THE BORDER WAR, ONLY ONE THING WOULD'VE MADE IT BETTER
This particular matchup makes me crazy, my pulse rate increases steadily as the game progresses, I yell at the TV at a loud volume, the swearing becomes frequent & when it's over, I'm either deeply depressed or, like yesterday, I have an 8-hour grin on my face. As a Mizzou man, nothing & I mean nothing during the football season makes me feel better than beating Kansas. So yesterday was a very good day.
The Tigers, clad in their space age Nike Stealth Combat uniforms & cleats, gave their fans a reason to forget last season's 40-37 loss to the Jayhawks on Todd Reesing's 4th down pass to Kerry Meier in the back of the endzone. See, I can barely remember anything about it already.
How big is this game to many of those who competed in it or were walking the sidelines? Did you ever see Tiger coach Gary Pinkel have such a meltdown? Lord he was mad. KU coach Mark Mangino is most likely as good as gone. He certainly allowed Mizzou to put a few nails in his coffin when he threw out of his end zone twice with 2:55 left in the game, those play calls made Bill Belichick's 4th & 2 call a couple of Sunday's ago seem brilliant. Then came the safety that set up the Missouri win. That's the second time in the 3 games played at Arrowhead that Reesing has been sacked in that endzone for a safety. Reesing said after the game, his last in a Kansas Uniform, "I started 11-0 & finished 0-7". That game that stopped the 11-game winning streak was versus Mizzou & the last of the 0-7 streak was also against the Tigers. Can you feel me smiling?
Missouri kicker, Grant Ressel, kicked the game winner with no time left. He kicked 4 field goals in this game giving him a 24 of 25 sophomore season. When Jeff Wolfert, the NCAA's all-time best percentage kicker graduated, how many of you thought we'd get someone even better? I know I didn't. But when everything was on the line in this bitter, bitter rivalry, Ressel kicked the winner right down the middle. We watch hundreds of college football games & when games are on the line, very often the kicker fails to deliver. Not so with Ressel.
KU receiver Dezmon Briscoe had a career day in THE GAME, catching 14 passes for 242 yards & 2 touchdowns. But it was 2 fumbles by Briscoe that led to a pair of Missouri touchdowns. Briscoe now has to decide if he wants to return to Lawrence for his senior season or enter the NFL Draft. Scouts will remember the 2 fumbles longer than the rest of his stats from the game, that's the way scouts are.
Missouri rushed for 250 yards, the Jayhawks but 47. Derrick Washington ran for 111 & QB Blaine Gabbert 94. Two sacks & 2 kneel downs put Gabbert under the 100-yard mark. Wide receiver Jerrell Jackson added a 37-yard touchdown run on a reverse, suffice to say, KU couldn't stop the Tiger running game. Winning the turnover battle 3 to 1 was also huge in this victory.
Blaine Gabbert concluded his 1st season as the starting quarterback with a 23 of 41 performance good for 303 yards & a TD. He didn't turn the ball over either. Gabbert, only a sophomore, should only get better & right now he looks like an NFL quarterback in the making. He has the prototypical size, arm strength & smarts. He doesn't throw interceptions, just 7 against 23 touchdowns to go with his 3,300 yards. Between Gabbert, Washington, Jackson & an offensive line that returns 4 starters, this offense should be good again next year.
How Many Tiger fans out there figured our passing attack would suffer after losing Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman & Tommie Sanders? I know I did. I wondered who would become Blaine Gabbert's go-to-guy. Danario Alexander blew away Maclin's production as a wide receiver. He finishes the regular season with 107 catches for 1,643 yards & 13 touchdowns. He made a huge impact yesterday, catching a 7-yard throw & turning it into a 68-yard touchdown. I'm telling you, he reminds of a slightly slower version of Randy Moss, without the drama. He's slightly larger than Moss at 6' 5" & 221. He gets open, catches the ball with his hands & doesn't drop it. He's a handful in the open field & I've yet to see him caught from behind. Great players make big plays in big games. Alexander fits that description wouldn't you agree?
In the end, some pretty great KU football players go out on a sour note, Reesing, Meier, Darrell Stuckey to name a few. Briscoe might join them. Mangino's buyout is rumored to be $6.6 million, so he really doesn't have to seek a coaching job. He can just sit at home & hire a cheeseburger wrangler, someone to fetch 'em or cook 'em. This is a coach I don't think we'll see for a while, if at all.
In the end, all of the 1,100 yards of offense, all the game breaking plays came down to a safety, a 27-yard run by Washington & having a kicker with ice water running thru his veins. Plus it doesn't hurt to have legions of fans willing to push their hearts to the limit, scream & curse at their TV's or in person, fans who know this is THE GAME, the Border War, the most important game of the year. I lost my bet, but I don't even care & I promise you'll never, ever hear me say that about any other wager all season. The bowl game is anti-climactic, beating the Jayhawks is the season.
