2008 Kansas Jayhawks football team The 2008 Kansas Jayhawks football team ( variously " Kansas " , " KU " , the " Jayhawks " , or the " Fighting Manginos " ) represented the University of Kansas for the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision intercollegiate football season of 2008 - 2009 . It was the school ' s 119th year of intercollegiate football . The team was looking to continue the success of the prior season in which they lost only a single conference game and went on to win the Orange Bowl . In the ninth week , after defeating Kansas State 52 - 21 , the Jayhawks became Bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive year , a school record . Also , for the first time in school history , Kansas made back - to - back appearances in a Bowl game after accepting the invitation to play in the Insight Bowl versus the Minnesota Golden Gophers . The team finished the regular season with a victory over their archrival , the Missouri Tigers ( who was then ranked 13th in the BCS Poll ) , in the Border War . The Jayhawks concluded the season with a 8 – 5 overall record ( 4 – 4 in the Big 12 Conference ) . The team was led by head coach Mark Mangino , in his seventh season , with Ed Warinner as the offensive coordinator for his second season ( 4th year overall ) and Clint Bowen ( 8th year ) in his first season as the defensive coordinator , having served the previous two seasons as co - defensive coordinator . Junior Todd Reesing returned to the starting quarterback position after a records - setting performance in the previous season . They played their home games on Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence , Kansas . Schedule . Following the season the NCAA ranked the Jayhawks schedule as the 7th toughest in Division I FBS , out of 119 . Roster . KU dismissed junior cornerback Anthony Webb in June for violating team rules . At the same time , senior defensive tackle Todd Haselhorst left the team for health reasons . KU lost three running backs in August . Carmon Boyd - Anderson transferred to Southwest Baptist University . Donte Bean left the team for Washburn University . Sean Ransburg didn ' t qualify academically for the fall . Kicker Stephen Hoge quit the team in mid - August . Game notes . Florida International . The largest crowd in Memorial Stadium history ( 52 , 112 ) witnessed Kansas ' first victory of the 2008 season . Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing set career highs for passes attempted ( 52 ) and passes completed ( 37 ) . Wide Receiver Kerry Meier led Kansas with 9 receptions for 62 yards , and Dezmon Briscoe led Kansas with 3 touchdown receptions . Freshmen Punt Returner Daymond Patterson made an explosive debut with Kansas by returning a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the Second Quarter . Despite the success of the passing game , Kansas struggled to run the ball , with primary running backs Jake Sharp and Jocques Crawford being held to 29 and 32 yards respectively . Louisiana Tech . Reesing continued his record breaking ways from the previous week , throwing for a personal best 412 yards , after completing 32 passes on 38 attempts and 3 touchdowns . The running game again struggled as the Jayhawks rushed for 128 yards , but didn ' t break the 100 yard mark until the 4th quarter . Junior running back Angus Quigley played most of the snaps in the second half , and led the Jayhawks with 84 yards . The defense played well , making several key plays and holding Louisiana Tech to no points . Key defensive plays included an interception in the end - zone by Chris Harris and safety Darrell Stuckey chasing down and tackling a Louisiana Tech player on a long break - away run , to prevent him from scoring a touchdown . Sam Houston State . Heading into the game against Sam Houston State , Kansas was ranked # 19 in the AP Poll . This made the 14th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 ( dating back to 2007 ) , a school record . Angus Quigley made his first start at running back for Kansas , rushing 16 times for 61 yards and a touchdown . Crawford had his best rushing game of the season thus far , rushing for 43 yards on 13 attempts and a touchdown . Kerry Meier led Kansas in receiving with 8 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown . After four weeks of play , Meier leads Division 1 in receptions for a wide - receiver . Reesing passed for 356 yards and two touchdowns