Kansas Jayhawks football

The Kansas Jayhawks football program is the intercollegiate football program of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference.

Kansas football dates back to 1890 and is one the oldest programs in the nation. Notable former players include Pro Football Hall of famers Gale Sayers, John Riggins, and Mike McCormack, as well as All-Americans John Hadl, Dana Stubblefield, Bobby Douglass, Nolan Cromwell, Aqib Talib, and Anthony Collins. The Jayhawks have won one BCS bowl game, the 2008 Orange Bowl. The team currently plays in Memorial Stadium which seats 50,071 fans. The stadium opened in 1921, making it the seventh oldest college football stadium in the nation. Charlie Weis was named the head coach following the termination of Turner Gill on December 8, 2011. The program's all-time record is 573–570–58.

Records

 * October 6, 1990: KU and Iowa State end their game in a 34-34 tie, giving KU the all-time NCAA Division I-A record for number of tie games with 57. Since then, NCAA football games have a tie-breaking rule, so only a rule change would allow this record to be broken.
 * December 23, 2005: KU's strong rushing defense, led by Big 12 Defensive Player of the year Nick Reid, finishes the season by limiting Houston to just 30 rushing yards in the Fort Worth Bowl, a KU bowl record, bringing its season average down to 83.3 yards allowed per game and breaking the school record of 109.2 set in 1948. It was the ninth time in the season the Jayhawks held their opponent to less than 100 yards on the ground.  For the season, their defense ranked 3rd nationally against the rush.
 * November 18, 2006: The Jayhawk defense's record setting 23 game streak without allowing a 100-yard rusher ends in a 39-20 victory over rival Kansas State when K-State runningback Leon Patton rushes for 102 yards. The streak started following a 27-23 loss to Texas on November 13, 2004.
 * November 25, 2006: In the regular season finale, senior running back Jon Cornish rushes for 126 yards in a 42-17 loss to Missouri to become KU's all-time single season leading rusher.  His 1,457 yards surpassed the previous record of 1,442 yards set by Tony Sands in 1991.
 * November 17, 2007: Kansas defeats Iowa State 45-7, moving to 11-0 for the first time in school history.
 * September 12, 2009: Kansas defeats UTEP 34-7, going to 20-2 in their last 22 nonconference games since 2005.
 * October 10, 2009: Todd Reesing throws 37 completions for 442 yards and 4 touchdowns, Kerry Meier had 16 catches for 142 yards an 2 touchdowns, Dezmon Briscoe had 12 catches for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns

Bowl appearances
The Jayhawks have a 6-6 bowl record:

Conference championships
(*) Indicates a co-championship.

In 1960, the Jayhawks beat Missouri 23-7 to take the Big 8 title. This game was later forfeited, when a Jayhawk player was ruled ineligible following the season, Missouri was subsequently rewarded the title.

Series records

 * As of December 2, 2011

Missouri (Border War)
KU used to compete with the Missouri Tigers in the second oldest rivalry in major college football, and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. First played in 1891,the Jayhawks and Tigers met on the gridiron every year since, with the lone exception of 1918 (flu epidemic). The annual game was known as the "Border War, which derives from actual warfare that occurred during the Civil War between free-state "Jayhawkers" pro-slavery "Bushwhackers" from Missouri. Six towns, including Osceola, Missouri, were pillaged and raided by the Jayhawkers. In retaliation, William Quantrill and his band of Bushwhackers burned Lawrence to the ground in what became known as the Lawrence Massacre. Ironically, Columbia, Missouri, the location of the University of Missouri was also nearly raided by Quantrill's band. The name of the rivalry has since been officially rebranded as the "Border Showdown" following the advent of the Iraq War, although the historical name prevails in usage. Each year the winner of the game was awarded a traveling trophy, the Indian War Drum. Following the 2007 Border Showdown, Kansas retired the current drum. However, Kansas earned it back with a victory over Missouri in the 2008 Border Showdown under quarterback Todd Reesing. Kansas lost the 120th, and most recent and final, Border Showdown to Missouri, 24-10.

