A Nail In the Coffin? Kansas Destroys Nebraska

Jayhawks score 76 points in track meet for the history books

Pick a pun, any pun. Or a curse, any curse. Pick a joke, a dash of irony, a wry line, a smirk, a cry of rage, a philosophical take. Fill in the emotional blanks however you please to deal with this latest Nebraska football collapse.

Here are the facts: The Cornhuskers lost to undefeated Kansas 76-39 Saturday in front of a record crowd of 51,910 fans at KU's Memorial Stadium. It's most points Nebraska's ever relinquished. After spotting NU a 7-0 lead, the Jayhawks scored 11 touchdowns, racked up 572 total yards and tallied 34 first downs.

"It was disappointing," Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan said on his post-game radio show.

Nebraska safety Ben Eisenhart was more blunt: "It's pretty pathetic, actually. Our whole team is - pretty pathetic."

Nebraska's defense had no answer for KU quarterback Todd Reesing, who completed 30-of-41 passes for 354 yards and six touchdowns. The Jayhawks also ran for 218 yards, with running backs Brandon McAnderson and Jake Sharp often bulling over several Husker defenders.

While the Huskers' offense was the first to expose KU's defense by scoring 39 points and racking up 484 total yards, they also committed five turnovers. Quarterback Joe Ganz, taking over for an injured Sam Keller, was game but wild. Ganz threw 50 passes, completing 25 for 405 yards, often on crossing and fade routes. He had four passing touchdowns - three to a brilliant Maurice Purify, who had seven catches for 158 yards.

But Ganz also threw four interceptions, most of which were converted into KU touchdowns. A number of passes could have been picked off, but weren't. Callahan did not try to run the ball after it became clear Kansas would turn the game into a track meet.

"I thought at times in the second half, Joe could could have tucked that away and made some yards but we took some risky positions out there because we were trying to move the ball and make things happen," Callahan said.

The final picture was worthy of any great surrealist: Nebraska (4-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12 Conference) on the wrong end of a score that once would have described a typical Husker win. It could be the final nail in Callahan's tenure.

For the game's first five minutes, Nebraska did just about everything right.

The Cornhuskers stuffed McAnderson on two straight runs and forced a punt, which true freshman Prince Amukamara partially blocked. Taking over at KU's 45-yard line, Ganz converted three straight third-down opportunities. The last of them was a three-yard scramble and leap into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

After that, the Jayhawks (9-0, 5-0) unleashed an extraordinary, multi-faceted offensive attack to the tune of 375 first half yards and seven touchdowns. Kansas ran its base spread rushing offense, but sprinkled in a flea flicker, a reverse, running back go routes and wide receiver screens. You name it, Kansas did it, and Nebraska was forced to take it.

The assault was led by 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing, looking uncannily like former Oklahoma star Josh Heupel. Reesing's feet bought him enough time against consistent Nebraska pressure to deliver one fastball after another, perfectly placed on the numbers of KU's receivers.

For KU's first touchdown, Reesing stuck a ball between NU linebacker Corey McKeon and safety Larry Asante to Kerry Meier for 13 yards. On the next drive, he hit Marcus Henry on 20-yard deep out to get the Jayhawks in scoring territory. Later, he floated a ball over Steve Octavien to running back Jake Sharp for a 26-yard touchdown pass. Reesing threw six touchdowns with the seeming ease of a Saturday afternoon game of catch.

Nebraska and Ganz tried to keep up. After KU tied the game 7-7, the Huskers quickly jumped ahead again on a 62-yard swing pass from Ganz to Marlon Lucky. It was the same play NU used to score its first touchdown of the season against Nevada. Purify, running a pick, should have been called for pass interference, but his block was ignored as Ganz flipped the ball to Lucky, who was barely touched as he raced to the end zone.

Kansas tied the game at 14 with a short run from Brandon McAnderson, who finished with 119 yards and four touchdowns. Callahan's playcalling was in pure shootout mode after that.

Ganz threw three straight incomplete passes and Nebraska punted. Kansas scored again on Reesing's pass to Sharp. NU had another three-and-out when Nate Swift dropped Ganz's pass at the first down marker. A fourth KU touchdown on a 10-yard McAnderson run.

On Nebraska's next drive, Ganz found Purify on a short slant route that the receiver turned into a 60-yard gain. Two plays later, Purify caught a fade pattern for a touchdown to cut the Jayhawks' lead to 28-21.

Kansas took just four plays to score its fifth touchdown, a five-yard pass from Reesing to Marcus Henry.

Getting the idea? Kansas tacked on two more first-half touchdowns to hammer the point home a little more.

"In that second quarter, things got away from us," Callahan said. "From that point forward, we could never keep pace."

Nebraska tacked on a field goal to end that half, cutting KU's lead to 48-24. Then Ganz engineered a touchdown drive to start the second half, bringing Nebraska within 17.

Kansas then scored touchdowns on its next three drives for a 69-31 lead. It added to that lead in the fourth quarter after Ganz was intercepted. From the first quarter through the third, the Jayhawks scored on 10 of 11 drives. It would have been perfect if not for a single kneel-down to end the first half.

"We could figure it out if it were just one thing," Eisenhart said. "But it's not just one thing."

 

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