as Kansas continued to emphasize the passing game . Reesing made several impressive scramble plays , one of these scrambles resulted in a 68 yard touchdown pass to Kerry Meier . Reesing in this game set the Kansas all - time record in touchdown passes with 47 . Iowa State . Heading into the game against Iowa State , Kansas was ranked # 16 in the AP Poll . This made the 16th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 ( dating back to 2007 ) , a school record . Coming off a bye - week , Kansas entered the game 17 point favorites . However , Iowa State started the game with a flawless performance . Iowa State Quarterback Austen Arnaud started the game with six straight completions and a touchdown as Iowa State took an early 14 to 0 lead . Iowa State then added two field goals in the second quarter to go up 20 to 0 at halftime . Kansas started the second half well when running back Jake Sharp caught at 67 yard touchdown pass from Todd Reesing . Kansas scored again with an Angus Quigley touchdown run that cut Iowa State ' s lead to six . On Kansas ' next possession they found themselves with a 4th and 6 on the Iowa State 23 yard line . Kansas decided to go for it and Kerry Meier caught a touchdown on the play as Kansas took its first lead 21 to 20 . In the 4th Quarter Dexton Fields caught a 50 yard pass , but Todd Reesing fumbled it on the next play . Arnaud then threw an interception and Kansas capitalized with a Jake Sharp touchdown run to go up 28 to 20 . After Iowa State scored its first touchdown of the second half , Kansas responded when Kerry Meier caught a 21 yard touchdown to put Kansas up 35 to 26 . Arnaud led Iowa State to another touchdown to cut the lead to 35 to 33 with 1 minute 15 seconds left in the game . Iowa State then recovered an onside kick , but failed to advance the ball . Kansas ' victory was the third largest comeback win in school history . Reesing finished with 319 yards , three touchdowns and one interception . Kerry Meier led Kansas in receiving again with 7 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns . Jake Sharp had his best performance of the season with 79 yards rushing , 109 yards receiving and two touchdowns . Colorado . Heading into the game against Colorado , Kansas was ranked # 15 in the Coaches Poll . This made the 17th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 ( dating back to 2007 ) , a school record . Before the start of the game Kansas Coach Mark Mangino asked the KU student section to refrain from an expletive kickoff chant that has become a student tradition . Despite Mangino ' s plea , the student section yelled the chant louder than ever . Colorado scored first with an 11 yard Cody Hawkins touchdown pass . Colorado got the ball back soon thereafter , but Hawkins threw an interception inside the red zone and the Kansas defense prevented another Colorado score . Kansas first got on the board with a Jake Sharp touchdown run in the 2nd Quarter . On Colorado ' s next possession , Hawkins was sacked for a 17 yard loss and a safety to give Kansas its first lead . Once again Kansas came out and played much better in the second half . In the second half Todd Reesing passed for his only touchdown to Dezmon Briscoe and Sharp rushed for two more touchdowns . Sharp ' s first start of the season was successful as he rushed for 118 yards on 31 carries and for 3 touchdowns . Sharp ' s performance was by far the best of any Kansas running back through the first 6 games of the season . Reesing had his most accurate game of the season , completing 27 of 34 passes for 256 yards and 1 touchdown . Wide Receiver Kerry Meier had 9 receptions for 94 yards . A few hours after the Kansas win , the only other undefeated North team in Big 12 play , Missouri , lost to Oklahoma State . Kansas stood atop the Big 12 North with a record of 2 - 0 . Oklahoma . Heading into the game against Oklahoma , Kansas was ranked # 15 in the Coaches Poll . This made the 18th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 ( dating back to 2007 ) , a school record . Kansas managed to keep the game close throughout the first half . However , a Reesing interception in the endzone and a missed field goal prevented the Jayhawks from tying the game . Oklahoma dominated the second half as their Quarterback Sam Bradford had one of the most productive games of his career . He set an Oklahoma record with 468 yards passing . The Kansas defense was unable to stop