Reesing: Interception just short

By Jesse Newell     Sep 13, 2008

? So just how close was Kansas University to a football victory Friday night?

Todd Reesing says a couple of feet, tops.

It was the Kansas quarterback’s final throw – his underthrown pass that was intercepted by safety Nate Allen – that ended up being the game-deciding play in KU’s 37-34 loss at Raymond James Stadium.

According to Reesing, it wasn’t short by much.

“(Nate) had to jump up pretty high to catch it. Obviously, just a little bit more and (KU wide receiver) Ray (Brown) may walk into the end zone, and we’re celebrating instead of them,” Reesing said. “Based on that, it’s a tough loss.”

Here was the setup: With the ball at the Kansas 40, the Jayhawks had a first-and-10 with 41 seconds remaining.

KU coaches had noticed that the USF safeties were playing wide, so the opportunity was there for a deep post pattern over the middle. The Jayhawks hadn’t tried the play all game.

As expected, Brown broke free behind the cornerback in the secondary.

“That’s where the coaches wanted the ball to go, and we wanted to try to hit them,” Reesing said. “We got what we wanted. I just kind of threw off my back foot a little bit and just didn’t quite get enough there.”

Because the pass was short, Allen was able to recover enough from his safety position to move back and make a leaping play.

“If I had to do it again, I’d probably make the same decision,” Reesing said. “I just didn’t make the play.”

Reesing could be faulted for little else in the fourth quarter.

He led KU on scoring drives of 78 and 46 yards to pull the Jayhawks from 14 points down into a 34-all tie.

The quarterback expected the final drive to go much the same way.

“There wasn’t a doubt in our mind that we were going to score,” Reesing said. “We just came up a little bit short.”

Still, it was exactly the situation the Jayhawks wanted in the end. With the game tied, KU had the ball in the hands of its best playmaker – one who had proven, even earlier in the game, that he was a clutch performer.

“Everybody in the locker room – we all trust Todd,” KU running back Angus Quigley said. “That (the interception) is uncharacteristic of Todd. I’ll go to war with Todd any day.

“I’ll never say we’re going to go out here, and hopefully Todd doesn’t throw a pick. No. I put my full trust in Todd. He led us to the Orange Bowl last year, so why shouldn’t we believe and trust in him now?”

Reesing promised to bounce back next week.

“We’ve got our chin up,” he said, his eyes looking to the floor. “We’re going to take what we can from this game and learn from it.”

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