Jayhawks make abrupt about-face
Some race horses run like the wind of a fast track.
Some ponies struggle on a soggy surface.
And some nags need to be put out of their misery.
Last Saturday, Kansas University’s football team seemed doomed to the latter. The Jayhawks looked miserable in dropping a 28-20 decision to Big Ten Conference weak sister Northwestern in their rain-plagued opener.
Now we know that assessment was wrong. The Jayhawks actually belong in the second bang-tail category. They just aren’t good “mudders.” The rain withered them like the wicked witches of the west.
How else can anyone explain the Jayhawks’ amazing seven-day turnaround?
One week after that ragged loss to Northwestern in the northeast Kansas typhoon, KU shocked 11-point favorite UNLV, 46-24. Hello, Dr. Jekyll. Goodbye Mr. Hyde.
If any Kansas football team has ever improved so much from one week to the next, I can’t remember it.
No KU player was more of a microcosm of the about-face than quarterback Bill Whittemore.
Kansas linebacker Gabe Toomey (1) gives coach Mark Mangino a bear hug after Toomey returned an interception 29 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. The Jayhawks routed UNLV, 46-24, Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Unable to grip the football much of the time because of the driving rain against Northwestern, Whittemore was a warm-weather wonder Saturday night, completing 22 of 31 passes for a career-best 270 yards and three touchdowns.
“The game plan for him was no different this week than last week,” coach Mark Mangino said. “Last week he had problems with a knee, and tonight the ball was dry.”
What Mangino didn’t say and surely must be hoping is that Whittemore’s knees will remain as sound as they were Saturday night and certainly that the Jayhawks will have no more games in the rain.
“He’s the same old Bill Whittemore to me,” said running back Clark Green, who had a memorable night himself with a combined 187 yards rushing and catching Whittemore passes. “We knew if Bill got started early, we had a chance.”
Against the stunned Rebels, Whittemore was equally adept at running the ball, passing from the pocket and throwing on the run. Against Northwestern, he carried the ball only four times and looked shaky throwing drop-back passes.
With 65 yards on 15 rushes to go with his 270 passing yards, Whittemore was the offensive machine we saw so many times last year before he went down with a knee injury with three games remaining.
Asked why he ran more against UNLV, Whittemore replied: “I think they called my number more this week.”
Oh. OK.
When it came to passing, Whittemore did admit he felt more confident holding the ball than he did during Hurricane Lawrence last weekend, noting: “I didn’t have rust. I just had trouble throwing the ball.”
Saturday’s victory was only the second Whittemore ever has experienced here and the first over an NCAA Div. I-A school.
“I’ve never seen Memorial Stadium like that,” Whittemore said. “It was sweet.”
He guided the Jayhawks to a win over I-AA Southwest Missouri State here last year and to a 43-33 victory at Tulsa. That was it. KU was 2-10 last season.
Now one weekend after the Jayhawks appeared headed for a string of maiden races, they look like they’re ready for the Breeders Cup.
OK, enough with the equine analogies. Bottom line is the Jayhawks sent a message Saturday night that they’re not dog food — oops, sorry — anymore.
“Everybody thinks we’re the doormats of the Big 12, but we’re not that,” Green said. “When you’re 11-point underdogs, you just have to go out and try to kick their ass.”
And so the Jayhawks did. They went out and kicked the Rebels right in their donkeys. Turnabout is fair play, after all. Those who have had their burros kicked as much as the Jayhawks have over the last few years deserve to kick up their heels.
Come Monday, though, we’ll all be wondering which Kansas team will show up at Wyoming — the one that went numb against Northwestern or the one that victimized the guys from Vegas.