Kansas FootballMangino: “We’re not going to get down from losing games. We’re going to find a way to get better, that’s the way we do it here. We keep looking for solutions. Nobody is feeling bad for themselves, there is nobody pouting. If you go down the hallway to the coaches’ suites, people are working. Players are coming in and asking questions and getting DVDs to watch and things like that. It’s business as usual. We’ve had some kids on occasion or two who don’t handle diversity well. But you prepare them for both - talk about the highs of winning and the lows of losing and the pitfalls that come with losing and all the new things that come with winning.”
KU-NU SERIES: Nebraska leads the all-time series by an 89-23-3 count, including a 46-8-1 advantage in games played in Lawrence. Kansas has won the last two meetings in Lawrence, posting a 75-39 victory in 2007 and a 40-15 win in 2005. The 2005 victory snapped a 36-game losing streak to the Huskers, which began in 1969. Since that streak, the teams have split the last four games with the home team winning each time, including a 39-32 overtime victory by the Huskers in 2006 and last year’s 45-35 NU win in Lincoln.
KU-NU IS NATION’S LONGEST UNINTERRUPTED SERIES
The Kansas-Nebraska series will be played for the 104th consecutive year. That marks the nation’s longest uninterrupted series. Minnesota and Wisconsin will be meeting for the 103rd time this year. KU and NU first met in 1892 and actually played 12 straight years until not playing each other in 1904 or 1905. Since resuming the series in 1906 the teams have met every season.
KU vs NU STATS - NATIONAL CATEGORY RANKINGS
Category | Kansas | Nebraska | ||
Rush Y/G | 127.8 | 85 | 145.6 | 61 |
Pass Y/G | 303.8 | 8 | 201.4 | 77 |
Pass EFF. | 137.1 | 39 | 126.5 | 71 |
Total Off. | 431.6 | 24 | 347.0 | 84 |
Score Off. | 30.8 | 32 | 25.7 | 71 |
Rush Def. | 117.7 | 35 | 94.4 | 10 |
Pass Def. | 227.2 | 69 | 179.6 | 21 |
Total Def. | 344.9 | 47 | 274.0 | 11 |
Score Def. | 24.2 | 62 | 10.3 | 2 |
Turn. Mar. | -0.22 | 79 | -0.00 | 61 |
-
Other categories ranked in top-25.
KU: First Downs #7, Fourth down conversion pct. #5, Sacks #16.
NU: Pass Efficiency Defense #2, Tackles for loss #22, Sacks #7, Defensive first downs #20, Defensive third down conversion pct. #18.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (Top – 30)
Kansas
Total offense: Todd Reesing #7
Receptions p/g: Kerry Meier #4
Receptions p/g: Dezmon Briscoe #8
Receiving y/g: Dezmon Briscoe #6
Receiving y/g: Kerry Meier #26
All purpose running: Dezmon Briscoe #22
Nebraska
Interceptions: Matt O’Hanlon #15
Sacks: Jared Crick #8
THINGS TO LOOK FOR AGAINST NEBRASKA
• WR Kerry Meier (2,082) needs 80 receiving yards to pass Mark Simmons (2,161) for third on the KU career receiving yardage list.
• Meier (16) needs one touchdown catch to tie Willie Vaughn and Bruce Adams (17 each) for second on the KU career list. Dezmon Briscoe is first at 28.
• Meier has caught at least two passes in 30 consecutive games.
• WR Dezmon Briscoe (2,820) needs just three receiving yards to pass Jordy Nelson of Kansas State (2,822) for 10th on the Big 12 career receiving yardage list.
• Meier (197) and Briscoe (196) are just shy of 200 receptions for the their career. Jordy Nelson of Kansas State is 10th on the Big 12 career list with 206.
• Briscoe has caught at least four passes in 12 straight games and at least two in 27 in a row.
QUICKLY
• KU will be looking to stop a four-game losing streak, its longest since dropping four straight in 2006. Kansas has not lost five straight since dropping the final seven games of the 2002 campaign.
• KU is 27-5 at home in the last five seasons.
• 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).
DID YOU KNOW? -- KU QB Todd Reesing is averaging throwing just one interception for every 45 passes attempted this season for the third-best mark among Big 12 quarterbacks with 100 completions (Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M, is one for every 87 attempts and Baylor’s Nick Florence is second with one for every 47 attempts).
DID YOU KNOW? -- In conference games only KU QB Todd Reesing leads the Big 12 in both passing yards per game (297) and total offense per game (298).
KU VICTORY LIST RECORD
1. A.R. Kennedy, 1904-10 52-9-4
2. Mark Mangino, 2002-present 50-45-0
3. Glen Mason, 1988-96 47-54-1
4. Jack Mitchell, 1958-66 44-42-5
ANOTHER TOUGH SCHEDULE -- Based on the opponents’ record, Kansas had the nation’s seventh-most difficult schedule in 2008 as Jayhawk opponents were a combined 79-53 for a 59.8 winning percentage when not playing KU. This year KU’s 11 FBS opponents were a combined 78-54 last season for a winning percentage of 59.1 percent when not playing the Jayhawks.
ROJAS PUNTING WELL -- Kansas junior Alonso Rojas celebrated being named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List two weeks ago with the best punting day of his Jayhawk career at Texas Tech. Rojas averaged 47.9 yards on eight punts with a long of 72 yards. On the six punts from his side of the 50-yard line he averaged 53.8 yards. His punts were 56, 47, 48, 52, 48, 30, 30 and 72 yards. He placed two punts inside the 20-yard line. Last week at Kansas State, Rojas averaged 45.0 yards per punt.