Jayhawks Remain Unbeaten

Saturday, November 17th 2007, 7:28 pm

By: News On 6

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Let the hype begin for the biggest Kansas-Missouri game ever. Todd Reesing passed for 253 yards and four touchdowns and No. 4 Kansas remained unbeaten Saturday with a 45-7 rout of Iowa State, setting up a grand showdown with sixth-ranked Missouri for the Big 12 North title and possibly much more.

Missouri did its part to set up the most-anticipated game in the history of the bitter rivalry which started in 1891 and is so fierce the two sides cannot even agree on what the overall record is. A few hours before the Jayhawks won, the Tigers beat Kansas State 49-32.

The Tigers (10-1, 6-1 Big 12) and Jayhawks (11-0, 7-0) will meet in Kansas City on Saturday to see who goes to a Big 12 title tilt, a game that could launch the winner into the national championship game.

With Oregon losing on Thursday to Arizona, Kansas figures to move from third to second in the BCS standings behind LSU. Missouri will also move up from No. 5 and Oklahoma, the likely Big 12 South Division winner, could move up from No. 4.

Reesing, the remarkable sophomore who's never lost as a college starter, hit 19 of his first 20 passes as the Jayhawks romped to their first 11-0 mark in school history.

The Jayhawks, who were picked fourth in the Big 12 North and did not become ranked until after their fifth game, scored on four straight possessions to take a 28-7 halftime lead. The Cyclones finished 3-9, 2-6 in Gene Chizik's first year as head coach.

Reesing did not play in the fourth quarter and finished 21-for-26. His 33 touchdown passes in only 11 games leave him just two short of the school's career record set by David Jaynes from 1971-73. It was the sixth time this season he's had at least three touchdown passes in a game and he extended his school record of consecutive passes without an interception to 205.

He hit Dexton Fields with touchdown passes of 17 and 16 yards for a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Then on third-and-5, Marcus Henry made a shoestring catch over the middle and sped 51 yards for a 21-0 lead over the Cyclones, who had won two in a row and shown improvement in the final month.

At that point, Reesing had hit 13 of 14 passes for 185 yards and his only miss came when he threw out of bounds to avoid a sack. Kerry Meier, the incumbent quarterback Reesing beat out in August, turned in a juggling 18-yard touchdown catch with 1:56 left in the half and then made it 38-7 with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Derek Fine after Reesing had retired in the fourth quarter.

Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer, making his 48th consecutive start, was 16-for-28 for 103 yards. Alex Robinson capped a 13-play, 79-yard drive for the Cyclones with a 6-yard touchdown run after Kansas had gone up 21-0 in the third.

In that drive, the Jayhawks drew an uncharacteristic three penalties.

They came into the game as the country's least-penalized team, averaging fewer than four penalties a game, but drew a season-most nine flags for 98 yards.

Fields had 11 catches for 109 yards and Henry had four for 92. Angus Quigley scored on a 13-yard run for the final TD.