Colorado stuns Kansas 34-30

16th ranked Kansas fell from the ranks of the unbeaten tonight in Boulder, Colorado 34-30 in a game that went down to the final play.  It also meant the Jayhawks failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity with Nebraska falling at home to Texas Tech earlier in the day.

The Jayhawks led early 3-0, but didn’t lead again until the fourth quarter.

Two first half turnovers set up short TD’s for the Buffaloes and KU’s defense, which was shredded in their win against Iowa State last week struggled to contain Buffs QB Tyler Hansen who was making his first start after taking the redshirt off last week.  

With the scored tied 3-3, a fumble by KU QB Todd Reesing turned the ball over on the Kansas 4 yard line and the Buffs Rodney Stewart powered in on the next play for a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Hansen hit tight end Riar Geer on a drag pattern and he made a shoetop grab and raced in for a 12 yard TD and 17-3 lead just inside seven minutes to go in the half.

A Darryl Stuckey INT halted the next Buff drive, but Reesing then threw his fourth interception of the year to Jalil Brown who returned it to the KU one.  Hansen plunged in for a 24-3 lead.

Kansas got back in the game when Reesing led the Hawks down the field 12 plays and 90 yards in 2:10 and cut the lead to 24-10 with a 4 yard score to Kerry Meier with 11 seconds left in the half. 

A 39 yard FG put Colorado up 27-10 to open the second half, then the KU offense took off.  A fourth down wide receiver pass from Meier to Reesing for 14 yards to the two set up a Toben Opurum TD, 27-17 Colorado.

CU’s Rodney Stewart then fumbled and KU recovered.  The Jayhawks used a fake punt to set up a Jacob Branstetter FG cutting the lead to 27-20.

Next possession, Hansen was under pressure and fumbled with KU’s Ryan Murphy recovering on the Colorado 24.  KU got another field goal and was down by four.

Kansas then scored on their fifth straight possession as Reesing connected with Dexmon Briscoe on a 25 yard post play and a 30-27 lead.

Colorado answered with a 76 yard drive and Stewart scored from the 13 and a 34-30 Buffalo lead.  He had 108 yards rushing for the game.

Needing a score and facing 3rd and 29, Reesing hit Briscoe for 42 yards to the CU 13.  On fourth and goal at the Buffalo six, Briscoe couldn’t hold on to a slant pass in the end zone and KU turned the ball over on downs with 4:23 to go.

With one last chance Kansas drove to the Colorado 19 with 3 seconds left.  Reesing lofted a pass to Briscoe in the end zone, who had his hands on it but couldn’t hold on and Colorado had upset the Jayhawks 34-30 handing Kansas their 1st loss of the season.

Reesing had his second straight 400 yard passing game going 30 0f 50 with 2 TD’s and a pick, but KU had no rushing attack finishing with minus seven yards for the game.  It was an opportunity squandered and one that KU may come to regret when the Big 12 north crown is handed out.

Could the Kings come back to Kansas City?

John Ireland, Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster and radio host on ESPN 710 in LA was talking about the Sacramento Kings and their inability to get a new arena deal on Thursday and said sources have told him the NBA will force the Kings to move.  According to Ireland,

“The people I have talked to in the NBA have told me that the Kings are going to be forced to move. They are not, especially in that political climate, going to get a new arena. No matter what the mayor says, no matter what the Maloofs say. Most of the people close to the team have told me they will try everything humanly possible to stay in Sacramento but that it’s not in the cards.

“I don’t know if Anaheim would happen, that would put three teams within 50 miles of each other, highly unlikely. But Kansas City has a new Anschutz (managed) arena, that’s a very likely possibility … and Seattle would like to get the Sonics back. You’re looking at maybe 3-5 more seasons in Sacramento and then after they’re going to have to find a place to play.”

It probably didn’t hurt KC’s chances for a team when they sold over 17,000 seats for an exhibition game between the Miami Heat and New Orleans Hornets in the Sprint Center earlier this week.

