The Greene Room Live: KU-OSU

By Staff     Nov 10, 2007

**11:30 p.m.**: Now it’s almost unbelievable that these guys are able to sound so down to earth as the wins continue to pile up in the second week of November.None of the Jayhawks said they had heard the Ohio State score until after the game when asked about it by the media, and Todd Reesing said he is 100 percent after the game, despite showing some limp during the second half.Got word that the team arrives at Forbes Field at 12:45 a.m. for those nocturnal enough to be interested in hearing that.See you guys tomorrow night for The Greene Room Live from Allen Fieldhouse.**10:16 p.m.**: Maybe not. KU’s knack for answering touchdowns with scores of their own just keeps up by the week. Aqib Talib pretty much sealed the deal with his fourth pick of the season on a Zac Robinson pass three plays later. This one’s pretty much over. I’ll be back after postgame interviews with some nuggets.Henry’s got to be the player of the game, with eight catches, 199 yards and three touchdowns so far. Todd Reesing has 308 yards passing, though, and deserves loads of credit for playing apparently a bit knicked up in the second half with a limp.**10:00 p.m.**: I obviously spoke too soon, I guess. This OSU team has shown quite the amount of moxie after getting owned thoroughly throughout the third quarter. It’s again a game, and it’s gonna be a fun fourth quarter.**9:54 p.m.**: Some numbers through three quarters…-Todd Reesing is 23-0f-33 for 267 yards and two TDs.-Brandon McAnderson has 106 all-purpose yards and two scores.-Marcus Henry has five catches for 158 yards and two TDs.-Zac Robinson is 17-of-27 for 202 yards and two TDs.-Dantrell Savage has run for 93 yards on 16 carries.-Dez Bryant has 116 yards and a TD on seven grabs.**9:43 p.m.**: You have to give KU credit for attempting to step on OSU’s throat with the chance in hand late in the third quarter.OSU earned the ball back with 2:24 to go in the third, but the Cowboys have offered little to make anyone believe they’re still a legitimate player here.Todd Reesing might get an early rest if this lead holds up, as he has a pretty noticeable limp remaining from the first half.**9:16 p.m.**: Marcus Henry’s 82-yard touchdown not only gave him 158 yards on five catches for the night, but probably sealed this one up.OSU’s offense has taken a huge hit, with Adarius Bowman nowhere to be seen on the field after absorbing a huge hit from Aqib Talib in the second quarter.If the Cowboys are to come back, it’ll be a brutal uphill climb.**8:59 p.m.**: After a half, there’s not much separation on the scoreboard, and that could have changed late, but KU opted to play it safe and take its six-point lead into the locker room.OSU was faced with a fourth-and-one near midfield that it obviously wasn’t going to go for. KU allowed the Cowboys to run the clock down, call a timeout, then try to draw KU offsides, then call _another_ timeout and give KU back the ball with just 42 seconds left at its own 20 to take a knee.Some may think that KU should have initially called the timeout and gone for it, but something tells me that will be a moot point in about two hours. KU has pretty much done what it’s wanted tonight when the execution has been there. OSU’s best bet to gaining some momentum would be to drive the field and score a touchdown on the second half’s opening possession and then create a defensive stop. Otherwise, KU could capitalize early and put this one away.**8:20 p.m.**: Todd Reesing might be making an appearance on your Sportscenter telecast tonight on ESPN after a scramble-and-pass reminiscent of his heroic throw a year ago against Colorado to Jeff Foster.This time, Reesing was only in serious trouble once on the play, but used those ‘dumpy little legs’ to keep the play alive, finding a wide open Dexton Fields for 34 yards.The kid keeps turning heads.**7:56 p.m.**: I’ve got to give Tom Keegan present, because every time Kerry Meier has entered the game as a slot receiver this season and he’s spotted it, he’s shouted out ‘double pass, right here.’He finally saw it happen. The play worked like a charm, with Meier taking an option pitch and finding Marcus Henry wide open for 44 yards to set up a Scott Webb field goal, putting KU up 10-7.The surprise of the first quarter was the strength of OSU’s defense, as they were able to make some key stops, including a clutch sack of Todd Reesing on second-and-goal at the six. Now the remaining unknown is whether that can hold up for three more quarters.**7:45 p.m.**: Still not a terribly loud atmosphere at Boone Pickens Stadium, but it doesn’t need to be. There’s been plenty of noise on the field already.Oklahoma State has pulled the game’s biggest shocker, showing the ability so far to move the ball on the ground against KU’s vaunted run defense. Dantrell Savage already has 40 yards on just five carries for OSU, and it has made the jump ball available for Zac Robinson to throw. He’s taken advantage, as 6-foot-2 freshman Dez Bryant has plucked two over the top of Kendrick Harper.The shootout looks to be underway.