Jayhawks Head South To Face Aggies Saturday On FSN

Nov. 14, 2011

Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

Game Information
Game 11: Kansas at Texas A&M
Time 11 a.m. (CT)
Location College Station, Texas
Stadium Kyle Field
Series Texas A&M leads, 8-2
Television FSN
Radio Jayhawk Radio Network
Sirius 135
Live Audio AT&T Jayhawk All-Access
Live Stats GameTracker
Live Blog Football Gameday Blog
Notes Kansas
Texas A&M
Big 12 Conference Get     Acrobat  Reader
Stats at a Glance
KU TAMU
Overall Record 2-8 5-5
Big 12 Record 0-7 3-4
Total Points/GM 25.1 38.9
Total Offense/GM 358.8 516.7
Rushing Yards/GM 178.4 221.6
Passing Yards/GM 180.4 295.1
Points Allowed/GM 44.0 31.0
Offense Allowed/GM 537.7 420.4
Rushing Allowed/GM 250.9 112.2
Passing Allowed/GM 286.8 308.2
Penalty Yards/GM 46.2 65.6
3rd-Down Conv. Pct. 40.0 47.0
4th-Down Conv. Pct. 68.0 25.0
Time of Possesion/GM 30:50 29:15
Top Performers
Rushing (YPG-TDs)
KU – James Sims 60.4 – 8
TAMU – Cyrus Gray 95.1 – 9
Passing (YPG-TDs)
KU – Jordan Webb 169.1 – 13
TAMU – Ryan Tannehill 291.1 – 23
Receiving (YPG – TDs)
KU – D.J. Beshears 39.8 – 3
TAMU – Ryan Swope 93.2 – 9
Tackles (U-A-T)
KU – Steven Johnson 54-55-109
TAMU – Jonathan Stewart 44-33-77
Interceptions (No.)
KU – Five tied with 1
TAMU – Trent Hunter 2

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas football travels to College Station, Texas to take on Texas A&M for the final time as members of the Big 12 Conference on Saturday, Nov. 19. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m., with a live telecast on Fox Sports Net. An audio broadcast of the game will be available on the AT&T Jayhawk All-Access, the Jayhawk Radio Network or Sirius Satellite Radio channel 135.

What To Watch For …
– Kansas (2-8 overall, 0-6 Big 12) will travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M Saturday, Nov. 19 in its final road game of the 2011 season under second-year head coach Turner Gill (5-17 at KU, 25-47 overall).
– Kansas is facing Texas A&M for the 11th time in its 122 years of college football. The Jayhawks are 2-8 all-time versus the Aggies, including a 1-4 mark in games played in College Station.
– Kansas fell to the Aggies, 45-10, in Lawrence in 2010, but was victorious in its last trip to College Station. KU defeated TAMU, 19-11, at Kyle Field in 2007.
– Saturday’s game will mark the eighth meeting between Kansas and Texas A&M since the duo joined the Big 12 Conference. TAMU leads 6-1 in games played as conference partners.
– Kansas’ roster fields 38 players from the Lone Star state, however, none of the Texans on the Jayhawk roster are natives of College Station.
– KU is 9-4 all time in games played on Nov. 19. The Jayhawks last played on Nov. 19 at Missouri in 1994, defeating the Tigers, 41-31, in the final game of the season. The victory assured KU of a winning season.
– Kansas senior LB Steven Johnson has recorded double-figure tackles in seven of 10 games this season.
– Jayhawk WR/KR D.J. Beshears set the KU single-season kickoff return yards record in KU’s last outing. He needs 197 kick return yards to set the KU career kickoff return yards record.

Kansas Head Coach Turner Gill
Turner Gill (North Texas, 1990) is in his second season at the Kansas helm, after being named the University’s 36th head football coach on Dec. 13, 2009. He has guided KU to a 2-8 mark in 2011 and owns a 5-17 overall mark in his second season with the program. In his first year at Kansas, Gill took over a team that had lost its last seven games of the 2009 season. After a season-opening loss, Gill guided the Jayhawks to a 28-25 upset victory against then-No. 15 Georgia Tech. KU would win three games in his first year, including a thrilling 52-45 victory against Colorado in a game that KU trailed 45-17 in the fourth quarter. Gill came to Lawrence after spending the previous four seasons as the head coach at Buffalo (2006-09) where he turned a down program into a conference champion in his third year. Gill was a highly successful player and assistant coach at Nebraska for a combined 18 seasons before spending one year with the Green Bay Packers and then taking over at Buffalo.

Texas A&M Head Coach Mike Sherman
Mike Sherman is 24-24 in his fourth season as head coach in College Station. Sherman has had three stints with Texas A&M, going back to 1989 when he was the team’s offensive line coach under longtime head coach R.C. Slocum. After one season at UCLA (1994) as the offensive line coach, Sherman returned to Texas A&M for two seasons before making the jump to the NFL. After three seasons as an assistant coach, Sherman was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers prior to the 2000 season. He posted a 56-39 record with the Packers, leading the team to the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. Following the 2005 season, Sherman returned to the Lone Star State as the assistant head coach of the Houston Texans, before earning the head coaching job at Texas A&M in 2008. Sherman’s Aggie teams have reached bowl games in each of the last two seasons, including the Cotton Bowl last season with a 9-3 regular season record. Sherman is 1-0 in his career against Kansas, leading the Aggies to a win in Lawrence last season.