Shootout in Dallas not carrying the buzz everyone expected

When the season began, this was going to be a heavyweight title bout between two mammoth sluggers with knockout punches, but Saturday’s Red River Shootout between OU and Texas has lost a lot of it’s luster.

First, Sam Bradford was knocked out of the lineup and the Sooners lost two heartbreaking one point affairs on the road.  Then the Longhorns have played the first five games of the season seemingly sleepwalking at times on their way to a 5-0 mark and this weeke dropped a notch in the polls thanks to their poor play against Colorado.

But Bradford is back and Colt McCoy will be on the other side and it should be the shootout everyone expected in Dallas.  

Texas can’t seem to run the football at the moment, which is putting more pressure on McCoy.  Can the Sooners shut down the Longhorns running game and pressure the mobile Texas QB?  That will go a long way in determining OU’s chances at victory.

Bradford looked good last week in his return against Baylor, but the Bears are the Longhorns, who’ll bring pressure and have much better speed in the secondary.  Receiver Ryan Broyles was back in practice this week and may return from a broken shoulder blade.  Bradford will need him and need protection from his offensive line in order to beat Texas through the air.

With the focus on the quarterbacks, it really does come down to who does a better job defensively and makes the QB’s get out of their comfort zone.  Texas has to win and win impressively if they are to have a chance to move back up in the polls in the weeks to come.  Oklahoma would be staring at a three loss season six games in if they fall to the Horns.

Texas has won three of the last four meetings between these two teams, but I’m picking the team that’s backed in the corner to come out the winner.  OU 31-24 over the Longhorns.  

Kansas goes mountain climbing in search of defense

Before the season began many people talked about the Colorado game being a trap game for 16th ranked Kansas.  A place they’ve traditionally had a hard time getting wins at considering their 23-9 overall record in Boulder.  But the Jayhawks have won the last three meetings against the Buffaloes overall.

This meeting got much more interesting after the events of last weekend. First KU goes out and gives up 512 yards in total offense to Iowa State while holding on by the skin of their teeth for a 41-36 win.  Then Colorado puts up a significant fight with Texas before falling and in the process coach Dan Hawkins surprises everyone and pulls the redshirt off QB Tyler Hansen in the second half.

So Saturday night the Jayhawks defense will be tested by a Buffalo offense that will feature a new signal caller who is more of a runner/passer in the style of Iowa State QB Austen Arnaud.  

KU Coach Mark Mangino and his defensive staff have spent the week simplifying the defensive scheme to better suit the talent they have.  After last week’s game Mangino said they needed to game plan to their players strengths and not make them think so much on the field.  

The Jayhawk offense couldn’t have played much better last week with Todd Reesing having a record setting day with his wide receiver duo of Kerry Meier and Dezmon Brisoce, but the pressure is on Reesing and company to continue to play at a high level.   Running back Jake Sharp will be a game time decision according to Mangino, but freshman Toben Opurum has given KU everything they could ask for in his stead.

Colorado has given up an average of 30 points per game and that’s with a shutout of Wyoming for their only victory thrown in.  There’s no reason to believe they can slow down the KU attack, but the questions raised by the KU defense last week make you wonder what you’ll see tomorrow night in Boulder.

I’m still going with Kansas in this one 35-17. 

Rush sacked by own team

Can’t exactly say I feel bad for Rush Limbaugh.  His dreams of becoming part of the NFL ownership club have been crushed before they really got started and he only has himself to blame.

First, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and had to tout his involvement in the Dave Checketts bid to buy the St. Louis Rams.  Once he’d done that, he’d opened the floodgates for the criticism of himself and dooming the group he was involved in.  You reap what you sow.

Before Checketts bid went down the tubes, he and the rest of his investors voted to jettison Rush overboard, figuring Limbaugh could use his own hot air to create a floatation device.  Limbaugh’s desire to be a part of the group was doomed long ago with the comments he’s made that have incensed minorities.


On his radio program early today, Limbaugh, ever the conspiracy theorist, blamed the Left and said, "this is about the United States of America and what kind of country we're going to have."


One can only hope so.  

