Game No. 12 - Kansas To Meet Missouri In Border Showdown At Arrowhead Stadium

Nov. 23, 2009

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Press Conference Quotes

GAME NO. 12 VS. MISSOURI

Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, 2:30 p.m. (Central)

Arrowhead Stadium (79,451)

Kansas City, Mo.

Radio: Jayhawk Network

(Bob Davis, David Lawrence, Nate Bukaty, Bob Newton [producer])

www.kuathletics.com

TV: ABC

(Dave Lamont, JC Pearson)

QUICKLY — Kansas (5-6 overall, 1-6 Big 12) will travel to Kansas City, Mo. to meet Missouri (7-4, 3-4) in the annual Border Showdown on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ABC, marking the third straight KU game on ABC and fifth in the last six weeks.

– KU and MU are meeting in Arrowhead for the third straight season (both teams have won once) and 24th time in Kansas City (KU leads 13-7-3 in those games).

– KU is 4-3 in neutral-site games in the Mark Mangino era, with wins against Houston in 2005 (Fort Worth Bowl), Virginia Tech in 2007 (Orange Bowl), Missouri in 2008 (K.C.) and Minnesota in 2008 (Insight Bowl) and losses to North Carolina State in 2003 (Tangerine Bowl), Oklahoma in 2005 (K.C.) and Missouri in 2007 (K.C.).

– KU has lost six straight for the first time since dropping the final seven games of the 2002 campaign.

– KU is looking for its sixth win of the year, which would give the Jayhawks at least six victories for the fifth consecutive season, a streak which has only been accomplished twice in school history (1895-99 and 1902-06).

SENIOR CLASS FINAL REGULAR SEASON GAME — This week’s game is the final regular season game for 15 seniors. Here is a quick look:

LS Kayl Anderson… Team’s long snapper for each of the last three years.

DT Caleb Blakesley… Has started 31 games in his KU career… Was All-Big 12 Hon. Mention in 2008.

WR Kerry Meier… Starting QB as a freshman, he has become one of nation’s best WR.

DE Maxwell Onyegbule… Has 34 tackles, five sacks and two defensive touchdowns this season.

WR Raimond Pendleton… Eight receptions and one punt return for a touchdown in his career.

OL Jose Rodriguez… Spent time as a backup, earning scout team player of the week honors three times.

LB Angus Quigley… Three-year RB has spent time at LB this season.

QB Todd Reesing… More than 10,000 passing yards, a 25-12 record, two bowl wins, including a BCS Bowl.

LB Jake Schermer… A solid backup and special teams player.

RB Jake Sharp… More than 2,200 rushing yards, 700 receiving yards and 29 career touchdowns.

DE Dustin Spears… A backup on defense and special teams.

S Darrell Stuckey… Has 280 career tackles, eight INTs, 18 PBUs, four FR, three FF… All-Big 12 in 2008.

S Justin Thornton… Versatile DB has 225 career tackles, eight INTs, 30 PBUs, 3 FF and 2 FR in career.

DE Jeff Wheeler… Has 5.5 sacks this year for 10 in his career… Had two sacks at Texas last week.

LB Arist Wright… Veteran with starts as freshman, junior and senior… Has career-high 45 tackles in 2009.

SENIOR CLASS NOTABLE — Here are a few notes about this year’s senior class:

– Has posted a 31-17 four-year record for the second-most wins by a four-year senior class in school history (2008 class won 33 games).

– Consecutive bowl seasons (and victories) in 2007 and 2008 for the first time in school history.

– KU’s best two Big 12 North finishes, tying for first in 2007 and placing third in 2008.

KU-MU SERIES — The nation’s second most played rivalry resumes Saturday when Kansas and Missouri meet for the 118th time in a series which dates back to 1891. The only FBS series which has been played more times is Minnesota and Wisconsin (119 games). The teams have met 90 consecutive years (from 1919-present) for the nation’s 12th-longest uninterrupted series. The teams have met every year beginning with the 1891 matchup with the exception of 1918, when Kansas had its season shortened due to a campus-wide influenza outbreak. Kansas leads the all-time series 55-53-9 and has won four of the last six meetings, including last year’s thrilling 40-37 victory. Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino is 4-3 against Missouri since taking over the Jayhawk program in 2002.

