‘Dollar signs’ non-issue

Just minutes into his weekly news conference Tuesday, Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino was posed the inevitable “dollar signs” question.

And just as quickly, the reigning national coach of the year shot it down.

“I’m not going to talk about 2004,” said Mangino, whose controversial comments following the Jayhawks’ 2004 loss to Texas in Lawrence are still a hot topic of conversation. “That was four years ago; that’s history. I’m not going to go there today. I understand in some quarters that would be a conversation piece, but we’re really concerned about Saturday, and that game that happened in 2004 has no bearing.”

Apparently, Mangino is content to forget the episode, even if – on the eve of the first KU-Texas matchup in Lawrence since ’04 – few others aren’t.

The particulars: Following a fourth-quarter offensive-pass-interference call against KU that helped spark a Texas comeback, Mangino unleashed an animated postgame rant, opining that the call was made to ensure Texas a spot in a BCS bowl game and thus provide the Big 12 Conference with a hefty monetary bonus.

“You know what this is all about, don’t you?” Mangino said at the time. “That’s right – BCS. That’s what made a difference in this game. That’s what made a difference in the call in front of their bench – dollar signs.”

The outburst resulted in Mangino being fined $5,000 by the Big 12.

“He was just standing up for us,” said senior linebacker Joe Mortensen, who was a freshman at the time. “That’s how coach Mangino is … people were getting mad because of it, but a lot of coaches speak out and protect their team (members) – Oklahoma State’s coach did.

“So we were glad he did.”

Reesing recovering

Kansas’ Todd Reesing has played in 26 games as a collegiate quarterback, but none, the junior said Tuesday, was as physically taxing as the Jayhawks’ 45-35 loss to Nebraska last weekend.

He was sacked a season-high five times and limped noticeably throughout much of the second half.

“That might be a fair assessment,” said Reesing, asked whether Saturday’s game was the most he had been roughed up during his time at Kansas. “I took quite a few hits. Some running, some trying to throw. It was a rough one, but I am no worse for the wear. I’ll be ready to go. I’m not going to sit this one out.”