Texas A&M Scouting Report
Texas A&M enters Saturday’s game with a 5-5 mark, including a 3-4 record in Big 12 play following a four-overtime loss at No. 14 Kansas State last week. The Aggies have lost three-straight games, including a pair of overtime setbacks. Texas A&M is 3-2 at home this season. The Aggies rank 12th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 38.9 points per game, and sixth in total offense with 516.7 yards per game. Senior quarterback Ryan Tannehill has started all 10 games behind center and has completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,911 yards with 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Junior wide receiver Ryan Swope has been Tannehill’s favorite target, recording 69 receptions for 932 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior Cyrus Gray and junior Christine Michael have split carries in the backfield for much of the season. The tandem has combined for 1,930 yards on the ground and averages 5.7 yards per carry. Gray leads the team with nine rushing touchdown on the season. Defensively, junior linebacker Jonathan Stewart leads the team with 77 total tackles and two sacks, while fellow junior Sean Porter has a Big 12-best 8.5 sacks and 12 total tackles behind the line of scrimmage. As a team, the Aggies have forced 10 turnovers in 10 games this season.

KU-TAMU Connections
Kansas has 38 players on its roster from the Lone Star State, however none of native Texans on the Jayhawk roster hail from College Station. Texas A&M does not have any players from the state of Kansas. KU co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Buddy Wyatt was the defensive line coach at Texas A&M on two separate occasions. Wyatt was first in College Station from 2000-02. He then returned under current head coach Mike Sherman for the 2008-09 seasons. Kansas offensive line coach, J.B. Grimes, also made a coaching stop at TAMU. Grimes served as the Aggie offensive line coach from 1998-02.

Follow Kansas Football on AT&T Jayhawk All-Access
Kansas fans were able to watch the Jayhawks’ football season-opener vs. McNeese State and last week’s Baylor game on AT&T Jayhawk All-Access, another of more than 200 events to air in 2011-12 on KU’s online network via kuathletics.com. This marks the eighth consecutive year that AT&T Jayhawk All-Access will broadcast Kansas Athletics events either with video, audio or both. In addition to the football season opener and the Baylor game, Kansas football fans who subscribe to AT&T All-Access can also see:
-Turner Gill’s weekly press conferences
-Football weekly television show
KU Football Fans who subscribe may also listen to:
-The complete radio broadcasts of KU football, including the Jayhawk Network pre-game show, which starts 30 minutes prior to kickoff, and the 30-minute post-game show which includes an interview with Head Coach Turner Gill
-Hawk Talk with Turner Gill
Kansas football fans can subscribe to Jayhawk All-Access by going to www.kuathletics.com and clicking on the AT&T Jayhawk All-Access button on the right. Jayhawk All-Access subscriptions are only $9.95 per month or $79.95 per year.

Miller Has Breakout Game
Kansas freshman RB Darrian Miller had a breakout performance of sorts versus Baylor. Miller carried the ball 24 times for 147 yards, both career-bests. The 5-foot-10 Blue Springs, Mo., native also turned in a career-best run of 23 yards in the first half versus the Bears. Miller’s 147 rushing yards were the most by a Kansas true freshman since June Henley tallied 148 yards rushing against Nebraska on Nov. 6, 1993. Miller ranks second on the team in rushing on the season with 543 yards on 125 carries. He has scored four TDs on the ground for KU.

McDougald Stepping Up
Kansas junior S Bradley McDougald has come on strong over the past five games, recording 49 tackles, including 36 solo stops, versus Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas, Iowa State and Baylor. The Dublin, Ohio, native has also tallied 3.0 TFLs for minus six yards to go along with two forced fumbles, an interception and three pass breakups in those same five outings. Additionally, he has recorded 10 or more tackles in each of Kansas’ last three games, including back-to-back games with a career-best 11 stops.

Biere Honored Again
Kansas senior TE Tim Biere was honored by the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA), as he was named Honorable Mention Tight End of the Week following KU’s game vs. Baylor (Nov. 12). Biere hauled in three receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown versus the Bears. He scored on a 25-yard pass from QB Jordan Webb on KU’s first play in overtime.

Johnson Leading Tackler in Big 12
Jayhawk senior LB Steven Johnson opened the 2011 season right where he left off at the end of the 2010 season, collecting double figures in tackles. Johnson was credited with 15 tackles versus McNeese State, including nine solo stops. He has gone on to record double figures in tackles in seven of 10 games this season, giving him 10 games in his career with 10 or more tackles. Johnson ranks first in the Big 12 and eighth in the NCAA in tackles with 10.9 per outing.