Douglass feels KU can win it

Ex-QB part of last Jayhawk victory over Nebraska in '68

Among the last to learn 1968 was the last time Kansas University beat Nebraska University at football was the last Jayhawk quarterback to beat the Cornhuskers.

“That’s the last time?” a shocked Bobby Douglass said. “I’ll be darned. I thought for sure we beat them at KU after that.”

Douglass thought wrong.

Douglass, who describes himself as “an independent” businessman living in the Chicago area, is in town for the weekend for an autograph session and to attend today’s KU-Nebraska noon kickoff at Memorial Stadium. He has a prediction.

“I think KU is going to win this game, I really do,” Douglass said. “They’ve got such a great defense. I thought they were going to win the Missouri game and they did, and I think they’re going to win this game.”

Asked what he remembered about the ’68 game in Lincoln, a 23-13 KU victory, Douglass talked first about the week leading up to it.

“I was sitting at The Wheel one day and I thought you know we need to come out with a hat for the KU fans to wear,” Douglass said. “So myself and another guy who’s passed away named Mike Miller, who was in law school, bought a bunch of hats and put a K or a KU on them and were able to sell a lot of them. We sold a bunch of them that week because there were a lot of people going up to the Nebraska game.”

Running such a business today would violate NCAA rules for athletes, Douglass was told.

Douglass

“I don’t believe you could do it then, either,” Douglass said. “I didn’t have the easiest time when I was at school. My father had passed away when I was a freshman and I didn’t have much money in college. They certainly weren’t paying us at KU and back then some guys did well getting paid by their schools.”

As for the game:

“I believe it was our fourth game of the season,” Douglass said. “I had a couple of good runs and scrambles and threw the ball pretty accurately. We were a little more conservative that day. And I remember our defense played very well.”

For those who believe in good karma, not only will the last quarterback to beat Nebraska be in attendance, but so too will Duane Morris and John Hadl, a pair of KU quarterbacks who had 3-0 records against Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers have won the last 36 meetings between the schools. If that streak is interrupted today, many local football fans won’t get to see it because they’ll be attending Free State High’s playoff game. For such fans and others who want to record history, that will be possible by tuning into Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 at 10 a.m. Sunday for a replay of the KU-Nebraska game.