In a year when Kansas was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 North, a year when head coach Mark Mangino was given an ultimatum-win or you’re out-and a year started by controversy surrounding the quarterback position, it would have been too much like a Cinderella story for the Jayhawks to end up winning the national championship.
Kansas lost to Mizzou last Saturday in one of the most anticipated matchups in either school’s history. The game did not disappoint. It included two missed field goals, an electric opening kickoff return, two interceptions, eight touchdowns, a second-half near comeback and a flawless game by Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel.
Daniel was nearly perfect, and he had to be. He completed 40 of 49 passes for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns. Since a few of those incompletions were dropped passes by receivers and a few were just good defensive plays, that leaves Daniel with a flawless performance.
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, on the other hand, struggled in the first half of the game. Reesing threw his 216th consecutive pass without an interception before he threw a pick in the second quarter. What the Jayhawks had done all season, they couldn’t do under the pressure of the biggest game of their careers. The difference was that Mizzou was ready; it handled the pressure well and rose to the occasion. It wasn’t until the second half that the Kansas offense finally showed up.
Kansas did prove one thing-that it was good enough to hang with Mizzou. Kansas and Mizzou both scored four touchdowns each. The breaker for Kansas was that place kicker Scott Webb missed two makeable field goals, and Mizzou made two field goals.
The score would have been tied with 17 seconds left at the end of the game, and Reesing would have been able to take a knee, forcing overtime rather than being tackled for a safety on a last-minute desperation play.
One of Kansas’ biggest problems of the day was the team’s inability to tackle. Mizzou receivers and running backs constantly broke tackles of Kansas defenders and continued to gain yards after contact was made.
A Kansas defense, which boasted a nation-best, plus-21 turnover ratio before the game started, turned the ball over twice. The team had not even turned the ball over a single time in four games, covering a span of more than 300 offensive plays. They also failed to force Mizzou to turn the ball over.
It was a good game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Kansas remains the feel-good story of the year so far. They rose out of the bellows of the Big 12 North over the course of this season and received national exposure earning a No. 2 ranking.
For a football program that had consistently underachieved and was shadowed in the success of the school’s basketball program, finishing 11-1 in the regular season and bringing excitement back to Memorial Stadium, the team and the fans have nothing to hang their heads about.
If No. 1 ranked Mizzou beats Oklahoma this week, Mizzou will play for the national championship most likely against West Virginia if it can take care of its rival Pittsburgh on Saturday.
No. 5 ranked Kansas however still has a shot to play in a Bowl Championship series game, which is an incredible achievement for a team who received zero points in any preseason poll this year. So while the Jayhawk faithful sit and wonder, “What if?”, there is still plenty to be thankful for in the most exciting and successful season in Kansas football history.
Max Vosburgh is a freshman in the John Cook School of Business.
