KU gives new meaning to term of minute man’

LAWRENCE, Kan. SIU’s gameplan worked to perfection for 26 minutes and 10 seconds. Then, the University of Kansas finally broke the seal.

And while KU didn’t score early, they made up for it by scoring often. Often, as in 28 points in a little more than an eight minute time span between the waning minutes of the second quarter and the start of the third.

With 3:50 remaining in the second quarter, KU unlocked the deadbolt to the end zone and put an end to the scoring deprivation, instigating a one-sided scoring affair amid the heavy mist scouring Memorial Stadium Saturday night.

One minute and 23 seconds of offense quickly turned a scoreless ballgame into a KU rout. The Jayhawks, aided by great field position and a costly SIU turnover, scored on four out of five consecutive possessions, all resulting from drives of less than a minute, to make it 28-0 before Saluki head coach Jan Quarless knew what hit him.

Scoring drives two of which were only one play of 47 seconds, 37 seconds, three seconds and six seconds proved to be the knockout punch from the likes of a Division I-A heavyweight to that of the middleweight I-AA Salukis.

Quarless’ crew was competitive until the end of the first half, though, due to his game plan of feeding sophomore running back Tom Koutsos the ball, and in the process, eating away minutes at a time.

Of the 32 offensive plays SIU ran in the first half, 21 were hand-offs to Koutsos, who left the game with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter with a hip pointer.

But the quick proficiency of KU’s scoring attacks halted the Salukis attempt to keep the score respectable.

I think they tried to keep a situation where they could keep close, and they did, but they turned the ball over at some critical times, said KU head coach Terry Allen.

Koutsos rushed for 109 yards before leaving the game because of the injury, but never reached the end zone, as SIU was shut out for the first time in 35 contests.

It was only the second time Quarless has been shut out since coming to SIU. The other came in his first game as head coach, a 33-0 setback to Nicholls State in 1997.

It caused us to get out of the game plan that we really wanted, Quarless said of KU’s scoring barrage.

SIU senior quarterback Sherard Poteete only connected on six of 11 pass attempts for 43 yards and was sacked four times in the game. But Quarless’ game plan, combined with the poor weather, didn’t make for a solid air attack. KU only passed for 112 yards on the night.

We never intended to go downfield, except for play-action, and the weather just kind of took control of that phase, Quarless said.

Allen was pleased with his team’s defensive performance, as Kansas held SIU to only 165 total yards for the game.

That offense of Southern has been pretty prolific last year and early this year, but we were able to shut them down, Allen said.

Quarless said he is anxious to look at the game film and see where his team broke down. The Salukis’ No. 1 offensive weapon, Koutsos, should have ample time to regain his health with a bye week coming up for SIU.

Quarless said Koutsos should be fine, and is ready for the bye week.

I’m looking forward to this week off, I think the players are, Quarless said. Now with Tommy’s hip pointer, it gives him a chance to heal up. This will be good for us.