#16 Kansas Heads To #4 Oklahoma For ABC Televised Game On Saturday At 2:30 p.m.

Press Conference Quotes

Supplemental Notes

Oct. 12, 2008

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QUICKLY — #16 Associated Press/15 Coaches/16 Harris Polls Kansas (5-1 overall, 2-0 Big 12) will travel to Norman, Okla. to face the #4/6/4 Oklahoma (5-1 overall, 1-1 Big 12) in a game that will be televised on ABC at 2:30 p.m… Kansas has won 17 of its last 19 and 20 of its last 23 games… KU has won nine of its last 10 Big 12 games… KU has won five straight and six of its last seven Big 12 road games… KU is 16-3 in its last 19 games as a ranked team… KU is 3-3 in its last six games vs. ranked teams… Kansas is 8-18 all-time in games played on ABC, including a 2-1 mark last season (defeated Oklahoma State and Iowa State and lost to Missouri)… Saturday’s game at Oklahoma is the only road game in a four-game stretch for Kansas, which was at home against Colorado last Saturday and will host Texas Tech and Kansas State in the two weeks after this game.

KU VS. RANKED TEAMS IN THE MANGINO ERA — Kansas is 4-9 against Associated Press ranked teams in the Mark Mangino era with victories against #23 Missouri (35-14) in 2003, #25 Iowa State (24-21 ot) in 2005, and #24 Kansas State (30-24) and #5 Virginia Tech (24-21) in 2007. KU is 0-1 vs. ranked teams this season, falling at then #19 South Florida 37-34 on a field goal on the final play of the game. Prior to Mangino’s arrival, Kansas won four games against ranked teams in 32 such contests.

RANKED KANSAS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS — Saturday’s game will mark just the fourth time since the 1995 season that a ranked Kansas team played a ranked opponent. All three recent games were decided by one score. Kansas is 9-17 all-time in games where both teams were ranked. Here is a look at those contests since 1995 when #11 Kansas defeated #25 UCLA 51-30 in the Aloha Bowl.

2007 – #2 Kansas vs. #3 Missouri, L 28-36

2008 Orange Bowl – #8 Kansas vs. #5 Virginia Tech, W 24-21

2008 – #13 Kansas at #19 South Florida, L 34-37

LAST TIME OUT — Kansas junior Jake Sharp rushed for 118 yards on a career-high 31 carries and scored a personal-best three touchdowns to lead #16 Kansas to a 30-14 victory against Colorado at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium Saturday. Sharp’s 118 rushing yards were a season high for a KU running back and the second highest of his career behind his 127 yards against Toledo last season. His 31 attempts were the most by a Jayhawk since Jon Cornish also had 31 attempts against Nebraska in 2006 and his three touchdowns tied for sixth-best in school history. Sharp has now rushed for 197 yards in his last two games. Not to be overshadowed by Sharp’s performance was the effort of KU’s defense, which held Colorado to 233 yards of total offense, nearly 100 yards shy of its 325 per game average. The defense also came up with two interceptions on the day. KU quarterback Todd Reesing completed 27 passes on 34 attempts with one touchdown and no interceptions for 256 yards. The junior moved into second on the KU total offense career list, currently with 6,084 yards. Junior wide receiver Kerry Meier caught nine Reesing passes for 94 yards to mark the fourth game this season he had nine or more receptions in a game. Kansas scored 14 fourth-quarter points on two Sharp touchdowns to extend a 16-14 lead en route to the victory.

UP NEXT — It is homecoming in Lawrence when Kansas hosts Texas Tech on Oct. 25. Texas Tech is ranked seventh by the Associated Press and plays at Texas A&M this Saturday before coming to Lawrence.

DID YOU KNOW? — Kansas has started Big 12 play 2-0 for just the third time in the 13 years of the league (second year in a row) and will be looking for a 3-0 Big 12 mark for just the second time and second year in a row (Kansas was 7-0 in Big 12 play last season before losing its final league game).

DID YOU KNOW? — While Kansas owns the nation’s fourth-longest active home field winning streak at 13 games, the Jayhawks will be looking to end the country’s longest current home winning streak at Norman, as Oklahoma has won 20 straight at home. Boise State and BYU have each won 16 consecutive home games.

