, KU leads 10-3
FIU began to move the ball again towards midfield following the KU turnover. But the Panthers coughed it up themselves just seven snaps later, as Joe Mortensen worked free a ball in A’mod Ned’s possession. Darrell Stuckey scooped it up and stumbled to the KU 46-yard line.
To start its next possession, Reesing again hit Briscoe on the left, this time for a 27-yard gain.
KU was hurt by an offensive pass interference call against Briscoe, though, two plays later, and after a Todd Reesing scramble up the middle on third-and-long, was left with a fourth-and-seven at the FIU 24-yard line as the second quarter came to a close.
On the first play of the second quarter, KU went for it on fourth-and-seven, but Reesing threw behind Derek Fine, turning it over on downs rather than opting for a 41-yard field goal attempt.
3:55, first quarter, KU leads 10-3
In a surprise move, Mark Mangino put backup quarterback Kerry Meier into the game as a slot receiver, and immediately utilized him.
First, Reesing hit him for a 15-yard completion, and then executed an option pitch to the Pittsburg sophomore, picking up another six yards. After a 13-yard pass to Dezmon Briscoe, the snap went directly to Brandon McAnderson, who after shooting through the middle fumbled the ball at the 7-yard line into the end zone. FIU recovered it for a touchback.
5:31, first quarter, KU leads 10-3
FIU finally found some means of gaining yardage on a broken play, as Younger flipped up a pass down the sideline for Jason Frierson. He hauled it in over Patrick Resby, and followed by a six-yard James Jones run, it set FIU up at the KU 40-yard line.
Kendall Berry then seemed to put FIU in field goal range with a long run, but an illegal block in the back set FIU back to the KU 31-yard line from the spot of the foul.
KU’s tackling continued to be sure, and on third down, Aqib Talib deflected a short pass to force a fourth-and-five and a 42-yard field goal attempt. Chris Abed hit it to make it a one-score contest again.
8:23, first quarter, KU leads 10-0
FIU had a nice kick return past its own 30-yard line following the blocked punt, but couldn’t make anything out of the possession in three plays, giving KU the ball at its own 27.
After Raimond Pendleton was blasted upon catching the Chris Cook punt, Reesing went straight to Dexton Fields on two straight plays. First came a nine-yard pass along the right sideline. Then, on a play-action pass, he hit Fields over the middle, and he cut outside for a 35-yard gain to the FIU 29.
From there, KU went traditional, with Brandon McAnderson toting the ball on two straight plays, setting up a third-and-one. He got the ball then, too, picking up four yards and a first down to the 16-yard line with less than 10 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Reesing overshot Derek Fine in the corner of the end zone on first down, and McAndersons scooped up three yards on second down to set up a third-and-seven. After Reesing was forced to throw the ball away on third down, Scott Webb put KU up by two scores with a 30-yard field goal.
12:56, first quarter, KU leads 7-0
Florida International took the ball to start the game from its own 15-yard line in the closed end of Memorial Stadium.
On first down, Wayne Younger ran a playaction boot right and hit his target, but James Holt was there to stymie the play for a no-gainer. The drive continued to go nowhere, as A’mod Ned lost two yards on his first carry, and a muffed snap led to a punt.
The KU special teams swarmed immediately, with freshman Raymond Brown blocking the kick in the end zone. As he went wild in celebration, fellow freshman Dakota Lewis recovered the ball in the back of the end zone, putting KU up 7-0 before even having the ball in its possession.
Pregame
For the fifth time in three years, Kansas University busted out its alternate red uniforms for tonight’s non-conference finale against lowly Florida International.
As if KU didn’t need anything else in its corner, as the Panthers enter Memorial Stadium with a 15-game losing streak – the longest such run in the FBS ranks. On top of it, KU enters the contest 3-0, averaging 53 points per contest, and the Jayhawks have never lost in their red duds. Since their 2005 unveiling, KU is 4-0 when donning crimson tops.
Two big storylines to watch for KU come on the offensive side of the football.
One is sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing, who has thrown 10 TD passes and no interceptions through three games. Though last week, Reesing wasn’t as sharp as he was in the season’s first two contests, completing just 16-of-35 passes – it was overshadowed by his four TD tosses and 313 yards.
The other note to keep in mind is that of senior receiver Marcus Henry. His 355 receiving yards through three games has already surpassed his junior year total of 312. He’s also gunning for KU history, looking to become the first Jayhawk in program history to notch four straight 100-yard games.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., with completely clear skies and temperatures in the 80s.
