It should have come as no surprise to anyone that one question arose once a host of scribes and cameramen lined up three- and four-deep around Todd Reesing following Kansas University’s 20-15 win over Colorado Saturday at Memorial Stadium.When Reesing, a true freshman quarterback from the football hotbed of Austin, Texas, began to chat up with coach Mark Mangino late in the second quarter, with KU trailing 9-0, the media guides were busted out.Reesing’s listed height, not his true freshman status, stood out to most – 5-foot-11.So of course, when he put the final touches on his debut masterpiece, his stature – which Reesing himself said is “more like 5-foot-10 and some change” – was immediately a topic of discussion.And the question drew in suggested comparisons to Boston College, CFL and NFL great Doug Flutie, who played more than 20 seasons of professional football and won a handful of Grey Cup titles – oh yeah, and a Heisman Trophy – all while standing 5-foot-10.Reesing answered the far-fetched yet playful question just as he should have.”I’ve heard a few people here and there make that comparison,” said the jolly Texan, obviously still on an emotional high. “I don’t know if we can say that just yet.”Well played, Mr. Reesing.While it’s hard to not nip at the Kool-Aid on the day when KU storms from behind in, well, rather un-KU-like fashion, let us take a sensible look for a moment.He’s no Flutie yet, but on a crisp and sunny October afternoon, was a mix of fact and fiction. He was part Bill Whittemore, part Willie Beamen.All KU fans remember Whittemore as the man largely responsible for taking the Jayhawks to the 2003 Tangerine Bowl. He’s also the subject of plenty of drunken “What if Whittemore was the quarterback of this team? They’d be 9-2” conversations.For those of you not familiar with Beamen, he was a character played by Jamie Foxx in “Any Given Sunday.” He played the role of an outcast, constantly slighted, third-string quarterback who came out of nowhere to lead his team on a miraculous late-season run. The only difference? He was replacing a legend in Cap Rooney (a.k.a. Dennis Quaid), while Reesing’s entry into the game really only meant that barring injuries, Adam Barmann probably took the final snap of his once-promising, mostly-frustrating KU career.On paper, Reesing was golden. He completed 7 of his 11 pass attempts for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball seven times crossing 90 hashmarks and scoring again.The best part of it comes from his potential. Reesing showed that he obviously has the most powerful arm of any quarterback on KU’s roster. He throws bullets. Reesing also displayed fleetness of foot. KU tight end Derek Fine after the game summed it up as Reesing being able to get his “dumpy legs going pretty fast.”He used those stems wisely, though, too.For those who watched Reesing play, two plays should stand out.The first of which set up his five-yard touchdown pass to Fine on a perfectly executed wheel route. Reesing dropped deep on third-and-10 from his own 47-yard line, and had Colorado’s Lionel Harris blitzing on his backside. Reesing escaped from Harris’ grip around his upper half, and ran circles around the defender to escape that you’d typically only see on an XBOX. Reesing then released to the near sideline and fired a 31-yard cruise missle to Jeff Foster for a 31-yard gain and a huge first down.The second play came late, and didn’t result in a score. In a similar escape from siege, Reesing twisted and turned to find a clearing – for 25 yards. After finding a clear lane, he rumbled down to the three-yard line late in the game, setting up what looked like the game-clinching score while leading 20-15.But that’s where everyone saw that, yes, he still has some to learn.Reesing left the ball somewhat unprotected while being sacked two plays later, and the ball was taken by Colorado safety Ryan Walters for a 95-yard score off of an unfortunate fumble.So maybe the Flutie comparisons jump the gun.But saying he has the makings to provide some of the same magic Whittemore once did in an injury-marred two-year stint at KU is not too out of the realm of sane thinking.Whittemore was not big, and he certainly rarely made it look pretty. He was scrappy, the kind of guy a fledgling program with a fledgling fan base could rally around and take in as one of its own.In other words, he was part gunslinger.Reesing’s got it.If you couldn’t tell by just watching the way he played, it was apparent in the way Mangino absolutely glowed over everything about him during his post-game press conference, with an ear-to-ear smile that hasn’t been too present in recent weeks.He’s also the type of kid that KU faithful could grow to love, just like Whittemore. He’s outgoing, personable and a fantastic student, on top of everything else. Mangino even addressed in his postgame media session that Reesing vocalized at practice this week his greatest concern at the time – the potential of getting a, gasp, B in one of his classes. How dare he.For Jayhawk Nation, this is now going to be something to savor, especially because situations like the one presented and followed through with on Saturday don’t come around all that often.Forget the fact that Kansas now could be mired in a constant quarterback controversy between freshmen Reesing and Kerry Meier for the next 40 or so months. Forget trying to blame Mangino for not burning Reesing’s redshirt sooner, because no one can honestly say they’d have thought of the same thing. Mangino simply did what he had to do after an offensively inept first half and with Meier nursing a bum shoulder.Enjoy it without getting too far ahead of yourself.Because remember, the Jayhawks are on the road next week, and Iowa State will have a full week to watch film of Reesing and prepare for him.Though maybe this is the beginning of the end to those “What if Whittemore was still playing” conversations. Now Kansas might have its next best thing.**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._**