**6:47 p.m.**: I should probably point out that the general vibe we’re getting up here is that so far tonight, this seems like a wine and cheese crowd from an OSU standpoint.The stands aren’t full yet, just 13 minutes until kickoff, and it’s been kinda lifeless.The only real noise so far came from the booming PA system while there was a five-minute video playing previewing what the finished Boone Pickens Stadium product will look like.If I had to guess at this moment, the crowd won’t play a huge factor in this one for the guests. We’ll see if that changes after kickoff.Also, I’m a fan of the all-orange unis the Cowboys are sporting. Very sharp.**6:24 p.m.**: Well, just sat to get down to work up here in the press box at Boone Pickens. As a quick update, so far we have spotted officials on hand from the Fiesta Bowl and the Alamo Bowl. Plus, there’s a Thorpe Award official on site, more than likely watching Aqib Talib, who this week was named a semifinalist for the honor given annually to the nation’s top defensive back.The Jayhawks have just surfaced from the locker room, located in the stadium’s closed end which joins up with Gallagher-Iba Arena.This stadium’s kind of strange at the moment, because the end zone opposite the arena has been filled up with seats since the last time KU played here in 2003. But those seats are not open. Right now, it’s just a vast expanse of concrete and steel, though they appear to be finished. There are also suites being built all the way on top of them. Once it’s finished, this place will look pretty sweet.Nothing notable yet as far as no-shows or who dressed/didn’t dress. There’s a pretty solid amount of KU fans on hand.The weirdest thing so far is the sky cam that ABC has in place for tonight’s telecast. At the moment, it’s hovering around the field, I would assume getting its bearings. It’s hard to see the cables it’s suspended from at night, so that means it looks awfully odd. From what I know, it’s never interfered with a ball in play during a game. I find it hard to see how it hasn’t. It’d be a shame if tonight was a first in that regard.**4:14 p.m.**: For most of the car ride down, I thought my phone was simply lying.Lodged in the back seat of our rental car on a college football Saturday, the lone source for live scoring updates was the tiny screen in my hand with Yahoo! refreshing every minute or so.Whether we got the score updates or saw the games live, one thing was for sure – KU’s strength of schedule took a wicked whack today. K-State (5-5) and Texas A&M (6-5) now remain the only two Big 12 foes KU has faced with records currently at .500 or better. And at that, the Aggies have lost three in a row, while the ‘Cats have dropped two in a row which, well, they had no business dropping.It begs the question: Is Central Michigan – who just clinched a berth in the MAC title game – the best team KU has played? Tom Keegan proposed this query, and right now it’s pretty legitimate.But still, KU needs to not get caught up in all of this. All the Jayhawks can control at this moment, as they just boarded the team buses to head to Boone Pickens Stadium, is whether they’ll improve to 10-0 or simply be another Big 12 team to fall by the wayside on a wacky Saturday.As far as what I’m looking for tonight at the game, here’s a short list:**-KU needs to go to the air early and stay there.** Most weeks we’ve been talking about KU has to expose a swiss cheese-like run defense early and establish the ground game. Tonight, they face the fourth-worst pass defense in Division-I. Let Reesing loose. Seeing another 6 TD performance like the one he strung up last week should not at all be out of the question.**-This team has done such an incredible job of staying focused, but this week** the outside pressure cooker saw its dial get cranked up a couple of notches. Not only did the national media exposure get pumped up, but [Dezmon Briscoe’s offseason issue][1] was brought public. Not that either should affect play on the field, it’ll be interesting to see if things usually tabbed as potential distractions do just that to the Jayhawks. I’d bet on no effect.**-The pass defense not only faces its biggest test yet**. It seems we’re saying that just about every week about some KU unit, but this week it’s pretty obvious. Zac Robinson has thrown just one interception in OSU’s last four games, and the Jayhawks gave up a bunch of yards and scores last week against Nebraska. Today’s Cornhusker result may have quieted those criticisms (which were a little far-fetched to begin with), but the Jayhawks still know that the secret to shutting the Cowboys down is throwing a stick in the way of its passing game. I’m picking Aqib Talib to have a big game. Then again, that’s like picking Kansas State to beat Nebr…oh, wait…See you all again before kickoff. [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/nov/08/ku_football_player_make_court_appearance/?football

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