NFL owners are rich people, as is Rush, but they’re rich people who for the most part know to keep their mouth shut when it helps put dollars in their pocket.  Limbaugh has made a career of doing exactly the opposite.  He killed his chances back when he tried to be an announcer on Monday Night Football, which by the way he sucked at.

I once was in the broadcast booth when he came in and was asked if he’d like to help call a Royals game for an inning.  I’ve never seen a person more nervous and sweat more while stumbling over their words.  He was like Albert Brooks in the movie Broadcast News.  

He may be out of the deal, but either way, Limbaugh did get the publicity that he so desperately desires.  Which is unfortunate.

Riggins is still shooting from the hip and hitting whatever is in the way

Came across this YouTube video of the great John Riggins.  The Hall of Fame running back, who still is legendary around the University of Kansas campus for his exploits on and off the field, shot this video sitting on a woodpile discussing the sorry state of the Washington Redskins, ripping owner Daniel Snyder and telling coach Jim Zorn and G.M. Vinny Cerrato they need to pack their bags and go home.  It’s classic Riggo.

It's a bike! It's a car! It's a Snaefell!

I don't own a motorcycle, but I like them.  I also like great design and this is a great design and it's homemade.  Francois Knorreck spent 10,000 hours and 10 years building this vehicle which is a motorcycle with sidecar called the Snaefell, which is the name of an Icelandic volcano and the highest peak on the Isle of Man.  How about a ride Francois?

  

Baseball on ice is not nice

The baseball playoffs continue with the start of the league championship series.  Unfortunately, for fans wanting to see great playoff action, the first round was in large part a dud.  Yes, the Twins and Yankees had an entertaining game two, but the Cards were a bust as were the Red Sox.

The only series that really held your attention was the Phillies and Rockies, but that might have been because most of the fans were shivering so much they couldn’t move from their seats.  Hell, I was cold watching game three and I was home in front of a TV set.

I understand that major league baseball was put in a difficult spot when game three was postponed due to snow on Saturday, but come on, what were they thinking when they decided to make two teams play in the mountains at 8pm at night right after a snowstorm?

They knew it was going to be miserable weather and would only get worse as the game went on and just how many people were up on the east coast at 2AM watching the conclusion of what was a very exciting finish?  Yes, the Broncos were playing at home in the afternoon and baseball didn’t want to compete and TBS probably didn’t want the game to be moved to TNT, but that should have been a day game.

It was a disservice to the players, and the fans to schedule that game when they did.  Watching Jason Giambi bat in the ninth inning with ice hanging off his muttonchops doesn’t make for entertaining baseball.  

That said, I’m impressed by the resilience of the Phils and now think they’ll be back in the series.  They showed the grit you expect from a championship team and watching them face off against either the Yankees or the Angels could make for some entertaining baseball.

You have to think the Yankees will be the team they face.  Not only do they have a killer lineup, but it appears A-Rod has finally overcome his postseason demons and this fall could be one to remember for the New York third baseman.

Let’s just stop playing games in the middle of the night with the temps below freezing.

Chiefs improvement coming in tiny, tiny steps

With a few days to reflect on the Chiefs overtime loss to Dallas, coach Todd Haley’s observations pretty much jive with what I saw on Sunday.  It was a another missed  opportunity for a Kansas City team that just doesn’t seem to have the talent or skill sets to take advantage of what was given them.

The Cowboys committed a list of penalties the length of their arm.  They turned the ball over twice.  Actually, KC got 10 points from that and didn’t commit a turnover themselves. But a chance to win the game with a field goal was blocked and great field position was squandered in the OT.

There are continued complaints from fans about Haley’s play calling and insistence with trying to run the football with next to no success, but you can’t just stand back and throw in the NFL.  Not with the line the Chiefs have.  Unless you have a death wish for your QB.

Maurice Leggett gets a lot of the blame for two missed tackles that led to both of Miles Austin’s long TD receptions, but I’m just as concerned with Mike Brown at safety.  His job is to be there to back up the cornerback in both instances and he not only missed the tackle, but he took bad angles to get there.  It’s clear to me that he’s a player that is past his prime and doesn’t have the speed to make up for mistakes he makes on the field...and every payer makes mistakes.

