Kansas is 11-1: Hello…. ORANGE BOWL?!?!?!?!?!?
December 5, 2007 by Extra P.
I’m going to simmer down the haters right quick by saying that I think Missouri got hosed. They proved they were a better team than Kansas a week and a half ago, and a second loss to Oklahoma doesn’t change that.
That said, I am also irrationally afraid that Kansas is going to get pantsed on national TV on New Year’s Day. If there’s one thing Kansas and Missouri fans can share this year, it’s that secret feeling of impending doom. In the backs of our minds, we know we got too good, too fast. Or too lucky, too fast. Whatever. For Kansas, there was no 8-4 or 9-3 harbinger. It was 6-6 with no bowl invite last season, and then 11-1 and the BCS a season later. It rings suspicious, it does…
So, rather than acting like a Cubs fan and claiming despair based on past experience, I’m going to try to use the statistics to bolster my sense of impending pantslessness.
We’ll start with…
(The Orange Bowl sandwich: white bread between two slices of turkey)
Quarterbacks
The Hokies have been a two-headed monster this year, using both Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor. Glennon had 59% of the snaps and threw for 63% of the yards, including 11 of the 16 TDs through the air. Taylor has been decent with fewer snaps, but is clearly the more athletic option, running for 431 yards on the season and scoring more TDs on the ground than through the sky.
Team Totals: 58.9% completions, 2,585 yards, 16 TDs, 7 INTs
Kansas, on the other hand, is a one-man show. Spunky Todd Reesing has taken 93% of the snaps and hit for 32 TDs against 6 INTs. He has only 203 yards and 2 TDs on the ground, but his scrambling ability was on display at Colorado where he gashed the Buffs for 84 yards.
Team Totals: 64% completions, 3,534 yards, 35 TDs, 6 INTs
Hmm. The tale of the tape looks good for Kansas here. Of course, all of Reesing’s stats were aided by excellent offensive line play, which broke down a tad in the Missouri game. So the story becomes “if he has time, the kid can zip it”. Still, things are looking positive.
Next: Running Backs
The Orange Bowl is on Jan. 3rd. Since it’s sponsered by FedEx, I’m wondering if I can get them to send me there in some kind of official capacity. A guy can dream, right? I’ll keep watching the sugar plum visions of a KU victory while I’m at it. I think in the MU game they had their first taste of big game jitters. Hopefully they got them all out and will come ready to play well on the stage of a major bowl game.