On Saturday, the University of Kansas Jayhawks let a win over the University of Missouri trickle down their legs.
Pinned back against their own end zone, they tried to pass the ball . . . twice. On third down they finally tried to run the ball, which resulted in a safety. This made a field goal the recipe for a Mizzou win instead of a tie with the Hawks.
Mizzou got the three-point play, and Mizzou won 41-39.
Brilliant play calling. I mean, sure, had they ran the ball a couple of times first and gave themselves some breathing room, KU might have been able to punt the ball away and pin the Tigers near their own end zone.
But no. That didn’t happen. I don’t know who was in charge of the play calling, but according to KUSports.com, there might have been some miscommunication.
The go-to site for Jayhawk news reported the following:
“It turns out the Jayhawks did have a running play called; they just audibled out of it at the last second.”
Maybe it wasn’t a miscommunication, but then it is clearly senior quarterback Todd Reesing’s fault, right? Maybe. But it doesn’t really matter because no matter who made the bonehead calls. Head Coach Mark Mangino is going to get the blame, which won’t help his case as he continues to face an investigation for being too rough for his players.
Mangino is going to probably be fired, and although the big guy is hopeful he will get leading the team next season, one person in the KU Athletics office wants him gone, which sadly means it will most likely happen.
KU Athletic Director Lew Perkins wants Mangino gone for reasons I can only speculate about (I did so in this post and in this post and in this post). As far as I can tell, Perkins just wants to hire his own coach and not have to accept a hold-over from the previous A.D.’s reign.
It’s ridiculous, but it seems the closest to the truth at this point.
Mangino has done nothing but good for the KU football program. He said so himself at KUSports.com.
A majority of the players have shown support for Mangino, but it probably won’t be enough.
The fate of Mangino still hangs in the balance as the Jayhawk seniors face life without college football since the loss to the Tigers killed their chances at playing in one last bowl game.
Now it is a waiting game. Will Mangino be fired or won’t he?
I hope not because it would be a terrible detriment to the program, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
And if he does get fired, he should put in his application at Notre Dame. Charlie Weis did get fired after all.
