BOULDER — The 15th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks showed off an explosive runner Saturday to a Folsom Field crowd of 51,940 and a national ESPN audience.
Todd Reesing can pass the football, too.
A sophomore quarterback with dancing feet, Reesing is generously listed at 5-feet-11 and 200 pounds but came up big in the clutch in Kansas’ 19-14 victory. He set up a first-half field goal – the only score of the first half – with a 53-yard scramble, and used his wheels to key a 15-play, 94-yard drive in the fourth quarter to give his team a 12-point cushion.
Kansas (7-0, 3-0) remained the only unbeaten team in the Big 12 Conference, both in overall record and league mark. The Jayhawks won in Boulder for the first time since 1995.
Reesing completed 20-of-29 passes for 153 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. His game-leading 84 yards rushing might have been more disheartening to Colorado’s defense.
“It’s frustrating,” CU senior linebacker Jordon Dizon said. “You see him run and you can’t do anything about it.”
Colorado (4-4, 2-2) trailed just 3-0 at halftime but failed in its attempt to upset a ranked team at home for the second time this season, having upset then-No. 3 Oklahoma on Sept. 29. With its chances of winning the Big 12 North Division all but eliminated, Colorado must turn its attention to winning at least two more games to become bowl-eligible.
Remaining on its schedule are road trips to Texas Tech (on Saturday) and Iowa State, and home games against Missouri and Nebraska.
Pointing to a missed field goal in the first half, dropped passes and a lost fumble by senior tailback Hugh Charles deep in Kansas territory, Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said his young team has small margin for error.
After this loss, the same goes for earning a bowl trip.
“We feel pain because we wanted this game and we just didn’t get it done,” CU junior center Daniel Sanders said.
Within a touchdown of the lead, Colorado trailed 13-7 and had Kansas backed up on third-and-9 from the Jayhawks’ 21 when, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Reesing dodged a CU pass rusher, reversed his field from right to left and scampered 17 yards for the first down.
With the life stolen from Colorado’s spirit, Kansas moved downfield. Again utilizing his feet as well as his arm, Reesing ran around to buy some time outside the pocket and found tight end Derek Fine alone for a 4-yard touchdown pass on third- and-2 with 10:23 remaining. That gave Kansas a 19-7 lead, enough to withstand an 80-yard touchdown drive by Colorado late in the game.
The Jayhawks made a statement by winning their second straight Big 12 road game, having won 30-24 at Kansas State two weeks earlier. Perhaps now skeptics will forget about Kansas’ soft nonconference schedule.
Historically one of the weakest programs in the Big 12, Kansas looks like it has finally arrived. Reesing, who might be closer to 5-9 than 5-11, is savvy enough to carry the offense on his back while the KU defense rides the play of junior cornerback Aqib Talib, an All-America candidate, and defensive tackle James McClinton, who should be one.
“(Reesing) is one of those tough kids,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “He just gets it done. He has made a major difference.”
CU quarterback Cody Hawkins completed 27-of-44 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. But he threw two interceptions and was under constant pressure from the Jayhawks’ pass rush.
After forcing Kansas to punt with 2:16 remaining, Colorado had one more chance. But Hawkins was sacked on first down, fumbled after getting hit on second down (CU’s Sanders recovered) and misfired on a fourth-and-18 pass.
“That No. 93 (McClinton) is probably the best defensive tackle we’ve seen,” Cody Hawkins said. “He was getting a pretty good push. When a defense can do that, it can put eight guys in coverage. That made it tough.”
The Grades | By Tom Kensler
OFFENSE
C: Colorado outgained Kansas, 353 yards to 333, but two interceptions, a lost fumble deep in KU territory and a failure to come up with a big play on a crucial down ruined CU’s chances of knocking off a ranked team.
DEFENSE
C: The Buffs came up with two fumble recoveries and limited Kansas to its lowest point total of the season. But Colorado needed to come up with an interception or two and didn’t seem to come close on Todd Reesing’s 29 attempts.
SPECIAL TEAMS
C: Led by down-the-field gunner Jalil Brown, the Buffs did an excellent job with their coverage units. But the missed field goal by Kevin Eberhart in the first half kept momentum on Kansas’ side.
OVERALL
C: Colorado coach Dan Hawkins reiterated after the game that this young team has “a small margin for error.” It’s not likely to win many games with an average performance.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