the Oklahoma offense for much of the second half . Reesing ended the game passing for 342 yards on 21 completions with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions . Kansas wide - receiver Dezmon Briscoe had the best game of his career . Briscoe caught 12 passes for 269 yards and 2 touchdowns . Jake Sharp led Kansas in rushing with 103 yards on 12 attempts . Texas Tech . Heading into the game against Texas Tech , Kansas was ranked # 25 in the Coaches Poll . This made the 19th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 ( dating back to 2007 ) , a school record . Texas Tech entered the game ranked 8th in the BCS , making them the highest ranked opposing team to enter Memorial Stadium since Texas in 2004 . In the first quarter , both offenses showcased their reputations for scoring . The score was tied at 14 to 14 at the end of the first quarter . However , the rest of the game would be dominated by Texas Tech . The Kansas defense was unable to stop Texas Tech from scoring until into the 4th quarter . The 63 points given up by Kansas was the most any Kansas team had given up since 2002 . Additionally , this was the worst loss at home for Kansas since 2002 , and the worst loss in overall play since 2005 . This game was also the first loss at Memorial Stadium for Kansas since 2006 . Kansas ' winning streak of 13 games at home came to an end . Reesing had one of his worst performances of his career , passing for only 154 yards on 16 completions with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions . Jake Sharp led the team with 80 yards rushing on 13 attempts and Kerry Meier led with 6 receptions for 70 yards and 1 touchdown . Kansas State . Heading into the game against Kansas State ; Kansas was unranked in any major poll for the first time since September 30 , 2007 . A new Memorial Stadium record crowd of 52 , 230 watched the Jayhawks defeat the Wildcats and increase their lead in the all - time Sunflower Showdown results to 64 - 37 - 5 . The 52 points scored by Kansas was the second most that the team has ever scored against Kansas State ( 55 points in 1947 being the highest ) . Texas . Coming into 2008 , Kansas held a 0 – 6 record against Texas since the formation of the Big12 Conference . In order to win the 2004 game against the Kansas Jayhawks , Texas had to convert a 4th - and - 18 situation and complete a touchdown pass with only eleven seconds remaining on the clock . The 2005 game provided much less on - field drama , as Texas led 52 – 0 by halftime and defeated Kansas 66 – 14 . The two teams did not face each other in 2006 or 2007 . The morning of the 2008 game , Las Vegas casinos favored Texas by 14 points . The weather at kickoff was and partly cloudy , with winds of 23 – 30 miles per hour . Snow flurries began near the end of the first half . Texas won the 2008 game , 35 – 7 . UT ' s Colt McCoy completed 24 of 35 passing attempts ( 71 % ) for 255 yards and 2 touchdown passes . He was also the leading rusher for both schools , rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown . Todd Reesing , an Austin native , completed 25 of 50 passes for 258 yards and 1 touchdown . Missouri . Played in alternating snow and light rain , Kansas claimed a victory over Missouri in thrilling fashion . Kansas scored first , taking advantage of an early Darrell Stuckey interception , and Darrell Stuckey ' s forced fumble on a long Chase Daniel run . Missouri came back in the second half , pulling into the lead late in the game on a Derrick Washington touchdown run . But Kansas marched down the field quickly , scoring when Todd Reesing eluded defensive pressure and lofted a pass to Kerry Meier as Meier ran across the goal line . Missouri raced downfield just as quickly , but a last - second field goal was blocked to preserve a 40 - 37 win for Kansas . Minnesota ( Insight Bowl ) . Both teams started quickly on offense . Todd Reesing threw a touchdown pass to Dezmon Briscoe on KU ' s first play from scrimmage . The first quarter ended 14 - 14 . But Kansas kept scoring , leading 28 - 14 at the half , and 35 - 14 at the start of the 4th quarter . Briscoe caught 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns . Todd Reesing threw four TD passes . Wide receiver Kerry Meier caught a touchdown and threw for another . Kansas won 42 - 21 , making it back - to - back bowl wins in their first back - to - back bowl appearances . Statistics . 2008 Official Statistics