KU vs. Colorado: News and Notes

News and notes about Ralphie while wondering if the Colorado students will still show up at Folsom Field Saturday, Fritos and yogurt in hand, wondering where the hell everyone else is…

• The #16 (AP)/#15 (Coaches) Jayhawks will take on the Colorado Buffalos this Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Thanks to ESPN2, you need to get your drunk on early: kickoff is at 11:30 a.m.
• Kansas is 1-0 in conference play and 4-1 overall. The Jayhawks have been ranked 17 straight weeks, a school record and the ninth longest streak in the country. Texas has been ranked for 131 straight weeks.
• KU has the fourth-longest active home winning streak in the country (12 straight). Oklahoma has a 20-game streak going, followed by Boise State (16) and Brigham Young (15). Three of KU’s next four games will be in the friendly confines.
• The Jayhawks have won eight of their last nine conference games and are 8-2 over their last 10 against the Big 12 North. They have won 18 of their last 22 games overall.
• Kansas is 15-3 in the last 18 as a ranked team.
• KU is looking to go 2-0 in the Big 12 for the second straight year but just the third time since the inception of the conference in 1996. Kansas’ other 2-0 start was in 1997.
• KU has won two straight against the Golden Buffs, but Colorado leads the all-time series, 41-23-3, including a 17-14-3 advantage in Lawrence. If the Jayhawks win, it will be just the second time since the KU-CU series started in 1903 that KU has won three in a row. The other time was 1962-64.
• The last time KU played Colorado in Lawrence, they trailed 9-0 at halftime but staged a huge second-half comeback and won, 20-15, thanks to a superhuman performance by some freshman quarterback who was supposed to redshirt who ran for 90 yards and a TD. He also completed seven of 11 pass attempts for 106 yards and two TDs. I wonder whatever happened to that guy.
• QB Todd Reesing seems to enjoy running with the Bulls – err, Buffs. His two best rushing games have come against Colorado: 90 in 2006 and 84 in 2007. James Holt had 15 tackles in Boulder last year.
• Reesing is 3rd in the NCAA in completions per game (28.8), total offense per game (358.4 yards) and passing yards per game (344.8). He’s fifth in points responsible for (19.2) and 14th in passing efficiency (160.50). He also ranks fourth among active NCAA QBs in passing yards per game (257.8); sixth in total offense per game (275.5); seventh in passing efficiency (152.26); and eighth in completions per game (20.7)
• Make sure you’re sitting down for this one: Reesing has set 28 school records and is within reach of several more after playing in just 21 games. He is 16-2 as a starter and has thrown 47 TD passes and 10 INTs in those 18 games. His 1,724 passing yards after five games this year is the 12th best season in KU history.
• Despite the historical win-loss disparity, Colorado has been somewhat kind to Kansas. RB David Winbush ran for 268 yards against CU in 1998, the fourth-best single-game rushing performance in KU history. QB Bill Whittemore threw for 422 yards in 2003, the second-highest single-game passing performance in school history. The longest pass play in KU history was a 98-yard strike from Kelly Donohoe to Willie Vaughn in 1987 against Colorado. WR Bobby Johnson pulled in 203 receiving yards against the Buffs in 1983, which is one of just three 200-yard receiving days in Jayhawk football history. Steve Towle set a school record with 25 tackles against the Buffs in 1974 (it’s been done twice since). Finally, KU held Colorado to zero yards passing in 1988, tying a school record.
• WR Kerry Meier is still among the nation’s leaders in several receiving categories, including second in the NCAA in catches per game (8.8) and 11th in receiving yards per game (102.8). He tied a school record in Ames last Saturday with his third straight 100-yard receiving game. He’s a rare animal in that he owns both a school receiving record (single game receptions, 11 vs. South Florida) and a school passing record (most TD passes by a freshman, 13 in 2006).