Brian Murph still is batting 1.000. The senior wide receiver now has two career punt returns, and both were taken back for touchdowns.

Saturday’s was a 70-yard return that was brilliant considering how gloomy it initially was.

Murph was supposed to return it up the middle, but a sea of players made that impossible. He juked and jived in place trying to stay alive before he found a crease and burst through it. A broken tackle later, he scored up the left sideline.

His only other punt return was an 85-yard touchdown against Houston in last year’s Fort Worth Bowl.

¢ Jerome Kemp played most of the game at strong safety, after sitting out much of preseason with a leg injury. He had five tackles.

“I’m fine,” Kemp said. “Just a couple of bumps and bruises, but that’s football.”

¢ Standout cornerback Aqib Talib suited and participated in warmups, but did not play because of a disciplinary suspension. Raymond Brown started at cornerback in his place.

¢ Defensive end Rodney Allen played the first 21â2 quarters with his right knee protected by a brace or slip. Allen injured his knee in a recent practice, but started and recorded five tackles. Allen

exited earlier than most first-teamers did and was replaced by Jeff Wheeler.

¢ Four true freshman played Saturday, and several more suited up. Olaitan Oguntodu, Maxwell Onyegbule and Anthony Webb played mostly on special teams, while Jake Sharp worked special teams and as a backup running back. He rushed for 39 yards on six carries. Webb recorded one tackle.

¢ KU sophomore Russell Brorsen, who spent his freshman season at tight end, saw action Saturday as a reserve defensive end. Marc Jones and Marc Dierking were backup tight ends to Derek Fine.

¢ A bizarre play gave NSU a first down in the third quarter. Marshall Burton’s punt glanced off the end of his foot and went straight to the ground, rolling about 20 yards upfield. Justin Thornton chased the ball thinking it was fumbled, only to pounce on it and have it squirt away. With a KU player touching it, NSU recovered the football and retained possession.

¢ Another bizarre punt: An errant snap forced Kyle Tucker to scramble away from defenders before punting in the first quarter. The punt was partially blocked right into the hands of KU freshman Brandon Duncan, who tried unsuccessfully to run for a first down.

¢ Jon Cornish had 13 carries for 140 yards, the fifth 100-yard game of his career. Runs of 69 and 33 yards made up a bulk of it. It was a career-best night for the senior from Canada.

¢ Mike Rivera was the Jayhawks’ leading tackler with 11 stops, including one for a loss. Eric Washington had seven, and Joe Mortensen had six, four for a loss.

¢ Announced attendance was 44,025, which included a large student section. Kansas had sold roughly 29,000 season tickets as of Thursday.

¢ Several walk-ons were added to the roster prior to Saturday’s game. Among them is Stanley Redwine, a KU track athlete and son of KU’s track coach. Redwine, who went to Free State High, is listed as a cornerback.

¢ Jon Bible was in charge of the seven-man officiating crew. Temperature was 71 degrees under cloudy skies, with winds blowing out of the northwest at 12 mph.

¢ Northwestern State, which received $275,000 guarantee money, flew a charter back to Natchitoches, La., after the game.

¢ Of the Demons’ 70-player traveling squad, 46 players were sophomores, true freshmen or red-shirt freshmen.

¢ The Demons returned home with a story for the ages. Two bats flew around the team bus, which was driving the squad from Kansas City International Airport to the team hotel Friday night. One of the bats landed on a coach’s head. One bat was killed, the other captured and set free.