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Marshall: KU football, bleeding crimson, feeling blue
Published 11/21/2008 in Sports : Columns
Okay KU fans. Football fans mind you.
Don't call me, don't e-mail me, don't threaten my alumni association affiliation, and please don't try to tear up my diploma.
I do love my Jayhawks (journalism, class of '74), but I've got to tell you, this football season is a dark reminder of what the history of KU football is all about.
We reveled in the 2007 season in which the 'Hawks of Mark Mangino became the darling of the college football world as they chalked up a school-record 12 wins with their lone loss against Civil War rival Missouri.
It all looked positive as the preseason rolled around. With Todd Reesing and a bevy of starters returning both on offense and defense, the 2008 season loomed brightly for the Jayhawks.
I'm sure even the most loyal and optimistic KU fan didn't think 12-1 was possible this season, considering their Waterloo schedule (at Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas at home). I was discussing the KU schedule with several people before the season kicked off and my most optimistic crystal ball said 9-3, my reasonably realistic crystal ball said 8-4 and my pessimistic crystal ball indicated 7-5.
Well, here we are. One week away from the KU-Missouri border battle, and the Jayhawks find themselves at 6-5 and needing a win desperately to right this year's ship. Nothing would calm the waters more than a stirring upset over the Tigers at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
But if one reads and learns from history, then we shouldn't be surprised to find our Jayhawks taking a week off and facing the possibility of a .500 record this season. After all, the last back-to-back winning seasons (over .500) came under Glen Mason in 1994-95 when they went 6-5 and 10-2. Mason did it one other time in his nine seasons (tying a record, by the way, for longevity), going 6-5 and 8-4 in 1991-92.
Bud Moore accomplished the consecutive winning seasons in 1975-76 with Nolan Cromwell running the wishbone attack. Mike Gottfried, Don Fambrough and Terry Allen didn't make it to the consecutive winning seasons in their time at Mount Oread. Neither did Pepper Rogers, in spite of the fact he had the Orange Bowl team of 1968. Coach Jack Mitchell did something few coaches of the past 75 years have accomplished -- post three winning seasons in a row -- from 1960-62 when the Jayhawks went 7-2-1, 7-3-1 and 6-3-1.
One has to go back to 1950-51-52 for another trifecta -- 6-4, 8-2 and 7-3. Not much earlier it was 7-2-1, 8-1-2 and 7-3 in 1946-48. It was bleak for nearly 25 years prior to that as the Jayhawks did register consecutive winning seasons from 1913-1917 and from 1919-1921.
The beginning of Kansas football was actually the heyday for the Jayhawks. KU football started in 1891, and for the next seven years the program posted an impressive 52-8-1 record. Coach A.B. "Burt" Kennedy has the best coaching record in KU history at 53-9-4 (.833) from 1904-1911.
As you can see from the past, KU football has been more about average and mediocrity than about outstanding and pathetic. Oh, they've had a little bit of both, but both are more a rarity than the norm. The challenge for Mark Mangino and this group of Jayhawks is to see if they can be part of changing that history.
Sports Editor Brett Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@gctelegram.com.
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