Todd Reesing passed for 442 yards and four
touchdowns and ran for another score, as 16th-ranked Kansas escaped with a
41-36 win over Iowa State in a Big 12 matchup at Memorial Stadium.
Reesing completed 37-of-49 throws and was intercepted once, while Dezmon
Briscoe had 12 catches for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Kansas (5-0,
1-0 Big 12), which was coming off a 35-28 win over Southern Miss on September
26.
Kerry Meier had a huge game with 16 grabs for 142 yards and a pair of scores,
and Toben Opurum added 98 yards rushing on 24 touches with a TD for the
Jayhawks, who opened a season with a 5-0 record for just the fourth time since
1921.
"As a football team, sometimes one side of the ball or the other carries you,"
Kansas head coach Mark Mangino said. "Today the offense carried us, but I
don't think we are as bad on defense as we played today."
Austen Arnaud threw for 293 yards on 25-of-40 efficiency, including two
touchdowns, and also ran 14 times for 67 yards and a score for Iowa State
(3-3, 0-2), which dropped a heartbreaking 24-23 decision at Kansas State on
October 3.
Alexan Robinson led the Cyclones' rushing attack with 152 yards on 27 carries
and two scores. Marquis Hamilton and Darius Darks added a TD catch apiece in
defeat.
"I have a football team that continues to prepare well," Iowa State head coach
Paul Rhoads said. "Each week, they are doing more and more of what it takes to
win football games. We still haven't gotten over the hump to make more plays
than our opponents in a game like this."
Early in the fourth quarter and ISU up 30-27, Reesing aired it out and
completed a 46-yard bomb to Briscoe, capping a five-play, 72-yard drive that
boosted the Jayhawks in front. After a three-and-out by the Cyclones,
Reesing went back to work and spotted Meier in the end zone for a six-yard
score with just over 8 1/2 minutes to play.
Iowa State didn't go away as Arnaud led his squad down the field, going 69
yards on 10 plays and finished it off with a five-yard scoring pass to Darks
near the five-minute mark. The two-point attempt failed and KU held a slim
41-36 edge.
After a failed Jayhawks offensive set, Iowa State got the ball back at their
own 34 with 2:36 left and Arnaud quickly moved his squad to the KU 31.
However, he threw two incompletions on third and fourth down, and the hosts
took over and ran out the clock to escape with the victory.
Iowa State opened the scoring early in the first quarter when Robinson banged
in from a yard out, capping a drive that took only 1:51 off the game clock.
Robinson's 54-yard catch-and-run keyed the drive, but Grant Mahoney missed the
extra point.
Kansas answered with just over four minutes to play in the opening stanza on
Opurum's one-yard scoring run, however Jacob Branstetter's point after attempt
was unsuccessful.
Robinson again found the end zone, this time from seven yards, in the early
stages of the second, but yet another PAT was missed by Mahoney and the
Cyclones held a 12-6 edge.
Reesing followed up by connecting with Meier in the back of the end zone for a
three-yard score about 3 1/2 minutes left in the half. Branstetter was able to
convert the extra point and the Jayhawks went ahead by a point.
Then with just under three minutes to play in the period, the Kansas offense
went back to work. Reesing completed five straight passes, moving KU to the
Iowa State 28. Facing a 3rd-and-2 from the four, Reesing kept the ball himself
and ran it in to give the hosts a 20-12 lead which held up at intermission.
Mahoney's 34-yard effort was true nearly five minutes into the third quarter
as Iowa State trimmed its deficit to 20-15.
The Cyclones then grabbed a three-point advantage with a little under seven
minutes to play in the third when Arnaud ran it in from two yards out and a
Jake Williams catch on a two-point conversion put the visitors up 23-20.
However, KU responded when Reesing hit Briscoe with a 23-yard TD toss about 2
1/2 minutes later to put the Jayhawks back in front by a four-point
margin.
The back-and-forth scoring continued when Arnaud found Hamilton for a 17-yard
TD that gave ISU a brief 30-27 advantage.
Game Notes
Kansas visits Colorado on October 17, while Iowa State hosts Baylor...The
Jayhawks improved to 49-34-6 in the all-time series between the two
teams...Kansas finished with 551 total yards, compared to 512 for ISU.
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