LINCOLN, Neb.—It would seem a no-brainer for Nebraska players to use the 76 points hung on them by Kansas last year as motivation for Saturday’s game against the Jayhawks.
The Cornhuskers say they aren’t thinking that way, though. They have another embarrassment to atone for—last week’s 62-28 loss to Oklahoma.
“If we’re looking back to last year for motivation, then we have some problems,” quarterback Joe Ganz said. “If we can’t get motivated to play this game at home coming off a big loss. …”
Nebraska (5-4, 2-3 Big 12) needs to win one of its last three regular-season games to achieve bowl eligibility. Kansas (6-3, 3-2) already is eligible for a fourth straight bowl and remains tied with Missouri for the North Division lead.
With Texas and Missouri remaining on the schedule, the Nebraska game is one the Jayhawks can ill afford to let get away.
“It’s going to be tough. They’re still Nebraska, and we’re going to be in Lincoln and it’s definitely a tough place to play,” said Jake Sharp, who ran for a career-high 181 yards and school record-tying four touchdowns in last week’s 52-21 win over Kansas State.
Nebraska hasn’t lost to Kansas at home in 19 straight meetings since a 23-13 loss in 1968. But the Jayhawks have won two of the last three in the series, including last year’s 76-39 romp at home.
The 76 points were the most ever allowed by a Nebraska team and the third-most scored by Kansas. Todd Reesing threw for 354 yards and a school-record six touchdown passes.
“We understand what happened last year. We’re not going to let it happen again,” Nebraska linebacker Cody Glenn said.
But Glenn said it’s more important for the Huskers to redeem themselves for last week’s debacle at Oklahoma.
“Coming off a loss like that, we really want to come out and make a statement,” he said. “Kansas happens to be the next team on our schedule, so everyone will be anxious to get out, play and prove to everyone what we can do and get back on the winning track.”
The Jayhawks don’t expect a repeat of last year’s prolific afternoon in Lawrence, when they riddled the Kevin Cosgrove-coordinated defense for 572 yards and scored on 10 of 11 possessions. Kansas coach Mark Mangino said Nebraska’s defense has a totally different look with first-year head coach Bo Pelini and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini in charge.
“I see a different type of structure. They may need to work on their recruiting, but I see their kids being in the right spots, lined up in the right places,” Mangino said. “I see their kids playing hard every snap, with enthusiasm. Those are the things you look for when a new coach takes over, and that is what they are doing.”
The Huskers will get another crack at Reesing, a second-year starter who reminds Bo Pelini of NFL great Brett Favre.
“I don’t mean to put too much on the kid by saying Favre—he’s not Brett Favre, nobody is—but he can run and do a lot of different things,” Pelini said. “He’s a good all-around quarterback; he’s a leader.”
Reesing, a junior, has thrown for 6,328 yards in 25 career games and needs 83 yards to break the all-time Kansas record by Frank Seurer (1980-83). One of Reesing’s favorite targets, converted quarterback Kerry Meier, is four catches shy of the KU single-season record of 70 by Richard Estell in 1985.
Bo Pelini has consistently preached a message about looking ahead and not dwelling on the past. So what happened last year at Kansas, and last week at Oklahoma, doesn’t matter now, he said.
He tells the players that it’s now a three-game season.
“We’re in the last quarter of the season and we need to finish,” he said. “People are going to remember you for how you finish. That’s what is going to happen in the season, and we have to make sure we do it well. They understand where we are and what we need to do.”
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