Duke 16, (22) Kansas 44

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DUKE (1-2)703616
#22KU (3-0)71317744

Final

12:00 PM ET, September 19, 2009
Memorial Stadium
LAWRENCE, KS

Reesing finds touch in second quarter, drives Kansas by Duke

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Top 25 Overview
It was over when... Kansas came out strong after halftime and put up 17 points in the third quarter.
Gameball goes to... Dezmon Briscoe, who had six catches for 117 yards and a 14-yard touchdown reception.
Stat of the game... 338. QB Todd Reesing was 28-of-41 for 338 yards, marking his 14th 300-yard game.
Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs2223
Total Yards394490
Passing299338
Rushing95152
Penalties4-455-40
3rd Down Conversions4-187-15
4th Down Conversions2-51-2
Turnovers20
Possession31:1628:44
Air/Ground Leaders
Duke Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Lewis16/2718402
Renfree14/2311510
Kansas Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Reesing28/4133830
Duke Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Hollingsworth938010
Kurunwune828016
Kansas Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Opurum1770215
Reesing851017
Duke Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Kelly598066
Williams875018
Kansas Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Briscoe6117145
Meier864118
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERDUKEKU
TD09:46Thaddeus Lewis 21 Yd Run (Nick Maggio Kick) 70
TD07:10Dezmon Briscoe 14 Yd Pass From Todd Reesing (Jacob Branstetter Kick) 77
SECOND QUARTERDUKEKU
TD04:59Jake Sharp 7 Yd Pass From Todd Reesing (Pat Blocked) 713
TD01:16Kerry Meier 6 Yd Pass From Todd Reesing (Jacob Branstetter Kick) 720
THIRD QUARTERDUKEKU
TD12:58Maxwell Onyegbule 48 Yd Interception Return (Jacob Branstetter Kick) 727
FG11:21Will Snyderwine 37 Yd 1027
TD07:30Toben Opurum 4 Yd Run (Jacob Branstetter Kick) 1034
FG00:23Jacob Branstetter 31 Yd 1037
FOURTH QUARTERDUKEKU
TD09:22Donovan Varner 11 Yd Pass From Sean Renfree (Two-Point Conversion Failed) 1637
TD02:14Toben Opurum 3 Yd Run (Jacob Branstetter Kick) 1644
Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- When it comes to beating Kansas, Duke better stick to basketball.

Catching the No. 22 Jayhawks on what Todd Reesing called his best day so far this year, the underdog Blue Devils jumped on their hosts with a long two-play touchdown drive on their first possession. But after that it was all Reesing and Kansas as the senior threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-16 romp on Saturday.

Fast Facts

• Duke scored the first touchdown, but the Jayhawks rolled to their 19th consecutive non-conference home win as Todd Reesing threw three touchdowns in the first half. Reesing has six passing touchdowns and no interceptions in the first half of games this season.

• Mark Mangino earned his 48th win with Kansas, breaking a tie for second in school history with Glen Mason.

• Kansas wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe had more than 100 yards receiving and passed Mark Simmons for second place on the school's all-time receiving yards list.

• Duke has lost 37 consecutive games to ranked opponents.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

"I felt a lot sharper in the passing game," Reesing said. "I was able to make some plays with my legs in the running game, some scrambles. I'm definitely a lot more pleased."

Beefy freshman Toben Opurum rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns, filling in for Jake Sharp, who was injured and limited after rushing for more than 100 yards each of the first two games.

The lopsided victory gave Kansas and its fifth straight 50,000-plus crowd perhaps a small measure of revenge for the 2-6 record that Duke holds over the Jayhawks' beloved basketball program. It also made the Jayhawks 3-0 for the third time in five seasons.

The Blue Devils (1-2) came in as one of 21 teams in the country that had not thrown an interception. But early in the third quarter, defensive end Maxwell Onyegbule snared Thad Lewis' pass just beyond the line of scrimmage and rumbled 48 yards into the end zone. It was Kansas' first interception return for a TD since Aqib Talib victimized Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl in January 2008.

"He did a great job of hiding," Lewis said. "I didn't see him at all."

On Duke's first play, Lewis flipped the ball to Austin Kelly on a shallow crossing pattern and caught the defense flowing the wrong way. After Kelly took it 66 yards to the Kansas 21, Lewis sprinted into the end zone on a quarterback draw on the next play.

"I think more of it was because that first play on defense, you're excited," said Kansas safety Darrell Stuckey. "You're trying to fly to the ball real fast and you can kind of over-pursue."

Kansas had been practicing against those sorts of plays all week.

"We knew Duke likes to throw a lot of screen passes," coach Mark Mangino said. "But they executed perfectly and got the draw and got it in the end zone, so give credit to them."

That would be Duke's last touchdown until Sean Renfree threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Donovan Varner 5 minutes into the fourth quarter to make it 37-16. Lewis and Renfree shared time for the second week in a row. Lewis was 16 of 27 for 184 yards, with two interceptions. Renfree was 14 of 23 for 115 and a TD.

Reesing put up the 14th 300-yard day in a career that has erased almost every school passing record as the Jayhawks won for the 25th time in 29 home games. His TD passes covered 14 yards to Dezmon Briscoe, 7 yards to Sharp and 6 to Kerry Meier. Briscoe had six catches for 117 yards.

"Todd did a great job," Mangino said. "He threw some balls in tough coverage. [Duke] mixed things up pretty well and gave us a lot of looks, man looks and zone looks. But Todd got in a rhythm and he saw what they were doing."

Reesing set up Kansas' fifth touchdown with a dancing, dodging, acrobatic, scramble during which he had one hand on the ground while eluding a would-be sacker. He finally took it 17 yards to the 4 and Opurum scored on the next play.

"Todd Reesing is a heck of a quarterback," said Duke safety Matt Daniels. "He really hurt us a lot with his feet."

Opurum also scored on a 3-yard run late in the fourth, giving the 235-pound freshman his second two-touchdown day.

"They caught us off guard, caught us on our heels," he said. "We got it corrected and started playing."

Reesing, who ran for 51 yards, had several passes dropped. Briscoe and Johnathon Wilson each had perfectly thrown balls bounce off their hands that would probably have gone for huge gains.

"We had passes dropped last week," said Mangino. "We have to do something about that -- and we will."

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Thursday, September 17th
14 Georgia Tech 17 Final
20 Miami (FL) 33
Friday, September 18th
10 Boise State 51 Final
Fresno State 34
Saturday, September 19th
Tennessee 13 Final
1 Florida 23
Texas Tech 24 Final
2 Texas 34
3 USC 13 Final
Washington 16
North Texas 7 Final
4 Alabama 53
Temple 6 Final
5 Penn State 31
Southeastern Louisiana 6 Final
5 Mississippi 52
Florida State 54 Final
7 Brigham Young 28
8 California 35 Final
Minnesota 21
Louisiana-Lafayette 3 Final
9 LSU 31
11 Ohio State 38 Final
Toledo 0
Tulsa 0 Final
12 Oklahoma 45
19 Nebraska 15 Final
13 Virginia Tech 16
Texas State 21 Final
15 TCU 56
Rice 24 Final
16 Oklahoma State 41
17 Cincinnati 28 Final
Oregon State 18
18 Utah 24 Final
Oregon 31
Duke 16 Final
22 Kansas 44
23 Georgia 52 Final
Arkansas 41
East Carolina 17 Final
24 North Carolina 31
Eastern Michigan 17 Final
25 Michigan 45