Matt Cassel began to show signs of the player the Chiefs expected when they traded for him.  His two minute drive for the game tying touchdown was impressive to everyone including his coach.  Haley also said they will look at picking up the tempo at times in the future if it will help the offense move the ball.  

Next up is Washington, a team that has two wins, both against winless teams at home, and a loss against Detroit.  They’ve yet to score more than 17 points in a game.  If any team is ripe for the Chiefs to get their first win against, the Skins could be it.  

But KC still has to eliminate negative plays.  They had 15 against the Cowboys.  They have to find a way to run the football.  Larry Johnson can only pound himself into a brick wall so many times.  Same with any other Chiefs back for that matter.

Improvement has come in very small increments so far for Todd Haley’s team.  They need to step into the win column this weekend.

Nothing clarified by week six in the Big 12

The past weekend in the Big 12 did absolutely nothing to clarify questions about who the favorites are.  In the south, Texas was unimpressive in their win against Colorado.  So much so that they dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the national polls behind Alabama. 

Oklahoma welcomed Sam Bradford back and not a moment too soon. He looked sharp in his return from an shoulder injury in beating Baylor and now gets to face off against the Longhorns in the Red River Shootout.  We’ll look in depth at that game on Thursday.

Nebraska beat Missouri with a furious fourth quarter rally, but prior to that point were miserable on offense and you can blame play calling for costing the Tigers the game as much as anything the Cornhuskers did on the field.

Now the Husker defense which is suddenly getting a lot of media support gets to play host to a Texas Tech team that posted 66 points against Kansas State with a backup quarterback.  Steven Sheffield tossed seven TD passes for 490 yards and left early in the fourth quarter.  Whether it’s Sheffield or Taylor Potts at QB against Nebraska, Tech will have to win their first road game of the year.

Kansas remained unbeaten, but it was a heart stopper as Iowa State had a chance to steal this game at the end.  Only the fact that Todd Reesing was at his best and had a record setting day from Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe took the Hawks to 5-0.

The Jayhawks will go on the road to Colorado who surprised everyone by pulling the redshirt off quarterback Tyler Hansen in the second half against Texas.  He will now start Saturday against KU and becomes the wild card in the Jayhawks defensive plan to stop the Buffs.

Despite injuries and controversy swirling around the program, Oklahoma State bounced back to outscore A&M and now get to host Missouri at home.  The big question is whether running back Kendall Hunter will be back from injury or Dez Bryant will be reinstated by the NCAA for the game.  Mizzou fans are wondering how QB Blaine Gabbert will bounce back fro his first loss and injured ankle.

Iowa State has suffered two crushing losses in the past two weeks, but you have to like the way first year coach Paul Rhodes has his team playing.  The Cyclones get Baylor at home and I think they get their first conference win in 12 games.

Kansas State is looking just to find respectability when they play host to A&M on Saturday.  The Wildcats were embarrassed by their performance against Tech as they should be.  I’m just not sure they can do much about it against Texas A&M.

Another reason polls are ridiculous

If there's any more proof needed that voters in the college football polls are clueless wits, you need only to look at this week's ratings.  Nebraska somehow managed to jump up six spots in the national rankings this week, including moving ahead of fellow Big 12 members, unbeaten Kansas and once beaten Oklahoma State.  This comes on the heels of a Husker victory over the Missouri Tigers on the road.

A win yes, but has any team in the country looked worse for three quarters while winning a game this year?  Nebraska was so bad they'd been shutout and had only 100 yards in total offense for the first three quarters. They had their backup QB warming up because Zac Lee had done nothing in the game. 

Voters must have tuned in to the fourth quarter and thought they'd caught the end of a replay of a Cornhusker game in the 80's or 90's when Tom Osborne was coaching.  It's the only explanation I can give for that kind of movement in the polls.  Impressive it wasn't.  Not enough to leapfrog a quarter of the field ahead of them.

A reminder of what makes football great

I was looking back in my files late this evening while watching the Rockies try and beat the Phillies while not losing any digits to frostbite and came across this gem of an article.

