University of Missouri
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Kansas
Tigers Taken Down By Kansas
9/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 27, 2003
By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Bill Whittemore and Clark Green each scored two touchdowns and Kansas' maligned defense shut down Brad Smith to lead the Jayhawks past No. 23 Missouri 35-14 Saturday.
Whittemore scored on two short runs and engineered touchdown drives of 72, 50 and 49 yards in the fourth quarter.
The sellout crowd of 50,071 was the largest for Kansas (4-1) for any non-Nebraska game since 1975 and the Jayhawks biggest against Missouri in the 112-year history of the series.
Thousands of fans stormed the field and tore down both goalposts after the game.
Smith, Missouri's sophomore quarterback known for fourth-quarter comebacks, never got untracked against a hard-charging Kansas defense and passed for only 62 yards. After running for 117 yards in a Missouri victory last year, he had only 33 yards on the ground.
Whittemore was 14-of-22 for 111 yards and picked up 76 more on 16 rushes.
The Tigers (4-1), who were averaging 420 yards a game, managed only 196 against a defense ranked tenth in the Big 12. Zack Abron, with 112 yards on 17 carries, was the only threat the Tigers could muster.
Kansas went into halftime with a 13-7 lead despite a series of errors, starting with a missed extra point by Johnny Beck after the Jayhawks' first touchdown.
Smith, who scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter, put the Tigers on top 14-13 with a 13-play, 72-yard drive in the third, capped by a 9-yard scoring pass to Darius Outlaw.
Then Kansas, which had taken a 13-7 lead on Green's 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, took charge.
Whittemore rushed for 32 yards on a 72-yard drive capped by Green's 6-yard TD run just a few seconds into the fourth to make it 21-14. Then, Whittemore took the Jayhawks on a 50-yard drive following Brock Harvey's 20-yard punt and scored on a 4-yard run.
In the final minutes, John Randle got loose on a 25-yard run and then scored on a 3-yard burst, going untouched through the weary Missouri defense.
Whittemore hit Mark Simmons with a 32-yard pass and Beck lined up for a 36-yard field goal early in the second quarter. But Curtis Ansel failed to handle the pass from center and the kick never got off.
The fans groaned a few minutes later when freshman wide receiver Moderick Johnson dropped a certain touchdown pass that Whittemore had thrown on a perfect line.
Charles Gordon took Missouri's first punt 61 yards to the 14. Whittemore, on third-and-six from the 10, picked up 7 yards around right end, then bulled into the end zone from the 1.
Abron had gains of 15 and 19 yards on Missouri's 69-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, aided by a 15-yard penalty when Nick Reid hit Smith out of bounds. Smith scored on a 4-yard run.
