Kansas Upends No. 12 Missouri 40-37 in a Border Showdown Football Thriller in K.C.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas junior quarterback Todd Reesing hit fellow junior Kerry Meier on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds remaining as KU upset No. 12 Missouri 40-37 in a thrilling Border Showdown football game on a sleeting, snowy Saturday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

A weather-braving Border Showdown crowd of 79,123 saw Kansas improve to 7-5 on the season and 4-4 in Big 12 play. With the victory, Kansas posted its second consecutive seven-win season for first time since 1960-61, while Missouri fell to 9-3 on the year and 5-3 in conference play.

MU senior Jeff Wolfert, who had made a 48-yard field goal earlier in the game, had his 54-yard game-tying field goal attempt blocked by KU sophomore Philip Stozier to end the game.

In a game that saw four lead changes in the final seven minutes, Reesing engineered two fourth quarter touchdowns drives with Meier catching both go ahead scores.

Reesing was 37-for-51 for 375 yards with four touchdowns on the day. He broke his own school record for receptions in a season with 302 and passing yards in a season, currently at 3,575 yards. Additionally, he broke his own KU school record for total offense with 3,761 yards.

Meier had a school-record 14 receptions for 106 yards and two fourth-quarter scores. Five of his 14 grabs came in the game-winning drive.

Defensively, KU junior safety Darrell Stuckey forced three Missouri turnovers for the game. He intercepted two of Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel’s passes, Stuckey’s fourth and fifth of the 2008 season. He also caused a fumble on a Daniel scramble, which Stuckey recovered himself.

With KU leading 26-10 early in the third quarter, Missouri scored 20 unanswered points to take a 30-26 lead with 6:52 remaining. Following a 40-yard kickoff return by sophomore Dezmon Briscoe, Reesing and company went to work, going 49 yards in five plays for the score to make it KU 33-30 with 4:26 to play.

Returning kicks for the first time while at KU, Briscoe gave Kansas great field position on the day by returning seven kicks for 195 yards, which tied for second most in KU history.

Missouri answered quickly when sophomore tailback 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 for the Jayhawks, going 67 yards in nine plays, five of which were Reesing-Meier connections. With fourth and seven on the MU 26-yard line, Reesing scrambled and found Meier over the top to make the score KU 40-MU 37 with 27 seconds left in the game.

Kansas will learn its bowl fate on Dec. 7, when bowl announcements are made. The Jayhawks are looking to reach a bowl game for the second consecutive season. KU, which played in the FedEx Orange Bowl last season, has never played in consecutive bowl games.

The Kansas Win…
— Gave KU at least seven wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1960 (7-2-1) and 1961 (7-3-1). KU was 12-1 a year ago.
— Stopped a two-game losing skid to the Tigers, and gave KU its fourth win in the last six games of the series.
— Gave head coach Mark Mangino a 44-40 record at KU, tying him for third on the KU coaches victory list with Jack Mitchell, who was 44-42-5 from 1958-66.

Notes
–Junior QB Todd Reesing broke his own school records for season completions (302), attempts (460) and passing yards (3,575). Last year he was 276-of-446 for 3,486 yards.
–Reesing broke his own school record for total offense in a season with 3,761 yards. Last season he posted 3,683 yards of total offense.
–Reesing also tied his own school season record with 10 games throwing for over 200 yards.
–Reesing has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 17 consecutive games.
–Junior S Darrell Stuckey picked off his fourth interception of the year and returned it 19 yards in the second quarter. It was his longest INT return of the year and the second longest of his career. He added his fifth interception in the third quarter. He became the third KU player with two interceptions in a game this season.
–Sophomore WR Dezmon Briscoe posted his sixth game of the season with over 100 yards receiving to take sole possession of the KU record. He was previously tied with former KU players –Marcus Henry (2007) and Bob Johnson (1983) with five 100-yard receiving games.
–Briscoe picked up his 12th receiving touchdown of the season on a nine-yard pass play from Reesing in the first minute of the second quarter. It raised his KU record career total to 19 TDs in 25 games played.
–Briscoe had nine catches to make his career total 121. He passed Richard Estell for sixth on the KU all-time receptions list.
–Briscoe’s 115 yards moved his career total to 1,702 to move him past Marcus Henry and Brandon Rideau for fifth on the KU career list. Additionally, he broke the single season school record with 1,206. Bob Johnson previously held the record with 1,144 receiving yards in 1983.
–Briscoe returned his first career kickoff for 27 yards in the second quarter. He finished with seven returns for 195 yards with a long of 40.
–Sophomore DE Jake Laptad recorded his second safety of the year when he sacked Chase Daniel in the East endzone at the 6:16 mark of the second quarter. The sack came after a KU’s Alonso Rojas landed a punt on the MU two yardline.
–Senior WR Dexton Fields hauled in a 25-yard touchdown reception toward the end of the first half. It was his third-straight game with a TD catch.
–Fields had a season-high seven pass receptions. He increased his career total to 128 to pass Clark Green for fourth on KU all-time receptions list.
–Junior WR Kerry Meier had school-record 14 catches to make his career total 114. He passed five players to move into seventh place on the KU all-time list. His 106 yards marked his fourth game eclipsing 100 yards, his first since the Iowa State game.
–Junior RB Jake Sharp’s 19-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was his 11th of the season and 18th of his career.
–Senior WR Marcus Herford recorded his first catch of the season, a 31-yard grab, which set up KU’s touchdown that put the Jayhawks up 33-30.
–After the Herford catch, Reesing found Meier in the endzone from eight yards out. The TD catch was Meier’s sixth of the season.
–Senior LB James Holt has at least one sack in five straight games.
–Sophomore PK Jacob Branstetter connected on 34-yard field goal in the first quarter which was a career long.
–Kansas posted a season-high 12 successful third down conversions.
–Kansas started the same 11 on defense for the fourth straight game.