Jubilant Jayhawks
LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 8 Kansas is having so much fun in the present, the Jayhawks can’t be bothered with their mostly forgettable past.
For Nebraska, the present keeps getting worse.
Todd Reesing threw a school-record six touchdown passes and Kansas clobbered Nebraska 76-39 on Saturday. The Jayhawks kept themselves in the national championship picture while rolling up the most points scored against the hapless Huskers in their 117-year football history.
It was only the second victory for Kansas in the last 39 games against Nebraska, which appears to be coming to pieces in the fourth season of embattled coach Bill Callahan.
“People continue to look at the past history, and the past records teams have had against us,” said Reesing, who was 30 of 41 for 354 yards. “That has no effect on us. It’s a whole new season. You can’t just look in the past. Our team doesn’t. We’re a whole new team.”
Reesing shattered Kansas’ single-season record with 23 touchdown passes and directed touchdown drives on 10 straight possessions as the Jayhawks (9-0, 5-0 Big 12) went to 9-0 for the first time since 1908.
Nebraska (4-6, 1-5) lost its fifth straight for the first time since 1958 while interim athletic director Tom Osborne watched from a pressbox suite.
Osborne, who coached Nebraska to three of its five national championships, replaced Steve Pederson when Pederson was fired following a 45-14 loss at home to Oklahoma State. Osborne spoke briefly to Callahan following the game but declined to meet with reporters.
“There’s really no words to explain this loss. They outexecuted us in all phases today,” said Callahan. “We are just going to keep working. As coaches, we are just going to keep working, coaching and motivating. We need to help the players get through this because this is a tough time for us.”
Kansas coach Mark Mangino admits the Jayhawks are exceeding even his expectations.
“I thought we had a chance to have a really good football team,” he said. “Those kids have stepped up and developed and here we are.”
Brandon McAnderson ran for 119 yards and tied a school record with four rushing TDs for Kansas, which was picked fourth in the Big 12 North.
“Coach Mangino has instilled an attitude in us – this is KU 2007,” McAnderson said. “When you put it like that, history doesn’t matter. Put up against us, there’s been a lot of history how, ‘You guys haven’t won road games, you haven’t beaten them, or them.’ There’s all kinds of stats about when you can’t do something. But history doesn’t matter.”
The previous record for points given up by Nebraska was 70, to Texas Tech on Oct. 9, 2004 – Callahan’s fifth game as coach.