Kansas Football To Host Louisiana Tech On Saturday At 6 p.m.

Sept. 1, 2008

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Press Conference Quotes

QUICKLY — Preseason #14 Associated Press/#13 Coaches Poll Kansas (1-0 overall, 0-0 Big 12) plays its second straight home game hosting Louisiana Tech (1-0 overall, 0-0 WAC) on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. Central… The game will be televised nationally on FSN and broadcast nationally on the radio on Westwood One… Kansas has won 10 straight home games… KU has won 15 straight home games against non-conference opponents… KU has won seven straight games against non-Big 12 opponents overall… The Jayhawks have won 16 of their last 18 games overall… KU is looking to start a season 2-0 for the fifth straight year.

MARKETING ACTIVITIES — Here is a look at KU Marketing activities for the LTU game:

Tickets Available: Season tickets are still available for $300. Kansas Athletics has released a $99 mini-pack, which includes the Louisiana Tech (Sept. 6), Sam Houston State (Sept. 20), and Colorado (Oct. 11) games. Single-game Louisiana Tech tickets are $40. The family plan is sold out for the 2008 season.

Family Fun Zone: The Kansas Football Family Fun Zone is back. Located just south of the new Anderson Family Football Complex, the Fun Zone includes interactive inflatable games for kids, promotional materials, special appearances by Big and Baby Jay, and visits from KU student-athletes. Junior Jayhawks can also pickup their gifts at the Fun Zone. The Fun Zone opens two hours prior to kickoff.

Free Night for Junior Jayhawks: All Junior Jayhawks will be admitted free with their Jr. Jayhawks membership card. Family members can purchase additional tickets for just $30. Jr. Jayhawks can pickup their complimentary ticket at any Memorial Stadium ticket booth.

Heroes Night: The Louisiana Tech Game is Heroes Night. All active military members, veterans, fire and emergency medical personnel, and teachers (with valid ID) can purchase a ticket for just $10. In addition, $30 tickets (a $10 savings) are available for family members. Heroes can purchase their tickets at any Memorial Stadium Ticket Booth on gameday or at the Allen Fieldhouse Ticket Booth Monday-Friday.

Spirit Day: Prior to the game, kids will be participating in the annual KU Spirit Squad cheer and dance clinic. Participants will also cheer during the first half and participate in the halftime show.

Special Recognition: The Jayhawk volleyball team will be honored during a quarter break for achieving the highest team GPA of all Jayhawk teams during the Spring 2008 semester. The team recently earned the Game PlanTM/American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for achieving a 3.39 cumulative grade point average during the 2007-08 season.

McCormack To Be Honored: At halftime former Kansas great and NFL Hall of Famer Mike McCormack will be inducted into the Kansas Football Ring of Honor.

LAST TIME OUT — Junior QB Todd Reesing connected with Dezmon Briscoe for three touchdown passes, while true freshman Daymond Patterson had 75-yard punt return for a touchdown in his first collegiate game to lead 14th-ranked Kansas to a convincing 40-10 victory against the FIU Golden Panthers in front of a record crowd of 52,112 at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium. Reesing completed a school-record 37 passes on 52 attempts, amassing 256 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Briscoe finished the night with a career-best nine catches for 55 yards. His three touchdown grabs also tied a career high he set against Nebraska in 2007. Kerry Meier pulled in a career-best nine balls for 62 yards as 10 different Jayhawks had receptions. It took almost two-thirds of the first quarter for the Jayhawks to get going, but once they did they didn’t look back. KU scored on five of six offensive possessions with a punt return for a score in that stretch as well. The KU defense limited FIU to just 139 yards of total offense, including just 73 passing yards. The Jayhawks forced three turnovers and turned those into 10 points.

UP NEXT — Kansas will play its first road game of the 2008 season when it travels to meet South Florida in a special Friday night contest on Sept. 12. The game will be televised by ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Central time. South Florida is ranked 19th by the AP and 21st in the USA Today/Coaches preseason polls. After beating Tennessee-Martin in its opener, the Bulls play at Central Florida this Saturday.

DID YOU KNOW? — When the polls come out on Sept. 1, Kansas will have been ranked in 11 consecutive Associated Press polls, its longest streak in school history.

DID YOU KNOW? — Kansas set a school record for single-game attendance with 52,112 on hand last Saturday for the FIU game. The old mark was 51,910 vs. Nebraska last year. The previous best for a non-conference game was 48,112 vs. Toledo in 2007.

THE KU-LTU SERIES — Kansas and Louisiana Tech will be meeting for the third time in history with the series knotted at 1-1. The Bulldogs defeated Kansas 16-11 at Lawrence in 1987 before Kansas posted a 34-14 win at Lawrence in 2005. Kansas is 4-1 all-time against current members of the Western Athletic Conference with a 1-0 mark against both Hawai’i and Utah State and 1-1 records against Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. KU head coach Mark Mangino is 1-0 against both Louisiana Tech and the WAC with KU’s 34-14 win against the Bulldogs in 2005 coming under his watch.

KU-LTU LAST TIME — Donning red uniforms for the first time since the 1947 season, Kansas defeated Louisiana Tech 34-14 on Sept. 17, 2005. Leading 14-7 through three quarters, Kansas scored 20 fourth-quarter points to get the victory.. Brian Luke threw for 236 yards, while Mark Simmons had 106 yards on six receptions. Jon Cornish led KU with just 31 rushing yards, but his early fourth quarter touchdown put the Jayhawks up 28-7. Nick Reid led the KU defense with 14 tackles, while Rodney Fowler had two of KU’s four interceptions. Louisiana Tech out gained Kansas 295 to 277 yards, but the Jayhawks turned three Bulldog interceptions into 17 points. The Kansas defense also came up with seven sacks in the game. The victory was KU’s third straight, but its last for awhile as the Jayhawks dropped four straight games. KU rebounded to win four of its last five, including a win vs. Houston in the Fort Worth Bowl en route to a 7-5 record.

JAYHAWKS IN 2005 MEETING — A few current Jayhawks played in the 2005 meeting against Louisiana Tech. LB Mike Rivera recorded three tackles and WR Marcus Herford rushed three times for eight yards in the contest. Other Jayhawks who played but did not record stats included LB James Holt, S Darrell Stuckey, S Tang Bachyie, LB Joe Mortensen, WR Raymond Brown and DE Russell Brorsen.