Kansas’ poise — and Iowa State’s lack of it — go on display
AMES, Iowa | The football locker rooms at Iowa State are in the same building, but they might as well have been worlds apart at halftime of Saturday’s game between the Cyclones and Kansas.
The Jayhawks, down 20-0, felt calm and confident.
Iowa State, with everything going its way, dealt with concern.
That’s the difference between a winning program and one finding its way.
Kansas prevailed 35-33 in a thriller that wasn’t clinched until the 60th minute but had started to turn during the marching band’s performance.
“We went into halftime, and it was all positive,” Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing said. “We talked about keeping our poise. There wasn’t anywhere to go but up.”
The Cyclones had been nearly flawless in the first half, scoring on four of their first five possessions. The Jayhawks had gone three-and-out three times to open the game.
With a few more stops and some time-consuming drives, a defining victory over a ranked team in the conference opener would be Iowa State’s.
But there wasn’t that kind of certainty in the Cyclones’ locker room.
“It’s easy to deal with adversity — to come back when you’re down,” Iowa State defensive end Kurtis Taylor said. “It’s harder to stay on top and really bury a team.”
Especially in the second year of coach Gene Chizik’s growing program when the opponent was a BCS bowl champion.
Chizik said all the right things about expecting to win games like this, but the team proved it wasn’t ready. Never more so than on its final possession.
The Cyclones got a last-gasp chance because they recovered an onside kick when Kansas’ “hands” team forgot to get its hands on the ball. But Iowa State receivers dropped two passes, and quarterback Austen Arnaud was a touch long on a fourth-down pass that he shouldn’t have had to throw.
Ballgame.
“Pretty dismal,” is how Chizik described the execution.
As good as Iowa State was in the first half, Kansas was better in the second.
The rally started immediately with a three and out for the defense, and then a 67-yard scoring strike from Reesing to rejuvenated running back Jake Sharp.
Remember him? A non-starter the last time out, Sharp was the game’s MVP — along with sure-handed wide receiver Kerry Meier.
They combined for four of the five touchdowns, and Meier’s 21-yard reception to finish Kansas’ scoring was a beaut. Not only because he nabbed it over his shoulder, kind of like his Sports Illustrated cover shot in last year’s Iowa State victory, but also because the Jayhawks were thinking touchdown at the time.
Iowa State had stopped the bleeding and closed to 28-26 with 7:33 remaining. Some would milk the clock there. Not the Jayhawks. With a hot offense, they stayed in attack mode and stuck it in the end zone.
“It’s part of the makeup of our team,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “We tell the kids all the time: You’ve got to be aggressive.”
This is what winning programs do. They overcome mistakes — a boatload in the first half — make adjustments, play with confidence and put down the uprising.
They also win on the road. This makes five straight Big 12 road triumphs for the Jayhawks, who had a total of six in the first 11 years of conference play.
About those early mistakes: Everybody made ’em, even Reesing, who got himself sacked because he held the ball too long. There was a booming punt with the wind that sailed through the end zone when the Jayhawks were desperate to flip the field position, and a wide receiver who didn’t get out of bounds to stop the clock in the midst of a two-minute drill.
Oh, and three turnovers.
“Worst collective half of football since I’ve been here,” Reesing said.
Iowa State reminded Mangino of his program four or five years ago. Those teams improved their toughness as they upgraded talent, and that’s what Chizik is trying to do.
So where does that put Kansas’ program? Good enough to hit the road, take a direct hit from a pesky, upset-minded opponent, turn around a three-touchdown deficit and go home smiling.
To reach Blair Kerkhoff, college sports reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4730 or send e-mail to bkerkhoff@kcstar.com.