KU-MU LAST YEAR — Todd Reesing hit Kerry Meier on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds remaining as Kansas upset No. 12 Missouri 40-37 in a thrilling Border Showdown game on a sleeting, snowing Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 29. MU kicker Jeff Wolfer, who had made a 48-yard field goal earlier, had his 54-yard game-tying field goal attempt blocked by Phillip Strozier to end the game. After four lead changes in the final seven minutes, Reesing engineered two fourth-quarter touchdown drives with Meier catching both go-ahead scores. Reesing was 37 of 51 for 375 yards and four touchdowns on the day. Meier established a then school record 14 catches for 106 yards. KU S Darrell Stuckey forced three MU turnovers (two interceptions and a forced fumble which he recovered). With KU leading 26-10 early in the third quarter, MU scored 20 straight points to take a 30-26 lead with 6:52 left. After a 40-yard kickoff return by Dezmon Briscoe, Reesing and company went to work going 49 yards in five plays for the score to go ahead 33-30 with 4:26 to play. MU responded when Derrick Washington scored on a six-yard run capping a seven-play, 73-yard drive to make the score 37-33 in favor of the Tigers with 1:50 to play. Reesing then engineered the game-winning drive, going 67 yards in nine plays, five of which were connections to Meier.

KU-MU IN 2007 — Despite 349 yards passing and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) from Todd Reesing, No. 2 Kansas could not defeat No. 3 Missouri as the Tigers posted a 36-28 victory in the annual Border Showdown game played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Nov. 24. The game took center stage in the nation as the ESPN Game Day Crew was on hand and the game was televised in prime time on ABC that night. Trailing 28-7 heading into the fourth quarter, Reesing led the Jayhawks on three consecutive scoring drives to cut the lead to 34-28 with 2:05 remaining. However, KU could not recover an onside kick and Missouri ran the clock down to 17 seconds. Missouri’s Loren Williams killed any hope for a Jayhawk comeback when he sacked Reesing in the end zone on KU’s first offensive play following a punt which pinned the Jayhawks inside the 10. The loss ended KU’s 11-game winning streak, the longest in school history. Dexton Fields caught eight passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Dezmon Briscoe had seven receptions for 94 yards. Six different Jayhawks had double-figure tackle totals, paced by Justin Thornton, who had 16. MU ran 93 plays for 519 yards while holding the ball for 37:25. KU had 391 yards on 71 plays.

KU-MU NOTABLE — Here are a few notes about the Kansas vs. Missouri series: Kansas won the first meeting 22-8 in 1891. That was KU’s second year of football… The Student Alumni Associations from Kansas and Missouri coordinate the postgame presentation of the Marching Band Drum, which is given to the winning team each year… The two schools have been exchanging a trophy since 1912… The KU-MU contest has signaled the end of the regular season for both teams 100 times during the series. That includes this year’s matchup. This year marks the fourth straight time these teams have ended the regular season playing each other, but the teams played earlier in the season eight times in the nine seasons from 1997-2005.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR AGAINST MISSOURI:

– RB Jake Sharp (2,210) needs 36 rushing yards for ninth and 39 for eighth on the KU career list.

– WR Dezmon Briscoe (2,998) needs just two receiving yards for 3,000 in his career and become just the eighth player in Big 12 history to reach that mark.

– Briscoe has caught at least four passes in 14 consecutive games and at least two in 29 straight.

– Briscoe (1,095) needs 50 receiving yards for the second best season in school history (he holds mark with 1,407 set last year).

– Briscoe (six) needs one 100-yard receiving game to tie his school record of seven set last year.

– WR Kerry Meier (2,255) needs 12 receiving yards to pass Willie Vaughn (2,266) for second on the KU career receiving yardage list behind only Dezmon Briscoe (2,998 entering Saturday).

– Meier (92) needs six receptions to break his own school record for single-season receptions of 97 set last year.

– Meier (16) needs one touchdown reception to tie for second on the KU career list behind only Briscoe (29).

– Meier has caught at least two passes in 32 consecutive games and at least one pass in 33 straight contests.

– QB Todd Reesing (10) needs one 200-yard passing game to tie his season record of 11 set in 2008.