In a season of ups and downs, wrong turns, upsets, disappointments, shockers, records, and overall lack of boredom, everything seems to stand out.
Kansas is one of the 7,294 stories that took place in the 2007 college football season. But it was also one of the best.
National Recognition
On October 6th, 2007, it was the #24 ranked Kansas State Wildcats versus unranked Kansas.
Kansas, coming into the game undefeated against the likes of Central Michigan, Florida International, Toledo, and Southern Louisiana, was a large underdog against the one-loss Wildcats.
Kansas State started comfortably, with a pick on Kansas' opening play, and two drives after the pick scored a touchdown on their first play from 68 yards out.
Then, in the second quarter, Kansas, on their first drive of the quarter, used up 4:30 to take the ball 86 yards in ten plays. Touchdown.
But no big deal for the Wildcats.
They take the ball to the opposite side of the field on the following drive. Score: 14-7 Kansas State.
But after a few picks, the Jayhawks bounced right back.
In the second half, the Jayhawks outscored State by a margin of 16-10 and came away with their fifth win and an upset over the in-state rival. The win bumped them into the top 20.
The Path to the BCS
The Jayhawks blew through the next few weeks with wins over minimal opponents, until they hit a road block against Missouri, their first real challenge.
Along that path, after Kansas State, they outscored their opponents 260-109, allowing an average of 21.8 points per game and scoring a mind-numbing 52 PPG.
They beat few decent opponents, and nearly lost to Colorado, who had topped Oklahoma earlier in the year.
They were 11-0 for the first time in school history, and were on the verge of an unmarred campaign.
They were to battle for the Big 12 Championship as long as they got through Missouri first.
As #2 in the country, and undefeated, they were no longer underdogs. But Missouri seemed to put both the conference and national title dreams to rest by shutting down Kansas in the first half.
But then Kansas started to come back, managing to get within a score for the win in the fourth quarter. Yet it proved to be not quite enough—Missouri held them back and took the win.
Kansas is 11-1 and on their way to the Orange Bowl against ACC champs Virginia Tech. Both teams have lost only one game, but Kansas is a team that can come back from behind and tear apart either a favorite or an underdog.
Kansas is one of the stories of the year. Not at all the overall best story, but just the one that I wanted to bring forth.
You cannot say that just because Kansas lost to Missouri, they are a bad team. They held Missouri to the least points all season with the exception of Oklahoma, including the ranked and unranked of Missouri's schedule.
Who knows if Kansas actually isn't good. They could've simply not had a good day, which had probably happened about 500 times before during that season. The only way to tell if they're actually bad is if Virginia Tech beats them by more than 14 points or shuts them out, until then, Happy Bowl Season.
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9 months ago
there's nothing logical about picking an average team that played a shitty schedule as your "team of the year". kansas didn't beat any good teams all year, then lost to the one good team they did play - and that team was exposed as just another pretty good team in the big xii title game.
this article was a huge waste of time written by a huge cum-drinker
9 months ago
I'm not going to be as rude as anonymous up here, but their schedule was very weak. They didn't play Oklahoma or Texas. They didn't play one decent defense all year, and the only thing note-worthy about their offense is they hung 76 points on a horrible Nebraska team. The wouldn't hold a flame to Mississippi State. LOL
9 months ago
Yeah I have to agree with anonymous- yes, Kansas surprised everyone by winning all these games against a bunch of penis gaggers and made it all the way to #2 in the nation
good for them
then they played an actual game against a team that KIND OF had SOMEWHAT of a noninvisible penis, and they choked on their own dumb dicks, and got blown out by halftime
so yeah, team of the year.. thats exactly what they were. except you left out an adjective: Kansas Jayhawks, Tiny-Pecker'd Team of the Year
9 months ago
my point was they managed to get through their ridiculously easy schedule and only loose to a top 5 team
unlike many teams who were unable to even beat fcs schools or 2-10 schools
9 months ago
wow - they managed to get through a ridiculously easy schedule - give them a fuckin' reward. plenty of other teams managed to get through even better schedules with 10 or 11 wins. ohio state played a tougher schedule and finished with the same number of losses, and is even in the national title game you stupid fuckhead.
delete this article before anyone else suffers the indignity of actually reading it.
9 months ago
yes ohio state did play a tougher and they were rewarded w/ national bowl game
yes i know kansas had the 109th ranked schedule as far as strength
woopdieshit
9 months ago
The name "Anonymous" says it all. People hiding behind that name feel good about themselves when they can write whatever they want, use whatever language they want, and complain about everything that doesn't go their way. Who are you trying to impress or intimidate with all your foul language? You enjoy your team and I'll enjoy mine. However, it sounds as if you didn't enjoy your team too much this year. Grow up, lose the foul language and maybe you can enjoy VT beating KU. BUT..........maybe that won't happen. What will you write then????
David
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