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Reesing rolls in rout
LAWRENCE | By the beginning of the fourth quarter, Todd Reesing's first start as a Kansas quarterback was already over. He looked just as relaxed on the sideline as he did on the field, exchanging fist pounds with a KU team manager. None of this surprised Reesing's grandfather, Charles Darby, who had driven up from Houston for the Saturday night game. "He sat out a lot of fourth quarters in high school," said Darby, sitting about 10 rows up. But still, come on. Even the Reesing family couldn't have expected this, a 52-7 blowout over defending Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan. "We just wanted him to lead the team to victory," said Steve Reesing, Todd's father. "We didn't have any more expectations than that." Reesing, a sophomore, far exceeded any logical expectation for a quarterback making his first start. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns, all of which came in a first half that saw Kansas build a 35-0 lead. The last time the KU offense looked this good was during a 63-14 beating of Toledo in 2004. The impact of a new quarterback, Reesing, and a new offensive coordinator, Ed Warinner, was hard to miss for the 46,815 fans at Memorial Stadium. The rout started with a gutsy call from Kansas coach Mark Mangino. With the score tied at 0-0 in the first quarter, Kansas faced fourth and 1 from its own 41-yard line. KU shockingly elected to go for it, and Reesing responded by hitting tight end Derek Fine for a 7-yard completion. KU went on to score on that drive on another Fine catch and never looked back. But what if KU hadn't converted? It didn't matter. Mangino thought it was something he had to do. "We've taken on a whole new mentality here on offense," Mangino said. "We're going all-out. We're not holding anything back at any time. Our kids like it that way. They like to play like that. "The most excited our kids were all night was when I said, 'We're going for it, get a play in.' " The Jayhawks, 1-0, didn't know it then, but they were about to run away with it. Reesing hit true freshman wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe for a touchdown, then senior receiver Marcus Henry, then cornerback Aqib Talib. Mix in a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown by sophomore Raimond Pendleton, and, before halftime, Kansas had flattened its first cupcake. But Central Michigan was supposed to be more than that. In the weeks leading up to this one, the Chippewas over the Jayhawks became a chic upset pick for college football's first weekend. Reesing more than did his part to quiet all of the doubters, who probably thought this year's team would be same ol' Kansas. "We're tired of being looked at as, 'They're going to be a 6-6, 7-5 team and finish in the bottom of Big 12,' " Reesing said. "We don't want that anymore. We have higher expectations of ourselves." Mangino, clearly pleased with all aspects of KU's performance, said everything starts with Reesing. "He's starting his first game in Division I, and you'd think he'd been doing this for 10 years," Mangino said. "The way he approached the game, the way he warmed up on the sideline. You know, courage is a good thing to have. He has it." Kansas made a statement on Saturday night that it just might be ready to take the next step as a team. A bowl game certainly looked like a realistic possibility, since KU hammered a team that won its bowl game last season. The biggest question heading into the game was at quarterback. Reesing, the native of Austin, Texas, coolly showed why he beat out incumbent Kerry Meier in fall practice. That made the Reesing family's voyage from Texas a special one. Steve Reesing said he didn't notice anything different about his son on Saturday afternoon, hanging out at Todd's apartment. But after watching his son's sterling first start, there was no denying that he was not same ol' Todd. And this sure didn't look like the same ol' Kansas. To reach J. Brady McCollough, Kansas reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4363 or send e-mail to jmccollough@kcstar.com |
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J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell) |
