September 03, 2011

Postgame Notes vs. McNeese State

Sept. 3, 2011

KANSAS 42, McNEESE STATE 24
September 3, 2011
Postgame Notes

SERIES INFORMATION
– Today’s meeting was the first between the two schools
– Today’s attendance: 41,068

CAPTAINS: Tim Biere (TE), Jeremiah Hatch (OC), Steven Johnson (LB), Toben Opurum
(DE).

FIRST TIME STARTERS: (Offense) Nick Sizemore (FB). (Defense) Kevin Young (DT),
Darius Willis (LB), Tunde Bakare (LB), Keeston Terry (S).

DEBUTS: (Offense) Trent Smiley (TE), JaCorey Shepherd (WR), Darrian Miller (RB), Tony
Pierson (RB), Brandon Bourbon (RB), Nick Sizemore (FB). (Defense) Darius Willis (LB),
Tunde Bakare (LB), Ben Heeney (LB), Pat Lewandowski (DE), Dexter McDonald (CB), Isaac
Wright (LB), Tyler Hill (S), Ray Mitchell (S), Malcolm Walker (LB). (Special Teams) Alex
Mueller (PK), Tanner Gibas (LS)

GENERAL NOTES
– There was a moment of silence prior to the game in honor of former Kansas head
coach Don Fambrough, who passed away earlier this morning. He was 88-years old.
– The start of the game was delayed 19 minutes due to severe weather in the
Lawrence area.
– KU’s win over McNeese State improves the Jayhawks to 68-47-7 (.602 winning
percentage) in season openers and 87-31-4 in home openers (.730).
– Kansas rushed 55 times for 301 yards. This marked the most rushing attempts by
the Jayhawks since Nov. 16, 2002, when KU attempted 56 rushes for 182 yards
against Oklahoma State.
– The 301 yards rushing marked the first time KU ran for more than 300 yards as a
team since the 2008 season against Northern Colorado (334).
– KU improved to 68-47-7 in season openers, 86-31-4 in its home openers, including
7-2 in its last nine home openers.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
– Kansas rushed for 191 yards in the first half.
– Sophomore RB James Sims broke off a 30-yard run in the first quarter, which
marked the longest of his career. His previous career-long was a 28-yard touchdown
against Colorado last season.
– Sims rushed for 104 yards, giving him his fourth 100-plus yard game of the season.
KU is 4-0 when Sims rushes for 100-plus yards.
– Sophomore QB Jordan Webb threw a first quarter touchdown pass to WR Daymond
Patterson. It was Webb’s first touchdown throw since the Texas A&M game last
season and Patterson’s first TD reception since the Baylor game last year.
– Webb threw three touchdown passes in the game, which matched his career high of
three last season against Georgia Tech.
– Freshman RB Tony Pierson gained 47 yards on a rush in the second quarter. Last
season, KU’s longest rush of the season was 51 yards by Daymond Patterson in the
season-opener against North Dakota State.
– Kansas WR JaCorey Shepherd caught a 56-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Webb
in the third quarter, which marked the longest pass play for the Jayhawks since
2009, when Dezmon Briscoe caught a 74-yard touchdown from Todd Reesing against
Missouri.
– Shepherd’s 107 yards receiving made him the first Jayhawk freshman to record 100-
plus receiving yards in a game since 1997 (Termaine Fulton, 138 vs. Texas).

DEFENSIVE NOTES
– Senior LB Steven Johnson made 15 tackles in the game, passing his previous career
high of 13 last season against Missouri. Last season Johnson averaged 7.9 tackles
per game.
– Junior DE Toben Opurum recorded a career-high 11 tackles surpassing his six tackles
against Texas A&M last season.
– Junior S Bradley McDougald recorded eight tackles which tied his career most of
eight versus Oklahoma State last year.