In 1911, more than 1,000 people gathered in downtown Lawrence, Kansas to watch a mechanical reproduction of the game while it was being played. A Western Union telegraph wire was set up direct from Columbia, Missouri. A group of people then would announce the results of the previous play and used a large model of a football playing field to show the results. Those in attendance cheered as though they were watching the game live, including the school's legendary Rock Chalk, Jayhawk cheer.

With Missouri's move to the Southeastern Conference in 2012 there are currently no future games scheduled. Missouri has indicated a willingness to continue playing the annual game, but Kansas officials have routinely expressed that they are no longer interested in continuing the rivalry. Missouri was the forth school to make the decision to leave the Big 12 after the 2011-2012 academic year, in the process further damaging the stability of the conference for the remaining Big 12 schools, including Kansas.

Kansas State (Sunflower Showdown)
In addition, KU has a rivalry with the Kansas State Wildcats called the Sunflower Showdown; when the two teams compete in football, the winner is awarded the Governor's Cup by the governor of Kansas. Kansas leads the all-time series 65-39-5, while Kansas State has won more Governor's Cups (23-19-1).

Nebraska
The Kansas-Nebraska series was the longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football until Nebraska's departure for the Big 10 Conference in 2011. Kansas and Nebraska met for the first time in 1892, and faced off annually from 1906 until 2010. Along with the Missouri rivalry, this gives Kansas the second- and third-most played college football series in existence (Minnesota and Wisconsin have played one more game than KU-MU and two more than KU-NU). KU is only 23-90-3 all-time against the Cornhuskers (as of 2010), and from 1969-2004 the Huskers rang up 36 consecutive victories, second longest in NCAA Division I (only Notre Dame's streak over Navy was longer). That streak ended on November 5, 2005, when Kansas defeated Nebraska 40-15 in Lawrence. They again beat Nebraska 76-39 in Lawrence on November 3, 2007. This was the largest number of points ever surrendered by a Nebraska team; the Jayhawks also set records for most points against Nebraska in a half (1st half, 48 points) and quarter (2nd quarter, 27 points). The 95 points scored by the Jayhawks in 2006 and 2007 combined is the largest consecutive two-year total in the series. Also, the 32 points scored in an overtime loss at Nebraska on September 30, 2006, was the most by any Jayhawk team in Lincoln since 1899, when KU won 36-20 in the two teams' eighth all-time meeting. Former football coach Turner Gill is a former athlete and coach for the Cornhuskers, playing football and baseball during his college career and returning as an assistant football coach for 1989, 1992-2004.

First-Team AP All-Americans

 * 1947- Ray Evans, running back/defensive back
 * 1947- Otto Schnellbacher, wide receiver
 * 1951- George Mrkonic, offensive line
 * 1952- Ollie Spencer, offensive line
 * 1952- Gil Reich, defensive back
 * 1960- John Hadl, running back
 * 1961- John Hadl, quarterback
 * 1963- Gale Sayers, running back
 * 1964- Gale Sayers, running back
 * 1968- Bobby Douglass, quarterback
 * 1968- John Zook, defensive end
 * 1973- David Jaynes, quarterback
 * 1983- Bruce Kallmeyer, place kicker
 * 2007- Anthony Collins, offensive line
 * 2007- Aqib Talib, defensive back

Ring of Honor members
(The Ring of Honor is located atop the northern bowl at Memorial Stadium and is intended to honor Kansas All-Americans and others who have made a significant on-field contribution to the football program.)
 * Ray Evans (1941–42, 1946–47), defensive back/running back
 * Otto Schnellbacher (1942, 1946–47), end
 * Mike McCormack (1948–50), offensive tackle
 * George Mrkonic (1950–52), offensive line
 * Ollie Spencer (1950–52), offensive line
 * Gil Reich (1952), defensive back/quarterback
 * John Hadl (1959–61), quarterback, running back
 * Curtis McClinton (1959–61), running back
 * Gale Sayers (1962–64), running back
 * Bobby Douglass (1966–68), quarterback
 * John Zook (1966–68), defensive end
 * John Riggins (1968–70), running back
 * David Jaynes (1971–73), quarterback
 * Nolan Cromwell (1973–76), quarterback, safety
 * Bruce Kallmeyer, (1980, 1982–83), place kicker
 * Willie Pless, (1982–85), linebacker