DID YOU KNOW? — Kansas has played eight top-five Associated Press ranked teams in the decade of the 2000s and is 1-7 in those games with a 24-21 victory against #5 Virginia Tech in the 2008 Orange Bowl.

THE KU-OU SERIES — Oklahoma leads the all-time series by a 66-27-6 count, including a 35-13-3 advantage in games played at Norman. Oklahoma has won four straight in the series after the Jayhawks claimed three straight from 1995-97. Two of KU’s wins in that stretch were in Norman as the Jayhawks posted a 38-17 win in 1995 and followed that with a 52-24 victory in 1996. In 1997 the teams met in Lawrence with the Jayhawks posting a 20-17 victory. KU and OU have split the last four in Norman with the Sooners winning the last two (2000 and 2004).

KU-OU LAST TIME — Oklahoma turned two quick Kansas turnovers into 10 points just five minutes into the game en route to a 19-3 victory in a game played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas on Oct. 15, 2005. KU turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions, but on its fourth possession managed a field goal to cut the margin to 10-3 at the end of the first quarter. Neither team scored in the second or third quarters before OU managed a touchdown and a field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game to secure the victory. OU recorded 306 yards, while Kansas had just 97 yards while turning the ball over four times. The only current Jayhawk who recorded stats in the game was WR Marcus Herford (one reception for three yards). Others who played included Gary Green, James Holt, Mike Rivera, Russell Brorsen and Dexton Fields.

KU-OU LAST TIME IN NORMAN — Oklahoma ran up 507 yards while holding Kansas to 256 in a 41-10 victory on Oct. 23, 2004. The teams were scoreless in the first quarter and Kansas trailed just 14-10 at halftime before the Sooners outscored KU 27-0 in the second half. The Jayhawks had three turnovers and 12 penalties for 109 yards, while OU did not turn the ball over while gaining 23 first downs to KU’s 11.

MANGINO RETURNING TO NORMAN — Kansas head coach Mark Mangino was an assistant coach at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops from 1999-2001 before taking over at Kansas ahead of the 2002 season. Mangino was the assistant head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line coach in 1999 before assuming the offensive coordinator title in 2000 and 2001. In the two years with Mangino as coordinator, OU was 24-2, winning the 2000 national championship.

MANGINO-STOOPS CONNECTIONS – In addition to KU head coach Mark Mangino working as an assistant to OU head coach Bob Stoops at Oklahoma from 1999-2001, the two were both assistant coaches at Kansas State together from 1991-95. Stoops was born in Youngstown, Ohio, while Mangino graduated from Youngstown State and coached there as well

OKLAHOMA JAYHAWKS — Kansas has 12 players on its roster from the state of Oklahoma, the state that has produced the third-most Jayhawks on the current KU roster (Texas is number one with 28 and Kansas second with 27). KU players from Oklahoma include (starters marked with an *): *LS Kayl Anderson (Tulsa), *PK Jacob Branstetter (Lawton), *DE Russell Brorsen (Stillwater), CB Anthony Davis (Tulsa), TE Bradley Dedeaux (Midwest City), WR Jack Dowdell (Tulsa), *CB Chris Harris (Bixby), *LB James Holt (Altus), *DE Jake Laptad (Tulsa), LB Dakota Lewis (Sulphur), RB Rell Lewis (Muskogee), and OL John Williams (Tulsa).

KU-OU NOTABLE — Several KU football staff members have Oklahoma ties as TE coach and recruiting coordinator Brandon Blaney was a GA at OU in 1999 and 2000… KU strength and conditioning coach Chris Dawson played at Oklahoma from 1992-94 and was an OU graduate assistant in 1995 and an assistant on the strength and conditioning staff at OU from 1996-2000… Oklahoma has two players on its roster from the state of Kansas in DB Sherdeill Breathett (Wichita) and TE Brody Eldridge (La Cygne)… OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables was born in Salina and graduated from Kansas State, where he also coached.

Weekly Supplemental Notes will be available Thursdays at www.kuathletics.com