Aug. 30, 2008

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LAWRENCE, Kan. -

Junior quarterback Todd Reesing connected with Dezmon Briscoe for three touchdown passes, while Daymond Patterson had 75-yard punt return for a touchdown to lead the 14^th-ranked Kansas football team to a convincing 40-10 victory over the FIU Panthers Saturday night in front of a record crowd of 52,112 at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium.

Reesing completed a career-high 37 passes on 52 attempts, amassing 256 yards and three TDs and one interception. Briscoe finished the night with a career-best nine catches for 55 yards. His three touchdown grabs also tied a career high set against Nebraska in 2007.

It took almost two-thirds of the first quarter for the Jayhawks to get going, but once they did they didn’t look back.

With the game still scoreless late in the first quarter, Reesing gave the Jayhawks life by commanding an eight-play, 63-yard drive in which he completed all seven of his passes for a total of 56 yards. The drive was capped off by Jocques Crawford’s first touchdown as a Jayhawk, a seven-yard scamper with 5:09 to play in the first quarter.

FIU proceeded to go three and out on the ensuing possession, and Patterson followed with a a 19-yard punt return to the KU 44. Eleven plays and 56 yards later, Reesing hit Briscoe for a three-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to give KU a 14-0 lead.

Alonso Rojas added a field goal for the Jayhawks with 9:29 to go in the half to push the score to 17-0 in favor of the Jayhawks.

Another three and out by FIU on the following drive forced the Panthers to punt, and Patterson made them pay.

He took the punt at his own 35 and raced down the right sideline, leaping over an FIU defender en route to an electrifying, 75-yard punt return for a touchdown. Patterson’s huge play put the Jayhawks up 24-0 with 7:41 to play in the first half.

The freshman form Mesquite, Texas, had four returns in his first collegiate game that covered a total of 135 yards. FIU’s T.Y. Hilton answered the bell with a 74-yard punt return for a TD of his own to cut the KU lead to 24-7 with 2:59 to play in the first half, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.

Reesing and the Jayhawks came right back as the junior from Lake Travis, Texas, directed a 12-play, 65 yard drive that was capped off by his second TD hook-up with Briscoe, a four-yard strike with just 0:32 remaining in the opening half. Grady Fowler’s point-after attempt was no-good, leaving KU with a 30-7 lead.

KU forced two turnovers on as many FIU possessions to start the second half, turning them into 10 points and effectively putting the game out of reach.

On a third and 10 from the the Panther 37, linebacker James Holt jarred the ball loose from FIU’s Junior Mertile, and fellow linebacker Joe Mortenson jumped on the ball to set KU up first and 10 at its own 49-yard line.

After a KU field goal, Panther quarterback Paul McCall was intercepted by Phillip Strozier. The sophomore corner back also collected an interception in the fourth quarter.

It took seven plays and a fourth-down TD pass to cover the 19 yards, but Reesing found Briscoe for the third and final time for the game’s final points, increasing the KU lead to 40-10 at the 3:15 mark of the third quarter.

Kansas will face Louisiana Tech next Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.