News and Notes: KU - Mizzou

News and notes while thinking how much better 7-5 looks than 6-6.

• KU (6-5 overall, 3-4 in the Big 12) will take on #12-ranked Missouri (9-2, 5-2) in both team’s regular season finales Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Kickoff is at 11:30 a.m. and the game will be shown on FSN.
• KU-MU is the second most-played rivalry, having met 117 times. Minnesota and Wisconsin have played 118. KU has played every year since 1891 except for 1918, when KU’s season was shortened due to an influenza outbreak on campus.
• KU is .500 (3-3) in regular season finales under head coach Mark Mangino.
• KU comes off their second bye week of the season, having had one between the Sam Houston State and Iowa State games. KU is 4-0 in their last four games following a bye week.
• QB Todd Reesing needs 12 pass completions to break his own season record of 276 set last year. If he manages 287 yards passing, he’ll break his own single-season mark of 3,486 yards from last year. Finally, he needs 315 yards of total offense to break his own record of 3,683 yards set in 2007.
• WR Dexton Fields needs two catches to move up to number four on the KU catches list, ahead of Clark Green (122) and 11 to pass Brandon Rideau (131).
• WR Dezmon Briscoe needs six catches to pass Richard Estell (117) for sixth on the Jayhawk career receptions list. He needs 50 yards to pass Brandon Rideau for sixth on the KU all-time receiving yardage list and 54 yards to become KU’s top single-season receiver, passing Bob Johnson (1,144). If he catches for 100 yards or more, he’ll hold the Jayhawk record for most 100-yard receiving games in a season (currently tied with two other players at five apiece).
• WR Kerry Meier needs six catches to pass Emmett Edwards for 10th on the KU receptions list (105).
• LB Joe Mortensen should be making his team-high 37th consecutive start.
• If KU wins, it will be the first time since 1960-61 that the Jayhawks have won seven games in consecutive seasons.
• KU won the first meeting between the two schools in 1891, 22-8. It was KU’s second season of football.
• The winner of the game receives the Marching Band Drum, which doesn’t sound nearly as cool as the Indian War Drum, which is what the winner used to get before political correctness sucked a lot of the fun out of the Border Wa… errrrr, Showdown.
• In the last five games this season – of which KU has won just one – KU has averaged 68 offensive plays per game while their opponents have averaged 78.
• KU has had less time of possession than eight of their opponents so far this season.
• In eight games this year, KU’s average starting field position has been worse than their opponents.