Kansas Football To Travel To Texas A&M On Saturday
Oct. 22, 2007
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QUICKLY — #12 Associated Press/#10 USA Today Kansas (7-0 overall, 3-0 Big 12) will make its second straight road trip as the Jayhawks travel to Texas A&M (6-2, 3-1) on Saturday, Oct. 27 for a 6 p.m. kickoff on ESPN2… KU is playing consecutive road games for the first time since the first two weeks of October, 2005 (played at Texas Tech and Kansas State)… The last time KU played two straight away games out of state was late October of 2004 (at Oklahoma and at Iowa State)… KU is in a stretch of three out of four games away from home as well as four of six away from Lawrence… KU’s 7-0 start is its best since starting 1995 7-0 and just the second time to start 7-0 since 1968… KU has not started 8-0 since 1909… KU’s seven straight wins are its most since 1995 and the last time KU won eight straight was 1907-09 (18 straight)… KU has won 10 of its last 11 games dating back to last year… KU’s seven-game winning streak is tied for the fourth longest in the NCAA behind eight by Hawai’i, Ohio State and Boston College).
BACK TO BACK ON ESPN FAMILY — Kansas will be making its second straight appearance on one of the ESPN networks as the Jayhawks played Colorado last week on ESPN and this week will meet Texas A&M on ESPN2. The last time KU was on ESPN (or ESPN2) in back-to-back games was 1996 when the Jayhawks were on ESPN2 for a Sept. 14 game against TCU and a Sept. 28 game against Utah (KU had a bye in between games). KU is now 5-6 when appearing on ESPN or ESPN2 all-time.
IN THE POLLS — Kansas enters the week ranked 12th by the Associated Press, 10th by the USA Today/Coaches, 11th in the Harris Interactive and ninth in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) poll. KU’s listing of 12th by the AP is the highest the program has been ranked in that poll since finishing the 1995 season ninth (KU’s 2007 week-by-week rankings in the polls can be found on page 20 of this release).
NATION’S UNDEFEATED TEAMS — Only five teams in the Football Bowl Series (FBS) remain undefeated heading into this week.
School W/L AP Rank This Week
Ohio State 8-0 1st at Penn State
Boston College 7-0 2nd at Virginia Tech (Thurs.)
Arizona State 7-0 7th CALIFORNIA
Kansas 7-0 12th at Texas A&M
Hawai’i 7-0 16th NEW MEXICO STATE
LAST TIME OUT — Behind the leadership of quarterback Todd Reesing, 15th-ranked Kansas held off Colorado to defeat the Buffaloes 19-14 at Folsom Field Saturday. Kansas built up a 19-7 lead after scoring on a 15-play, 94-yard drive with 10:23 left in the game. Colorado scored a touchdown of its own to pull within 19-14 at the 3:42 mark. After Colorado forced KU to punt, the Buffaloes took over at their own 42-yard line with 2:16 remaining in the game. Kansas stopped the Buffs on four plays (CU lost eight yards on the possession) and the Jayhawks won their seventh straight game. Reesing completed 20 of 29 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing seven times for 84 yards. Jake Sharp added 53 rushing yards, while Brandon McAnderson bulled his way for 44 more on just seven carries, but it was the KU defense that came up big. KU registered seven tackles for loss, including three sacks, and came up with three turnovers, including interceptions by Justin Thornton and James McClinton and a fumble recovery by Kendrick Harper. James Holt had a career-best 15 tackles, while Joe Mortensen was in on 11 stops. KU had a season-low 333 yards of total offense (entered the game averaging 515.8), but limited CU to 353 yards on 78 plays (4.5 yards per play) en route to the win.
DID YOU KNOW? — This year KU has held the lead for 329 minutes and 51 seconds, been tied for 70 minutes and two seconds and played while behind for just 20 minutes and seven seconds.
THE SERIES — Texas A&M leads the series 7-1, including a 4-0 mark in games played at College Station. Texas A&M and has won seven straight since Kansas claimed the first meeting 28-10 at Lawrence in 1974. Since the teams have competed as members of the Big 12 Conference, only two of the five games have been decided by one score – the first a 24-21 A&M victory in 1998 and last year’s 21-18 A&M win.
KU-A&M LAST YEAR — Texas A&M spoiled the Kansas homecoming game scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull out a 21-18 victory on Oct. 7, 2006. KU build up a 10-point lead in the first quarter after a Dexton Fields touchdown catch and a Scott Webb field goal. After A&M’s Jorvorskie Lane scored a touchdown to make it 10-7 at half, Kansas added two more Webb field goals and a safety to built up an 18-7 lead through three quarters. However, A&M scored on a Stephen McGee two-yard run to start the fourth quarter (missed a two-point conversion) and Lane scored the game-winning touchdown with just :34 left. KU recorded just 288 yards of total offense, easily its lowest output of the season and managed just 10 first downs in the loss. A&M rolled up 386 yards in the come-from-behind victory. KU’s Jon Cornish ran for 128 yards, while current Jayhawk Brandon McAnderson was the top KU receiver with three catches for 57 yards. Three Jayhawks had double-digit tackle totals in Jerome Kemp (11), Justin Thornton (10) and Anthony Webb (10). Joe Mortensen added nine stops and James Holt was in on eight tackles.
