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After a great first half, Kansas went into halftime up 20-10 against USF.  Then came the third quarter, where KU managed to only gain 9 total yards in the quarter. Meanwhile, USF scored 17 points and looked to be on the way to an impressive comeback win over the Jayhawks. Todd Reesing wasn’t about to let the Hawks go down so easily. He then marched Kansas down the field for two consecutive touchdowns to tie the score at 34. After another defensive stop, the Jayhawks offense had a chance to drive 95 yards for a game winning score. It was not to be as Todd Reesing threw an interception with under a minute to play that  led to a last second field goal and a 37-34 win for the Bulls. The field goal, by true freshman Maikon Bonani, was from 43 yards out and looked to be wide right from the kick before curving back to left and through the uprights. The loss is a tough one for Kansas, who only lost one game all of last season. The Jayhawks will look to rebound against Sam Houston State next Saturday evening before opening conference play on October 4th against Iowa State. The Bulls face Florida International on Saturday before taking on NC State on September 27th.

Once again, Kansas had a very potent passing offense and no running game at all. The lack of a running game really puts a lot of pressure on the two red shirt freshmen tackles and the entire offense. Without the ability to control the clock on offense, Kansas continues to leave their defense on the field for too long and gives the opposition too many opportunities to score on a tired defense.  Before the start of Big XII play, the Jayhawks will have to figure why they can’t run the ball and how they can fix it. Jake Sharp, while fast, doesn’t have the ability to make guys miss. He seems to get the ball and run straight for the hole the play was designed for and refuses to improvise a little. Almost robotic. Jacques Crawford, while skilled, is still very new in the system and clearly trying to feel things out. Angus Quigley has shown to be toughest back and the most impressive although he still can’t seem to get on the field early in the game.  He is very effective late in the game, do to his strength and toughness, but many KU fans would like to see if he can have similar success throughout the game. It’s time to give Quigley the ball to see exactly what the he can do throughout an entire game. Three running backs, in a running back by committee offense, is going to work throughout the season. One of these guys needs to take control and take the job.

Kerry Meier continued to show why he is the most valuable receiver in the Big XII. His ability to get open, catch the ball, and just do the dirty receiver work, is why Meier is the MVP of Big XII receiver. Against USF, Meier pulled in 11 balls 120 yards. Even with a game like that, Meier had the second best statistics out of the receiver. Jonathan Wilson hauled in 10 cathes for 171 yards and 2 TD’s. Wilson certainly made a great argument to get on the field more frequently. He showed the ability to not give up on plays, fight back to his QB when the pocket breaks down, and get YAC (Yards after catch) yards, which led to a TD against USF.

The Kansas defense obviously had a rough time slowing down Matt Grothe and the USF offense. Uncharacteristically, the Kansas defense gave up over 450 yards of offense to USF. The defense looked quick and impressive to start the game, but with the lack of a consistent running game by the Jayhawks, the defense seemed to be on the field for most of the second quarter and just about all of the third quarter. The defense did come up with two big stops in the fourth quarter to allow Kansas to comeback and tie the score, but in the end, that effort came up short as a true freshman booted a 43 yard field goal.

Box Score