News and Notes: KU - Texas Tech

News and notes while feeling pretty good about the Jayhawks’ chances this Saturday with Tech away from Lubbock…

• KU (5-2 overall, 2-2 Big 12), ranked 19th in the AP Poll and 18th in the Coaches Poll, meets #8/#6-ranked Texas Tech (7-0, 3-0)  at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. The game will be shown on ESPN, which of course means an 11 a.m. kickoff.
• Tech leads the series, losing just once in 10 tries against Kansas. The Red Raiders are 5-0 in Lawrence.
• The last time these two teams played in Lawrence (2004), KU was poised to take a 30-5 lead into the halftime locker room until one of the Amadi brothers (does it really matter which one?) allowed a Tech receiver to get 10 yards behind him to score with seconds left in the half, making it a 30-11 KU lead at the half and marking a palpable shift in momentum going into the locker room. In the second half, KU offensive coordinator Nick Quartaro abandoned everything that made them successful in the first half in order to run three plays off-tackle and punt every possession. Meanwhile, Tech chipped away and finally took the lead, 31-30, on a 70-yard touchdown run by former Tech stud RB Taurean Henderson with just 2:37 left. Yes, I’m bitter.
• KU has won 13 in a row at home, the nation’s fourth-longest home winning streak in the country, and 23 of their last 24.
• KU’s 45-31 loss last Saturday at Oklahoma is just their fourth loss in their last 24 games.
• Tech is KU’s third ranked opponent this year, and #1 Texas and #16 Missouri are still left on the schedule.
• This Saturday marks Kansas’ 95th Homecoming celebration. Of course, Homecoming was created in Missouri. So was meth. Coincidence?
• A few tickets can be had for the KU-TT game Saturday, and they’re going for $55 a pop. This is the last chance to buy tickets for a home game this season. Home games against Kansas State (November 1st) and Texas (November 15th) are both sold out already.
• KU Air Force ROTC will conduct a stadium flyover during pregame festivities.
• WR Dez Briscoe caught 12 passes for 289 yards. Both numbers are new KU single-game records. Two of those receptions were for touchdowns. He is now ranked 12th in the NCAA in receiving yards per game (100.71).
• QB Todd Reesing tied his own school record for 300-plus yard passing games in a season Saturday. He notched his fifth game this season, this one a 342-yard effort against Oklahoma. Reesing threw the ball 41 times, completing 24 of them (58.3%).
• RB Jake Sharp rushed for 100 yards for the second straight week. He ran for 103 on just 12 carries for an average of 8.6 yards per.
• KU coach Mark Mangino and Tech coach, pirate and certifiable nut Mike Leach were offensive coaches together at Oklahoma in 1999.
• Kansas is on pace to set a new home attendance record for the fourth season in a row. With the last two games already sold out, KU should average 50,516 this season.
• After averaging just 105 yards rushing in the first three games, KU has averaged 140.8 over the last four.
• OU’s 45 points were the most allowed by Kansas in 34 games.
• Junior QB Todd Reesing needs 399 yards passing to break Frank Seurer’s KU career passing record (6,410 yards). What makes it even more amazing is, Reesing has rung up over 6,000 passing yards in just 22 games, 20 of those as a starter. As a starter, Reesing has thrown for 50 touchdowns against 12 interceptions (a ratio of better than 4-to-1).
• OLB James Holt is the Jayhawks’ leading tackler with 53. He has recorded double-digit tackles in two consecutive games and three times this season. Fellow LB Mike Rivera had his best game of the season with nine tackles.
• DBs Kendrick Harper and Darrell Stuckey had career highs in tackles against Oklahoma with 13 and 12, respectively.