#2 Kansas Meets #3 Missouri In Border

Nov. 19, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

QUICKLY — #2 Kansas (11-0 overall, 7-0 Big 12) will play its final regular season game of the year with the Big 12 Conference North Division title on the line when it meets #3 Missouri (10-1, 6-1) in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. (ABC-TV)… The winner of the game will be the North Division champion and will meet the South Division champion in the Big 12 Championship game in <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. (ABC)… Neither KU nor MU has won the North Division since the league was formed in 1996… In fact, KU’s best finish in the previous 11 years of the league has been a tie for fourth in the North on three occasions…. KU is the home team in the game, which will be played in Kansas City again next season with the Tigers as the home team in 2008… Kansas has won 11 straight games since losing at Missouri in last year’s season finale… KU has won 14 of its last 15 games dating back to last season… KU’s 11-game winning streak is its longest since winning 18 consecutive from 1907-09… KU is 11-0 for the first time in school history (1899 team finished the year 10-0)… KU has won a school-record 11 games (had won 10 on four occasions)… KU’s national ranking of second is its highest national ranking in school history (was third in the AP poll for three weeks in 1968)… KU is playing its school-record seventh nationally-televised game of the year… KU and Hawai’i (10-0) are the only two unbeaten teams at the FBS level… KU and Hawai’i share the nation’s longest active winning streaks at 11 games… KU has won its final regular season game three times in the last four years.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

IN THE POLLS — Kansas enters the week ranked second in each of the four major polls (Bowl Championship Series, Associated Press, USA Today and Harris Interactive). This is KU’s highest ranking in history (third for three weeks in the AP poll in 1968). (KU’s weekly ranking this season can be found on page 28 of this release, while KU’s all-time AP rankings can be found on page eight).

LAST TIME OUT — Todd Reesing completed 21 of 26 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns in just three quarters of action to lead Kansas to a 45-7 win against IowaState in the final home game of the year for the Jayhawks. Reesing, who hit 19 of his first 20 attempts, with the lone incompletion coming on a pass he was throwing away to avoid a sack, found Dexton Fields for two first-quarter touchdowns. Fields tied a school record with 11 receptions and had a career-best 109 yards. Marcus Henry pulled in four balls for 92 yards, while Kerry Meier had three catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Jake Sharp led the ground game with 83 yards on 15 carries, while Brandon McAnderson added 70 yards on nine attempts. Reesing, who did not play in the fourth quarter for the fifth time this year, finished the day 21 of 26 for 253 yards and four touchdowns. He extended his streak of consecutive passing attempts without an interception to a school and Big 12 Conference record tying 205. KU ran up 566 yards of total offense while holding IowaState to just 234, including 52 on the ground. IowaState reached the KU side of the field just once on seven second half possessions, getting to the KU 48-yard line on its first drive of the half. Chris Harris returned to the starting lineup at cornerback and responded by making a season/career high 11 tackles. Aqib Talib and Mike Rivera added seven stops apiece.

NATION’S OLDEST RIVALRIES — Here is a look at the nation’s oldest FBS rivalries entering this season:

1. 116, Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
2. 115, Kansas vs. Missouri
3. 113, Kansas vs. Nebraska
3. 113, Texas vs. Texas A&M

DID YOU KNOW? — ESPN’s Game Day will broadcast its show from Arrowhead Stadium Saturday from 9-11 a.m. ABC will broadcast the game, which begins at 7 p.m.

THE SERIES — The nation’s second-most played football rivalry resumes Saturday with one of the most significant games in its history as Kansas and Missouri play for the 116th time (Minnesota and Wisconsin played for the 117th time last Saturday). Kansas leads the all-time series by a 54-52-9 count. The teams will meet in Kansas City for the 22nd time, but first time since 1945 (KU leads 12-6-3 in games played in Kansas City) and at a neutral site for the 23rd time (played in St. Joseph, Mo. in 1907 and KU won that game)… Missouri stopped KU’s three-game winning streak in the series last season. KU has won three of the last four, and nine of the last 14 in the series.

KU-MU LAST YEAR — Senior Jon Cornish racked up 126 rushing yards to become KU’s all-time single-season rushing leader, but it wasn’t enough as Kansas fell to Missouri 42-17 at Columbia on Nov. 25, 2006. KU finished the season 6-6 and did not receive a bowl invitation. Missouri scored the first 13 points of the game, before Cornish scored on a 42-yard run in the final minute of the opening period. MU scored the only points of the second quarter to take a 20-7 lead into halftime. KU opened the second half scoring 10 straight points, including a Kerry Meier to Aqib Talib 42-yard touchdown pass to pull within 20-17. However, MU scored the game’s final 22 points to get the win. Missouri produced 493 yards of total offense to KU’s 322. Meier finished the day eight of 15 for 99 yards, while Todd Reesing came in and was four of eight for 63 yards. Defensively, Joe Mortensen had 12 tackles, Mike Rivera 10 and Darrell Stuckey eight.

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