KU-A&M LAST TIME AT COLLEGE STATION — A 24-point third quarter by Texas A&M turned a 14-14 halftime tie into a 38-20 lead as the Aggies cruised to a 45-33 victory at College Station on Nov. 1, 2003. Texas A&M ran up 547 yards of total offense, while Kansas produced 481, including 294 passing yards by Adam Barmann. Barmann threw four touchdown passes in the game and added a one-yard touchdown run.
KU-A&M CONNECTIONS — Kansas lists 26 players on its roster from the state of Texas, including nine starters in QB Todd Reesing (Austin-Lake Travis HS), OT Anthony Collins (Beaumont-Central Senior HS), WR Dezmon Briscoe (Dallas-Cedar Hill HS), WR Dexton Fields (Dallas-South Oak Cliff HS), DT James McClinton (Garland-Lakeview Centennial HS), S Patrick Resby (Houston-Forest Brook HS), P Kyle Tucker (Katy-Cinco Ranch HS), CB Aqib Talib (Richardson-Berkner HS) and OC Ryan Cantrell (Sugar Land-Clements HS)… Texas A&M has one player from the state of Kansas in QB T.J. Sanders (Goddard, Kan./Goddard HS)… KU WR coach Tim Beck was a successful high school head coach in the state of Texas at Carollton Turner (1999-2001) and Mansfield Summit (2002-04)… RB/Special Teams coach Louie Matsakis coached in the state of Texas at Texas Tech (2000-02) and Texas State-San Marcos (2003)… KU strength and conditioning coach Chris Dawson was born in Houston, Texas… Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione was born in Girard, Kan., graduated from Pittsburg State and coached at the high school and collegiate level in the state from 1975-89… A&M defensive coordinator Gary Darnell coached at Kansas State (1979-82)… A&M director of con-campus recruiting Johnny Barr spent 2001 as the linebackers coach at Kansas… A&M strength coach Rod Cole was born in Smith Center, Kan. and graduated from Bethany College and earned a master’s degree at Wichita State.
2007 KANSAS FOOTBALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
– Defeated a ranked team (#24 Kansas State) for first time since beating #25 Iowa State in 2005.
– Beat a ranked team on the road (#24 Kansas State) for the first time since winning at #15 Oklahoma in 1995.
– Earned a national ranking for first time since 1996 (ranked #20 on Sept. 28 that year before losing to Utah).
– Earned highest national ranking since finishing ninth in the final AP poll in 1995.
– Opened a year 7-0 for first time since starting 7-0 in 1995 and the second time in the last 39 years (1968).
– Won seven straight games for first time since 1995 (seven straight).
– Produced at least six wins in three straight years for the first time since 1960-61-62.
– Became the only remaining undefeated conference team since the 1968 Kansas team started that season 7-0 (i.e. the last time KU was the only undefeated team in the conference at any point in a season).
– Opened Big 12 play with a victory for the first time since 2003.
– Opened Big 12 play with a 3-0 record for the first time since 1995 (has not started 4-0 since 1992).
– KU became the first Big 12 North school since Nebraska in 2002 to open league play 3-0.
– Posted back-to-back road wins in the same season for the first time since 1995.
– Posted two road wins in the same season for the first time since 1996 (3-3 on the road that year).
– Expect to be in a bowl game for third time in the Mark Mangino era and no Kansas coach has taken KU to more than two bowls.
– On pace to establish school record in attendance for third straight season as KU has averaged 44,906 through five home games and the next home game against Nebraska is already soldout (last game is vs. Iowa State). KU set mark in 2005 with 43,675 and then bested that mark last year with an average of 44,137.
– Beat in-state rival Kansas State three of last four years (have beaten other big rival Missouri three out of last four meetings, but have not played this year). Also defeated KSU in consecutive years for the first time since winning three straight from 1988-90.
– Snapped an eight-game losing streak at Kansas State (had not won at Manhattan since 1989 before this year).
– Recorded back-to-back 50-point games for the first time in history after opening the year with a 52-7 win against Central Michigan and a 62-0 victory against Southeastern Louisiana.
– Scored 30 or more points in six straight games (first six games) for the first time in history.
– Started the year with two straight turnover-free games for the first consecutive games without a turnover since 2003.
– Scored 52 points in season opener vs. Central Michigan for most points in a season opener since 1912.
– Scored most points in a conference game in school history with 58 vs. Baylor.
– Shutout Southeastern Louisiana for first shutout since beating Southern Illinois 42-0 in 2000.
– Held consecutive opponents to less than 10 points for the first time since 1975 as KU beat Central Michigan 52-7 and Southeastern Louisiana 62-0).
– Limited opponents to just 23 combined points in four straight games (first four games) for the fewest allowed in a four-game span since 1961 (held four opponents to a combined 23 points as well).
– On pace to have five of the top 10 passing yardage seasons in school history come in the Mangino era, as KU is currently averaging a school-record pace of 276.4.0 yards per game.
– On pace to have four of the top 10 rushing defense yardage seasons in school history come in the Mangino era as KU is currently averaging a school record of 78.0 yards allowed rushing per game (three of current top five seasons have come in the Mangino era).
– Posted consecutive wins against Colorado for the first time since 1980 and 1981.
