Jayhawks looking forward to bye week

KU needs time to recover from 'nagging injuries' before trip to Colorado

Kansas University ran its winning streak to four games Saturday by stunning then-No. 23 Missouri, 35-14, at Memorial Stadium, but there’s absolutely no chance the Jayhawks will win their fifth straight football game this weekend.

That will have to wait.

“At this point in time, our kids need a little bit of a break,” said KU coach Mark Mangino, whose team has a bye this week before playing Oct. 11 at Colorado. “We have some kids that have been nursing some nagging injuries for a couple of weeks. They could use some down time. I think our team physically is a little bit tired. I think the time is right. They need to get refreshed before we get back into Big 12 play.”

Kansas (4-1 overall, 1-0 Big 12 Conference) won its first Big 12 opener since 1997, claimed its first victory against a ranked opponent since 1998 and won its first league game under second-year coach Mangino.

But the Jayhawks weren’t worried about losing momentum.

“Our momentum is going to carry,” linebacker Gabe Toomey said. “It’s not going to go away. This bye week, little bumps and bruises are going to heal up. We’ll watch a lot of film, practice and get ready for Colorado.”

Last season the Jayhawks played 12 straight games without a bye week.

“We just took a pounding,” said sophomore running back Clark Green.

“Getting a bye week in the middle of the season is good.”

Kansas tailback Clark Green is helped to the locker room. The sophomore left Saturday's game against Missouri with cramps. The Jayhawks hope to recover from minor injuries during their bye week.

Players watched film Sunday and were expected to take today off. Mangino said the team would practice Tuesday through Thursday with two regular practices and one light workout. The Jayhawks then will take the weekend off before going back to work Oct. 6.

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Up Next: Colorado (2-2) is coming off its bye week and will open Big 12 play Saturday against Baylor (2-2) at Waco, Texas.

The Buffaloes won the first two games of a rigorous nonconference schedule, beating Colorado State, 42-35, on the road and edging UCLA, 16-14, at Boulder, Colo. Washington State beat the Buffs 47-26 at CU, and Colorado lost again a week later, 47-7, at Florida State.

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Polls: Saturday’s loss dropped Missouri out of the Associated Press Top 25, and the Tigers received no votes. KU received 15 votes but has a long way to go before cracking the rankings. Michigan State was 25th in the AP poll with 128 votes. MU received 19 votes in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, two more than Kansas.

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Older and wiser: Kansas overcame some first-half gaffes against Missouri, including a missed extra-point attempt, a bad snap on a field-goal attempt and a dropped pass in the end zone.

“Last year we may not have been able to overcome the mistakes we made in the first half against Missouri,” Mangino said. “I think they’re more mature. They’re a lot more confident this year than they were a year ago. They understand our offense, defense and special-teams systems a lot better. Our kids have been together as a team in these systems for a whole year, so they are really gaining confidence in them.”

KU also had a breakdown in the third quarter when a defensive back failed to pick up Missouri receiver Darius Outlaw on a play in the red zone. That allowed MU to score its only points of the second half.

“We had a player that should have been out there covering him up,” Mangino said. “That happens sometimes when you’re giving a team a lot of looks and trying to confuse them, sometimes your kids get confused, too.”

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Photo opportunity: When Saturday’s game ended, KU’s players stayed on the field long enough to watch their fans take down the first of the two goalposts before adjourning to the locker room. The Jayhawks later came back out on the field to take a team photo in front to the scoreboard.

“It’s something I picked up from my days in Oklahoma,” said Mangino, who was an assistant at OU when the Sooners won the national title in 2000. “I thought it was pretty neat because I still have those photos hanging up in my basement of those big games with the kids and the scoreboard behind them. I wanted them to have something to remember this game by.”

Kansas defensive tackle Chuck Jones celebrates KU's 35-14 victory over Missouri. The Jayhawks defeated their border rival Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Not that the Jayhawks would forget it any time soon.

“This is the happiest I’ve ever been as a Jayhawk football player, and I think everyone else is, too,” said linebacker Banks Floodman, a third-year sophomore. “It’s like everything we’ve done in the offseason is really starting to pay off.”