| Year: | 2009 |
| Team: | Kansas Jayhawks |
| Conference: | Big 12 Conference |
| Division: | North |
| Short Conf: | Big 12 |
| Record: | 5–7 |
| Conf Record: | 1–7 |
| Head Coach: | Mark Mangino |
| Hc Year: | 9th |
| Off Coach: | Ed Warinner |
| Oc Year: | 3rd |
| Off Scheme: | Multiple |
| Codef Coach1: | Clint Bowen |
| Codc1 Year: | 4th |
| Codef Coach2: | Bill Miller |
| Codc2 Year: | 1st |
| Def Scheme: | 4–3 |
| Stadium: | Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 50,071) |
| Uniform: | File:Big12-Uniform-KU-2009.png |
The 2009 Kansas Jayhawks football team (variously "Kansas", "KU", or the "Jayhawks") represented the University of Kansas in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, which was the school's 120th season and the eighth and final year under Mark Mangino, who resigned following the season under pressure from both an internal investigation into his treatment of players and discontent from the season's results.[1] It was Ed Warinner's third season as offensive coordinator and fifth year overall. The Jayhawks played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas and were members of the Big 12 Conference
After beginning the season with five victories, the team lost their next seven games to finish the season with a 5–7 overall record (1–7 in the Big 12 Conference). It was the worst overall record since 2004 (when the Jayhawks won just four games) and the worst conference record since their winless 2002 season (in which they could only win two non-conference games).
Less than a month after being promoted to defensive coordinator at Louisville Bill Miller resigned and joined the Jayhawks as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, replacing previous linebackers coach Steve Tovar.[2]
Tom Sims replaced Joe Bob Clements, who left for Kansas State, as defensive line coach. Sims spent the last four seasons with Illinois.[3] A few weeks earlier, Kerry Locklin of Fresno State accepted the defensive line coaching job, but subsequently accepted a job with the NFL's New York Jets and Sims was hired instead.
Following the 2009 signing day, the Jayhawks recruiting class was ranked 31st by Rivals and 50 by Scout. Expand the list below to see the full class.
In February, reserve quarterback Tyler Lawrence left the team to graduate early. Running back Sean Ransburg was listed as a transfer at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe. Wide receiver Xavier Rambo is listed as a transfer at Delta State University. Running back Jocques Crawford's transfer to an unnamed school was announced July 24. KU announced Ben Lueken's departure August 6.
See also: 2009 Duke Blue Devils football team.
Kansas senior quarterback Todd Reesing threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also collected 51 yards on the ground to lead Kansas to a 44–16 win over Duke on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The win improved Kansas to 3–0 on the season, marking the second time in the last three seasons the Jayhawks opened the season with three-consecutive wins. The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 1–2.
Reesing completed 28-of-41 passes against the Blue Devils, including touchdowns to three different receivers. His 338 yards in the air marked his seventh-straight game with 200 or more passing yards and his 14th career 300-yard passing game. Briscoe finished the game with 117 yards receiving, his sixth-straight 100-yard receiving game. He now has nine 100-yard receiving games in his career, the most in KU history.
Senior safety Darrell Stuckey led the Jayhawk defense with a season-high 10 tackles. Freshman linebacker Huldon Tharp recorded a career-high 10 tackles, while junior linebacker Drew Dudley finished with a career-best eight tackles. Sophomore cornerback Daymond Patterson also had eight stops. Senior nickelback Justin Thornton and junior cornerback Chris Harris each added six tackles. KU finished with five sacks on the afternoon, giving the Jayhawks 14 sacks on the season.[5]
See also: 2009 Iowa State Cyclones football team.
Kansas senior wide receiver Kerry Meier set a school record with 16 receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while senior quarterback Todd Reesing tied a school record with 37 completions for a career-high 442 yards and four touchdowns as No. 16 Kansas outlasted Iowa State 41–36. Before a crowd of 48,203 at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium, Kansas improves to 5–0 for the second time in three years, and 1–0 in Big 12 Conference play. Iowa State drops to 3–3 overall and 0–2 in league play.
Reesing's main two targets for the afternoon were Meier, with his record-setting 16 receptions and junior wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe, who had 12 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Meier and Briscoe ended the day as KU's career receptions leaders with Meier first at 167 and Briscoe at 165. For Reesing, it was his second 400-yard passing day.
Despite the offensive firepower displayed by the Jayhawks, the team needed a fourth-down stop at its own 31-yard line to solidify the win. Trailing by five with 2:36 remaining in the game, ISU regained possession on its own 34-yard line and marched to the KU 31 before the Jayhawks' defense held fast to produce a turnover on downs. KU defensive back Chris Harris made a huge tackle of Iowa State receiver Jake Williams on second-and-10 and then broke up the third-down pass, resulting in a fourth-and-nine attempt for the Cyclones. On fourth down, pressure forced ISU quarterback Austen Arnuad's pass to sail incomplete.[6]
See also: 2009 Oklahoma Sooners football team.
Despite holding Oklahoma to just 337 yards of total offense - nearly 100 yards below the Sooners' season average - the Jayhawks suffered a 35–13 loss to OU at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks dropped to 5–2 overall and 1–2 in the Big 12, while the Sooners improved to 4–3 and 2–2 in league play.
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing threw for 224 yards, but his three first-half interceptions put the Jayhawks behind 14–0 early, one of OU's touchdowns coming on an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown by Dominique Franks as Kansas was driving deep into Oklahoma territory. Kansas answered with a pair of field goals by junior kicker Jacob Branstetter, including a career-long 57-yarder just before the end of the half, but despite cutting the deficit to a single possession, the Jayhawks could not contain the Oklahoma offense in the third quarter. The Sooners opened the second half with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Landry Jones to senior wide receiver Adron Tennell to give the Sooners a 21–6 advantage. OU extended its lead to 28–6 on its next possession, as Chris Brown hauled in an eight-yard TD pass from Jones. After another Brown touchdown made it 35–6, the Jayhawks scored their only touchdown of the game late in fourth quarter on a run by Reesing.[7]
See also: 2009 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.
After a low scoring three quarters, a fourth-quarter scoring flurry led to a 31–17 Nebraska victory against Kansas on Senior Day at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium. The loss dropped KU to 5–5 overall and 1–5 in Big 12 Conference action.
Kansas senior quarterback Todd Reesing found junior wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe wide open in the middle of the field and Briscoe ran it in for the score from 21 yards out to give Kansas its first lead of the day at 17–16 with 7:34 left to play. The Jayhawks' scoring drive amassed 89 yards on 10 plays capped by KU's first passing touchdown of the day.
Nebraska did not trail for long though. After a 44-yard kick-off return by Niles Paul, Nebraska quickly responded as Helu punched it in from 20 yards out just over a minute later. Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee then found Paul for the two-point conversion to push the Cornhuskers back into the lead at 24–17 with just over six minutes remaining. After a KU punt, Nebraska took possession with 5:20 remaining on the game clock and burned nearly all of that with a 10-play, 74-yard drive capped by another Helu touchdown run that gave the Cornhuskers a two-touchdown lead with only 23 seconds left in the game.
Reesing finished the game 19-of-41 passing for 236 yards and one touchdown. He also turned in 42 yards rushing and a second touchdown. Kerry Meier led the Jayhawks in receiving with 10 catches for 127 yards, while Briscoe had four catches for 77 yards and a TD. Freshman running back Toben Opurum recorded 43 yards on the ground on 15 carries.[8]