Mizzou puts hurt on KU – Tigers 36, Jayhawks 12

Kansas QB Whittemore injures knee

? On a day that Kansas University couldn’t overcome the loss of injured quarterback Bill Whittemore, Missouri had no problem replacing its starting tailback.

Missouri junior Zack Abron injured his knee last week and was held out of Saturday’s homecoming game at Faurot Field, but the Tigers still rushed for 267 yards in a 36-12 Border War victory.

Senior backup T.J. Leon moved into the starting lineup and rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman quarterback Brad Smith had 117 yards and one TD.

“Our kids were in position to make tackles and couldn’t do it,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “We didn’t do a good job of tackling. Every time I looked up at the Diamond Vision when they made a big play, we missed the tackle.”

But Missouri’s biggest play might have been a tackle.

Late in the third quarter, Whittemore one of the few bright spots for the Jayhawks this season was tackled by lineman Russ Bell and linebacker Sean Doyle.

Whittemore injured the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and came out of the game.

“It could be serious,” Mangino said. “We just don’t know.”

The junior, who finished with 242 yards passing, will be evaluated today.

Without Whittemore, the Jayhawks managed just 12 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter with Jonas Weatherbie at the helm.

“There was a letdown,” center Greg Nicks said. “Everybody was telling him, ‘Get up. You’ll be all right.'”

But Whittemore wasn’t. He had carried the ball more than 20 times in each of the previous two games and had taken plenty of hits.

“He’s been tough all year,” Weatherbie said. “I thought he was going to get up. He’s been taking hits like that all year. He’s a tough kid.”

Weatherbie hit on one of six passes for 10 yards and lost six yards on three carries.

It’s uncertain who will be taking snaps Saturday when Kansas plays host to Kansas State.

“If Bill’s not ready to go, we will get Jonas and Brian Luke ready to go,” Mangino said.

Luke, a red-shirt freshman, injured his hand in the preseason and was not cleared for full participation until Monday.

Junior Zach Dyer had been Whittemore’s backup until moving to safety three games ago. He started and made eight tackles Saturday.

“It’s highly unlikely we would move Zach Dyer back,” Mangino said. “He’s playing really well on defense.”

And Dyer is happy at his new position.

“I learned a new position and I’m playing quite a bit,” he said. “I’m feeling more and more comfortable and feel like I can really help the team in this position.”

As for the game, Missouri (4-4, 1-3 Big 12) took the lead for good when senior receiver Justin Gage took a screen pass from Smith and sprinted 62 yards for a touchdown with 5:06 left in the first quarter.

KU (2-7, 0-5) ended a four-game streak of falling behind by two touchdowns when Whittemore completed a 14-yard TD pass to freshman receiver Mark Simmons.

A bad snap by center Greg Nicks led to a missed extra-point attempt by Johnny Beck, and MU held on to a 7-6 lead.

Beck’s kicking woes continued. The sophomore missed field-goal attempts of 40 and 43 yards in the first half, running his streak of misses to eight in a five-game span.

With Beck struggling, KU went for it on fourth-and-10 from MU’s 33 early in the second quarter, but Whittemore’s pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

“They outplayed us,” Nicks said. “We didn’t play well, and it showed in the score.”

Leon added TD runs of seven and five yards, helping Mizzou take a 21-6 lead in the third quarter.

KU responded with a 20-yard Whittemore TD pass to Byron Gasaway, but it was Whittemore’s last completion of the game. A two-point conversion pass failed.

Gasaway had one of the best games of his career with six receptions for 101 yards.

Smith answered KU’s score two plays later when he broke a 75-yard run. In addition to his running exploits, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound freshman finished with 135 yards passing and 252 total yards.

“He’s a great player,” Mangino said. “He’s a talented athlete. What people don’t realize is that he’s strong. He’s hard to tackle. He’s like a big old tailback. He’s everything I thought he’d be.”

Missouri’s victory tied the all-time series 51-51-9. The Tigers are 2-0 against the Jayhawks since coach Gary Pinkel replaced Larry Smith.

“When you become head coach, a quarterback or any member of this football team, you have a responsibility for this game,” Pinkel said of the Border War. “The day I got here I found that out. You do this not just for your football team. You do this for every player that ever wore the uniform, the alumni and everybody else out there because it’s so important to all of them. This is a very good win.”

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