The Tigers, clad in their space age Nike Stealth Combat uniforms & cleats, gave their fans a reason to forget last season's 40-37 loss to the Jayhawks on Todd Reesing's 4th down pass to Kerry Meier in the back of the endzone. See, I can barely remember anything about it already.
How big is this game to many of those who competed in it or were walking the sidelines? Did you ever see Tiger coach Gary Pinkel have such a meltdown? Lord he was mad. KU coach Mark Mangino is most likely as good as gone. He certainly allowed Mizzou to put a few nails in his coffin when he threw out of his end zone twice with 2:55 left in the game, those play calls made Bill Belichick's 4th & 2 call a couple of Sunday's ago seem brilliant. Then came the safety that set up the Missouri win. That's the second time in the 3 games played at Arrowhead that Reesing has been sacked in that endzone for a safety. Reesing said after the game, his last in a Kansas Uniform, "I started 11-0 & finished 0-7". That game that stopped the 11-game winning streak was versus Mizzou & the last of the 0-7 streak was also against the Tigers. Can you feel me smiling?
Missouri kicker, Grant Ressel, kicked the game winner with no time left. He kicked 4 field goals in this game giving him a 24 of 25 sophomore season. When Jeff Wolfert, the NCAA's all-time best percentage kicker graduated, how many of you thought we'd get someone even better? I know I didn't. But when everything was on the line in this bitter, bitter rivalry, Ressel kicked the winner right down the middle. We watch hundreds of college football games & when games are on the line, very often the kicker fails to deliver. Not so with Ressel.
KU receiver Dezmon Briscoe had a career day in THE GAME, catching 14 passes for 242 yards & 2 touchdowns. But it was 2 fumbles by Briscoe that led to a pair of Missouri touchdowns. Briscoe now has to decide if he wants to return to Lawrence for his senior season or enter the NFL Draft. Scouts will remember the 2 fumbles longer than the rest of his stats from the game, that's the way scouts are.
Missouri rushed for 250 yards, the Jayhawks but 47. Derrick Washington ran for 111 & QB Blaine Gabbert 94. Two sacks & 2 kneel downs put Gabbert under the 100-yard mark. Wide receiver Jerrell Jackson added a 37-yard touchdown run on a reverse, suffice to say, KU couldn't stop the Tiger running game. Winning the turnover battle 3 to 1 was also huge in this victory.
Blaine Gabbert concluded his 1st season as the starting quarterback with a 23 of 41 performance good for 303 yards & a TD. He didn't turn the ball over either. Gabbert, only a sophomore, should only get better & right now he looks like an NFL quarterback in the making. He has the prototypical size, arm strength & smarts. He doesn't throw interceptions, just 7 against 23 touchdowns to go with his 3,300 yards. Between Gabbert, Washington, Jackson & an offensive line that returns 4 starters, this offense should be good again next year.
How Many Tiger fans out there figured our passing attack would suffer after losing Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman & Tommie Sanders? I know I did. I wondered who would become Blaine Gabbert's go-to-guy. Danario Alexander blew away Maclin's production as a wide receiver. He finishes the regular season with 107 catches for 1,643 yards & 13 touchdowns. He made a huge impact yesterday, catching a 7-yard throw & turning it into a 68-yard touchdown. I'm telling you, he reminds of a slightly slower version of Randy Moss, without the drama. He's slightly larger than Moss at 6' 5" & 221. He gets open, catches the ball with his hands & doesn't drop it. He's a handful in the open field & I've yet to see him caught from behind. Great players make big plays in big games. Alexander fits that description wouldn't you agree?
In the end, some pretty great KU football players go out on a sour note, Reesing, Meier, Darrell Stuckey to name a few. Briscoe might join them. Mangino's buyout is rumored to be $6.6 million, so he really doesn't have to seek a coaching job. He can just sit at home & hire a cheeseburger wrangler, someone to fetch 'em or cook 'em. This is a coach I don't think we'll see for a while, if at all.
In the end, all of the 1,100 yards of offense, all the game breaking plays came down to a safety, a 27-yard run by Washington & having a kicker with ice water running thru his veins. Plus it doesn't hurt to have legions of fans willing to push their hearts to the limit, scream & curse at their TV's or in person, fans who know this is THE GAME, the Border War, the most important game of the year. I lost my bet, but I don't even care & I promise you'll never, ever hear me say that about any other wager all season. The bowl game is anti-climactic, beating the Jayhawks is the season.
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