They have shared so much over the years, Kansas and Missouri. A border. Hatred. Years of mind-numbing mediocrity. Novembers full of collapses.
Now these two former house of cards share something else. They have reached a lofty national level no one thought they’d reach, even in Kansas and Missouri where football has been more of the warm-up act to basketball season. At least it has in Kansas.
And how many planets had to line up for Kansas and Missouri, who have gone a combined 75 years without a conference title, to be ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, in the same year? That’s akin to Kansas coach Mark Mangino scoring a 9.5 on the balance beam.
The Kansas-Missouri game, which usually doesn’t attract any attention past Garden City, Kan., could have national ramifications from Barstow to Boston. Kansas is fourth in the BCS rankings and Missouri sixth. If that growing scrapheap of fallen top-five teams gains a few more additions this month, the Nov. 24 Kansas- Missouri game may not only mean a berth in the Big 12 Championship. It could lead to a berth in the BCS Championship.
It probably won’t, of course. But isn’t it nice to talk about Mangino in terms other than his weight? How refreshing is it to know Missouri coach Gary Pinkel has a personality?
Nearly a generation has gone by without seeing these two programs at this level. Kansas is 9-0 for the first time since 1908 and ranked fifth, the highest it’s been since reaching No. 3 in 1968. Missouri hasn’t been 8-1 since 1969, its last conference crown, and hasn’t been ranked as high as seventh since 1979.
“Welcome,” Mangino said on Monday’s Big 12 Conference call, “to college football in the new millennium.”
Kansas and Missouri also share factors that have propelled them both. First, they have dynamic, tough, skilled quarterbacks. Kansas sophomore Todd Reesing has a strong arm, but his ability to scramble and run has given defensive coordinators headaches all over the Big 12. He’s 15th nationally in pass efficiency, and his 2,339 passing yards are only 656 yards from Mike Norseth’s 1985 school mark of 2,995. Kansas — Kansas! — is second nationally in scoring at 46.22 points per game.
But Reesing’s biggest skill is his leadership. Players talk of his command of the huddle, his ability to coolly collect the offense with a barking command or a wry joke.
Not surprisingly, he’s one spot in the national rankings behind Missouri junior Chase Daniel, who has thrown for 2,954 yards and 23 touchdowns. He grew up in Southlake, Texas, with Texas Longhorns posters on his wall but chose Missouri instead. His emergence dovetailed with Pinkel’s crucial 2005 decision to junk the pro-set offense, inconsistent under predecessor Brad Smith, for the trendy spread offense.
Daniel, with an accurate, rocket arm and underrated speed, was a perfect fit. He righted Pinkel’s oft-sinking ship with 3,527 yards last season. Like Reesing, Daniel also has a real gunslinger, take- charge mentality. One defensive coach who faced Missouri this year called Daniel “a college version of Brett Favre.”
Also stepping up for both programs were maligned defenses that at times in the past couldn’t stop a cold. Kansas was drop-dead last in pass defense a year ago, but with the arrival of true freshman Chris Harris and the return of the injured Kendrick Harper at cornerback, to go with All-American Aqib Talib, Kansas is seventh in pass efficiency defense and in total defense.
In three of Missouri’s past five games, meanwhile, it held Colorado and Texas Tech to 10 points each and Nebraska without a touchdown.
This can’t be done, of course, without talent, and Pinkel and Mangino made groundbreaking inroads on recruiting. Before Pinkel arrived in 2001, St. Louis high schools treated Missouri coaches as if they were truancy counselors. But the two receivers who torched Colorado for 217 yards Saturday, senior Will Franklin and freshman Jeremy Maclin, come from St. Louis.
Mangino has hooked horns against the Longhorns and Aggies in Texas, and Saturday had eight starters from the state, including Rees- ing and wideouts Dexton Fields and Dezmon Briscoe.
Keep in mind, the showdown in Kansas City, Mo., could wind up being just another boring border war. This is Missouri and Kansas we’re talking about. Under Pinkel, Missouri is 7-14 in November. Mangino has ended his five previous Novembers 6-10. On Saturday, Kansas visits Oklahoma State and its eighth- ranked offense. And if you think fourth-ranked Kansas can beat 11 SEC teams on neutral fields, you’re reading this near a silo.
But enough doomsday foreshadowing. The North Division is no longer the Big 12 South’s ugly stepson. The Kansas-Missouri border isn’t just the center of the nation. This week it’s close to the center of college football.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
A dawg-gone tough foe
No. 10 Georgia’s run to the top of the SEC East Division – and a spot in the conference championship – faces its biggest obstacle against No. 17 Auburn, which is 18-9 at Athens. Georgia’s seniors have asked the fans to wear black, but coach Mark Richt wasn’t sure of the reason. “I asked them why, and they said it would be cool and a great sign of unity,” Richt said.
Big 12: No. 5 Kansas at Oklahoma State – Kansas doesn’t play Texas, Oklahoma or Texas Tech, so this figures to be the Jayhawks’ toughest game against a South Division team. OSU may be the nation’s best four-loss team. The Cowboys rank eighth nationally in total offense with 499.3 yards per game. But their defense yields 448.3 per game. Expect another high-scoring shootout.
Mountain West: Air Force at Notre Dame – OK, Notre Dame is Notre Dame in name only. The Falcons’ Chad Hall, averaging 112 yards rushing, can have his way with an Irish defense giving up 199 yards rushing a game.
COLORADO CONNECTION
USC’s Lewis super sub
After spending the start of the season watching and learning from a master, Southern Cal offensive tackle Butch Lewis has been thrust into the starting lineup and has responded well. The redshirt freshman (6-feet-5, 280 pounds) from Regis High School has started two of the past three games as senior Sam Baker, a two-time All-American who is up for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award, heals from a hamstring injury. Lewis, who picked up his first start Oct. 20 at Notre Dame and started again last week against Oregon State, spent this week continuing to practice with the first team. He is expected to start Saturday at Cal while Baker continues to mend.
