Thrills, spilled

By Dugan Arnett     Sep 13, 2008

Nick Krug
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing makes his way from the field following the Jayhawks' 37-34 loss to South Florida Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

? Entering the season, Kansas University’s football team knew its schedule would present a number of obstacles.

With games against five teams ranked in the preseason Top 25, a return trip to a BCS bowl – or beyond – would depend largely on how the team fared against some of the country’s elite programs.

And Friday, on a sticky night at Raymond James Stadium, Kansas learned just how small its margin for error will be when facing teams of that caliber.

In its first test in a season that figures to be filled with them, the Jayhawks shined for much of the game but came up short against 19th-ranked South Florida, falling 37-34 on a last-second Bulls field goal.

Driving downfield late in the fourth quarter of a 34-all tie, Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing was intercepted by South Florida safety Nate Allen with 30 seconds remaining, setting up a game-winning, 43-yard field goal by USF freshman kicker Maikon Bonani as time expired.

“You play to win the game,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino afterward. “You’re on the road. You’re not playing for overtime. And those things happen.”

Added Reesing, who finished with 373 passing yards and three touchdowns before being intercepted, “We had a chance there for a big play, and the ball was a little bit underthrown, and that safety made a hell of a play.”

For half of Friday’s game, Kansas couldn’t have looked much better.

As it had all season, the offense rolled to gaudy numbers. Reesing was nearly perfect in the first half, throwing for 224 yards on 17-of-22 passing.

Receiver Johnathan Wilson, whom teammates voted the player most likely to surprise this season, did just that, hauling in five first-half passes for 123 yards and a first-quarter touchdown that kicked off the scoring.

Then, without much notice, things changed.

In the second half, Reesing couldn’t go two seconds without a USF lineman invading his personal space. Grothe, on the other hand, had world of time to make decisions, and the result was a South Florida run that changed the makeup of the game.

When the onslaught was over, South Florida had compiled more than 379 yards of total offense and scored 31 unanswered points to turn a 17-point deficit into a 34-20 advantage.

Grothe, who struggled in the first half, rebounded to finish with 338 yards and two touchdowns passing, to go along with 30 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

“We just didn’t have that edge that we had in the first half,” said KU safety Darrell Stuckey. “We just failed to make plays.”

Still, Kansas managed to put together a comeback attempt of its own. Trailing by two touchdowns, Reesing led scoring drives on consecutive drives to tie the game at 34 with 5:32 remaining.

And after forcing a punt on the Bulls’ next possession, Reesing and the Jayhawks took the field with just under two minutes to play, hoping to complete an improbably comeback.

But Reesing’s pass to receiver Raymond Brown was picked off, and Bonani redeemed himself after a missed field goal earlier in the game to play the role of hero.

Despite his team’s comeback effort, however, Mangino afterward didn’t take much solace in his team’s moral victory .

“Listen, I’m not impressed that we were in that much of a hole,” he said. “I liked the way the kids displayed character and fought back and everything, but we put ourselves in that position, so hopefully it’s a learning experience for us.”

Heading into the remainder of the season, it doesn’t get much easier for Kansas. Of the Jayhawks’ remaining nine games, four come against teams that are currently ranked in the Associated Press’ Top 25.

Following next week’s game against visiting Sam Houston State, Kansas will begin a conference schedule that features, among others, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech.

“We’re still going to be a pretty good team,” Kansas running back Angus Quigley said. “We’ve just got to sew some things up.”

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