More News and Notes: KU - Louisiana Tech

More news and notes while waiting for reality to set in for Josh Freeman…

• There’s been one more number change to go with three last week: kicker Jacob Branstetter will give up 16 to wear the 14 donned by legend Brian Luke.
• KU has held 28 straight opponents to fewer than 200 yards rushing.
• KU has scored at least 30 points in 17 of KU’s 26 noncon games played under Mark Mangino.
• QB Todd Reesing needs just nine completions to pass Chip Hilleary (335) for fifth on the KU career completions list. He also needs just 96 passing yards to pass Bill “The Thrill” Whittemore (4,051) for sixth on the career passing yardage list.
• WR Dexton Fields needs eight receptions to pass Richard Estell (117) for fifth on the KU career receptions list. He also needs one more touchdown catch to tie Marcus Henry (13) for fifth on the all-time KU career TD catch list. He has caught at least one pass in his last 25 games.
• RB Jake Sharp needs just 21 rushing yards to top 1,000 for his career.
• Kansas is 12-2 in its last 14 games when ranked in the Associated Press poll.
• Daymond Patterson had 135 punt return yards in the season opener. Last year’s team leader, Raimond Pendleton, had 170 yards on 14 returns.
• Brandon Perkins set a school record with five sacks in 2005 against Louisiana Tech.
• Are you ready for some football? If so, you might be interested to know that eight former Jayhawks, including four from last year’s squad, are listed on NFL full-time rosters. They are Rodney Allen, Green Bay; Anthony Collins, Cincinnati; Derek Fine, Buffalo; Charles Gordon, Minnesota; Justin Hartwig, Pittsburgh; Aqib Talib, Tampa Bay; Marcus Henry, New York Jets; and Adrian Jones, Kansas City. In addition, Mark Simmons is on the Houston Texans’ practice roster.
• KU has set season attendance records in each of the last three seasons
• Kansas set a new single-game attendance mark with 52,112 last week against Florida International. And no, there were not 30,000 Nebraska fans in the stadium.
• Kansas threw a first-quarter shutout at FIU last Saturday. Last season, the Jayhawks kept the opponent off the board in the first quarter in seven of 13 games. Only Nebraska (14 points) was able to score more than once in the opening period.
• KU produced four drives of 10 or more plays against FIU last Saturday with three resulting in scores.  The other was a 14-play, 79-yard drive which took 6:25 as the Jayhawks ran out the clock. Ironically, KU was fourth in the NCAA last season in scoring drives taking two minutes or less, scoring 36 times.
• The Jayhawks have strapped on their helmets twice before on September 6th, going 2-0. Other notable September 6th goings-on: President William McKinley was shot in 1901 (he died on Sept. 14); Major League Baseball’s 100,000th game was played (1963); Cal Ripken, Jr., broke Lou Gehrig’s iron man record by playing in his 2,131st consecutive big league game (1995); and the funeral for Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion (with a B) people worldwide (1997).
• September 6th birthday wishes go out to Police Academy movie sound machine Michael Winslow (48); actress Rosie Perez (44); and country singer Mark Chestnutt (45). And if your birthday card from your kids is signed, “Happy Birthday, Uncle Dad!” … you might be Jeff Foxworthy (50).