It was written by Gaylon Kriziak of the San Antonio Express-News back in 2006 and is a well researched, three part series on the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the forward pass into the game of football.  According to Kriziak, the rule change saved the sport. Personally, I thought allowing beer in the parking lots was the real clincher.

Bloody Mary’s, barbeque tailgate parties and ABC’s favorite Florida State alum Jenn Sterger and friend (see picture) don’t hurt either.  I’d also point to Keith Jackson saying, “Whoa, Nellie!”, “Fum-BLE” and “the Big Uglies”, as tipping points in football history.

Toss in facemasks, Bear Bryant’s houndstooth hat, Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary and a sometimes forgotten league called the AFL, with players like Lance Alworth, Joe Namath, Daryl Lamonica, John Hadl, Don Maynard and Otis Taylor and you’ll have a better appreciation of why we love the game today.

Chiefs can't hold on to lead and fall in overtime to Cowboys 26-20

Kansas City head coach Todd Haley said in order to win his young team would have to eliminate the mistakes, negative plays and falling behind early.  They came close to getting two out of three but missed tackles proved costly as they fell to Dallas 26-20 in overtime on throwback uniform day in KC. 

It was a record setting day for the Cowboys Miles Austin that proved the difference. 

The Chiefs offense struggled again for most of the contest, but used two first half Dallas turnovers to post a 10 point lead.  Maurice Leggett recovered a Patrick Crayton fumbled punt on the Dallas 23.  The KC drive lost five yards but Ryan Succop hit a 46 yard FG and the Chiefs had a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Dallas then muffed a snap and Mike Brown recovered for KC on the Cowboys 16.  Cassel later hit linebacker Mike Vrabel in at tight end for a one yard TD and a 10-0 Kansas City lead.  This despite running 15 plays for a total of 24 yards.

A 37 yard pass from Tony Romo to Austin set Dallas up on the KC 20, but the Chiefs held at the 4 and forced Nick Folk to kick a 22 yard FG and cut the lead to 10-3 just before the half. 

KC increased their lead to 13-3 midway through the third period thanks to four offsides penalties on the Cowboys defense as Succop hit a 36 yard FG.

Dallas started their comeback when Deshard Choice, who had 8 carries for 92 yards, broke through the KC defense and raced 36 yards to cut the lead to 13-10 with 1:55 to go in the third quarter.

Romo hit Austin who outleaped Brandon Carr for a 34 yard gain to the KC 26, but the defense held again in the red zone and forced a Dallas FG and it was tied at 13 with  11:10 to go.

KC got a huge break on 3rd and 26 from their own 11, Allan Ball was called for a helmet to helmet hit on Bobby Wade and an automatic first down for the Chiefs.  KC drove to the Dallas 35 but Ryan Succop’s FG attempt was blocked by tackle Jay Ratliff with 3:09 to go in the game.

With 2:16 left Romo beat a Kansas City blitz on third and 5 and Austin broke two tackles for a 59 yard touchdown and the first Dallas lead of the game at 20-13. It was a 17 point run for the Cowboys.

Cassel led the Chiefs on a two minute drive that culminated in a 16 yard scoring strike to Dwayne Bowe on fourth down with :24 seconds to go to tie the game at 20 all.  

In OT the Chiefs had the ball at midfield on their second possession but failed to move the ball and it proved costly,  Romo hit Austin on an out pattern and he broke free from Maurice Leggett to go 60 yards for the game winning touchdown.  In his first NFL start Miles Austin had 10 receptions for a Cowboy record 250 yards.  

The Chiefs didn’t commit a turnover in the game and Matt Cassel seemed to come on when the game was on the line despite being under constant pressure, but the running game continues to be non-existent.  KC had 72 yards on 29 carries and 28 of those came from Cassel.  Larry Johnson had 37 yards on  21 carries, but it's hard to blame him.  There are no holes and it leaves everything up to Cassel throwing with little protection. 

Kansas City falls to 0-5 and have now lost 28 of their last 30 games, tying an NFL record for futility.  But they’re getting closer.  The question is whether Haley and his staff can keep them from giving up on the season