Nick KrugThere were not a lot of bright spots for the Kansas University offense during Saturday’s 23-0 loss to Texas at Memorial Stadium.
But the performance put forth by junior running back De’Andre Mann certainly qualified as one of them.
Mann, who transferred to KU from Hartnell College in the offseason, rushed a career-high 17 times for 83 yards, good for a 4.9-yards-per-carry average. Mann combined with freshman running back Corey Avery, who also ran for 4.9 yards per carry, to hit the UT defense for 173 yards on the ground, but the junior from Miami was hardly in the mood to talk about his big night after the loss.
“You want to win,” he said. “That’s all I care about is winning. That’s all I care about.”
KU coach Charlie Weis said he was pleased with the way both guys ran the ball because it fit the Kansas gameplan perfectly.
“We were going to play conservative and knew that our defense would slug it out with them and get us in position,” Weis said. “…. But, you know, our Achilles’ heel on offense is still making productive plays in the passing game and that’s what cost us.”
King penalty
Weis said there was no questioning whether wide receiver Nigel King deserved the personal foul penalty he was flagged for that helped set up UT’s second touchdown.
“It was on Nigel and I believe, from talking to Nigel, that it was deserved,” Weis said. “Players usually don’t lie to you… and he goes, ‘It was me.'”
No Cozart again
For the second time in four games, quarterback Montell Cozart (12-of-31 passing, 140 yards, 4 interceptions) was not made available to media during postgame interviews. Cozart talked after victories against Southeast Missouri State and Central Michigan but was not available after the loss to Duke or on Saturday night.
Crimson Chrome
Several players said they enjoyed the new-look crimson chrome uniforms the Jayhawks wore for the first time on Saturday, if for no other reason than a change.
“It felt good to wear ’em,” senior receiver Nick Harwell said. “It was a change. We’ve got some good uniforms but I feel like they’re a little traditional.”
Homecoming attendees
In all, around 80 former KU football players were in attendance for Saturday’s homecoming game against Texas, including everyone from John Hadl from the old days, to Todd Reesing from the recent glory days and Jake Laptad and Brad Thorson from more recent teams.
Despite the wide range of former teams and eras represented on Saturday, many of them returned for the same reason.
“I consider Kansas to be a very prestigious university in itself,” said former KU running back David Winbush, who played at KU from 1997-2000 and led the team in rushing for three straight seasons. “I’m proud to have a degree from Kansas, and if I would’ve come up here and just played my four scholarship years and left, that would’ve been a waste of time.” ?
This and that…
The Jayhawks won Saturday’s opening coin toss and chose to defer its choice to the second half. Texas elected to receive the first-half kickoff…. Saturday’s attendance (36,904) was the largest crowd to show up for KU’s three home games so far this season…. Junior linebacker Jake Love recorded a blocked field goal in the second quarter, KU’s first since last November and the first of Love’s career…. Temperature at kickoff was 81 degrees, under sunny skies with winds of 10 mph out of the south.
