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Posted on Sun, Nov. 08, 2009

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Reesing falls flat, again

By BLAIR KERKHOFF

Kansas City Star

MANHATTAN —Sadly for Kansas, the Jayhawks don't have Ron Prince to kick around anymore.

The old Kansas State coach shaped a first-round draft pick in quarterback Josh Freeman and was perfect in two games against mighty Texas. But the sin that got Prince canned was losing in all three seasons to Kansas.

That streak ended Saturday with Kansas State's 17-10 triumph while another continued for the Jayhawks. They've now lost four straight and a piece of team expectation falls away with each defeat.

Hope for a North Division championship all but disappears. Technically, the Jayhawks aren't out of the race, but with a trip to Texas looming in a couple of weeks the chances for at least a break-even conference record shrink. And there are meetings with Nebraska and Missouri sandwiched around the Longhorns.

One victory remains for bowl game eligibility, but it appears the Big 12 will qualify more teams than it has bowl contracts to accommodate and will need to find other spots for the spillover.

Teams that crumble in the second half usually don't rise to the top of the bowl applicant pile.

For instance, Kansas in 2006. That was the last time the Jayhawks lost four straight, and it's the last time a Big 12 team qualified for the postseason and didn't receive a postseason invitation.

The Jayhawks insist the losing is a temporary condition.

"We're still going after the next three games, we think we'll win, we know we can play our best football at the end of the season and hopefully play really well in a bowl game," said offensive tackle Brad Thorson.

For that to happen, quarterback Todd Reesing must cease his mistake-prone ways. He lost two fumbles and threw an interception, giving him 10 turnovers during the four-game winning streak.

Most damaging was the second fumble. Reesing's first-quarter pick was ugly — not a receiver in the vicinity — and ended a Kansas scoring threat, but Kansas State gave it back on a failed-fourth down conversion.

His first fumble could have been a killer. K-State defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald caught the scrambling Reesing from behind and forced the fumble at the K-State 24. But the Wildcats missed a field goal.

But the third mistake proved costly. Once again, Reesing saw an opening and made a dash, and once again he was hit from behind and fumbled it away. This time, Kansas State cashed in on Grant Gregory's touchdown pass to Lamark Brown for a Wildcats' lead just before halftime.

"I don't have any answers," Reesing said. "We couldn't get the ball in the end zone and turnovers hurt us again. When guys come to strip the ball I got to cover up and make sure they don't knock it loose."

A week ago, Kansas coach Mark Mangino pulled Reesing after a fumble in the fourth quarter of a loss at Texas Tech. Mangino said that wasn't going to happen on Saturday.

"He's playing hard," Mangino said. "He's had a little bit of streak of misfortune. I don't know how to explain it. He's a great player, he gives us the best chance to win at that position.

"I'm not going to be critical of a player who has given his heart and soul to the program. He's our starting quarterback, and that's the way it's going to be unless there's something that physically prohibits him and I don't see that happening."

About that. Reesing admits to no injury, although word is floating around that he's bothered by a sore groin or hip.

"No, I'm not playing more than anybody else," Reesing said when asked if he was playing injured. "I had more rushing yards than anybody on the team if you take away the sack yards. I was moving well. I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling good."

But the team is hurting. The Jayhawks haven't collected a victory since surviving Iowa State on Oct. 10. That triumph made Kansas, ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll that day, 5-0 and all of their goals were before them.

At 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12, it's now a matter of regaining bearings.

"It's not what you want," Reesing said. "It hurts, it stings. Sometimes in football things don't go your way no matter how hard you prepare. You get kicked down in the dirt and it's hard to get back up. The good thing about the guys we have is we're going to keep trying and keep fighting."