Retired numbers

 * 21- John Hadl, running back, quarterback (1959–61)
 * 42- Ray Evans, running back/defensive back (1941–42, 1946–47)
 * 48- Gale Sayers, running back (1962–64)

College football Hall of Fame

 * 1951 - Fielding H. Yost (Coach)
 * 1954 - Jim Bausch, HB
 * 1964 - Ray Evans, HB
 * 1964 - Gale Sayers, HB
 * 1994 - John Hadl, QB
 * 2001 - John Outland, OT

NFL Hall of Fame

 * 1977 - Gale Sayers, HB
 * 1985 - Mike McCormack, OT
 * 1992 - John Riggins, RB

NFL

 * Tim Biere, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
 * Dezmon Briscoe, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
 * Anthony Collins, OT, Cincinnati Bengals
 * Chris Harris, CB, Denver Broncos
 * Steven Johnson, LB, Denver Broncos
 * Kerry Meier, WR, Atlanta Falcons
 * Moran Norris, FB, San Francisco 49ers
 * Mike Rivera, LB, New England Patriots
 * Darrell Stuckey, S, San Diego Chargers
 * Aqib Talib, CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

CFL

 * Marcus Henry, WR, Edmonton Eskimos
 * Jon Cornish, RB, Calgary Stampeders

AFL

 * Jonathan Wilson, WR, Milwaukee Mustangs
 * Brandon Perkins, FB/LB, Philadelphia Soul
 * Raymond Brown, WR/DB, Spokane Shock

Head Coaches
Head football coaches, including their win-loss records, years coached, and reason for leaving if other than firing:
 * Edwin Mortimer Hopkins (6-1-1), 1891
 * A. W. Shepard (9-6-0), 1892-1893
 * Hector Cowan (15-7-1), 1894-1896
 * Wylie G. Woodruff (15-3-0), 1897-1898
 * Fielding H. Yost (10-0-0), 1899, accepted job at Stanford.
 * Charles Boynton (-5-2), 1900
 * John H. Outland (3-5-2), 1901
 * Arthur Curtis (6-4-0), 1902
 * Boss Weeks (6-3-0), 1903
 * A. R. Kennedy (52-9-4), 1904–1910
 * Ralph W. Sherwin (4-2-2), 1911
 * Arthur Mosse (9-7-0), 1912–1913
 * H. M. Wheaton (5-2-1), 1914
 * Herman Olcott (16-7-1), 1915–1917
 * Jay Bond (2-2-0), 1918
 * Leon McCarty (3-2-3), 1919
 * Phog Allen (5-2-1), 1920
 * George "Potsy" Clark (16-17-6), 1921–1925
 * Franklin Cappon (5-10-1), 1926–1927
 * Homer Woodson "Bill" Hargiss (22-18-2), 1928–1932
 * Ad Lindsey (19-28-8), 1933–1938
 * Gwinn Henry (9-27-0), 1939–1942
 * Henry Shenk (11-16-3), 1943–1945
 * George Sauer (15-3-3), 1946–1947, accepted Navy job
 * Jules V. Sikes (35-25-0), 1948–1953
 * Chuck Mather (11-26-3), 1954–1957
 * Jack Mitchell (42-44-5), 1958–1966
 * Pepper Rodgers (20-22), 1967–1970, accepted UCLA job
 * Don Fambrough (19-25-1), 1971–1974
 * Bud Moore (17-21-1), 1975–1978
 * Don Fambrough (17-24-4), 1979–1982
 * Mike Gottfried (15-18-1), 1983–1985, accepted Pittsburgh job
 * Bob Valesente (4-17-1), 1986–1987
 * Glen Mason (47-54-1), 1988–1996, accepted Minnesota job
 * Terry Allen (20-33), 1997–2001
 * Mark Mangino (50-48), 2002–2009, Resigned following the launch of an investigation of his coaching practices
 * Turner Gill (5-19),  2010–2011
 * Charlie Weis (0-0), 2012-Present