Big 12 Play Opens as KU hosts Texas Tech

Sept. 22, 2004

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The University of Kansas (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) football team looks to go 3-0 at home this season as the Jayhawks host Texas Tech (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) Saturday, in the first Big 12 game of the year for both teams. Kickoff is set for 2:40 p.m. from KU’s Memorial Stadium and will be broadcast nationally by Fox Sports Net.

Kansas’ defense has shined all season and is led by junior linebacker Nick Reid and senior safety Tony Stubbs who rank first and second, respectively, among all Big 12 defenders in tackles per game. Reid, a native of Derby, Kan., collects 9.7 stops per contest, while Stubbs, a Lake Worth, Fla., native, enters the contest with an average of 9.3 tackles per game. As a unit, the Jayhawk defense has allowed an average of just 12.3 points per game during the 2004 season — the second-best average in the Big 12.

Kansas head coach Mark Mangino knows his team will have to play well against the Red Raiders who lead the nation in passing offense (463.3 yards per game), and lead the Big 12 in pass defense allowing just 166.7 yards per game through the air.

“This week we play a very good Texas Tech team,” Mangino. “They are much improved on defense and they have an offense that spreads the field and attacks you at the line of scrimmage, both horizontally and vertically.”

Texas Tech enters the game against the Jayhawks after smashing TCU 70-35 last week in Lubbock, Texas. Tech quarterback Sonny Cumbie completed 30 passes for 441 yards and tossed four touchdowns in the game against the Horned Frogs.

— KU —