76 to 39, Seventy-six to thirty-nine, 76 points in a Big 12 North football game; 76 is now a number that will be ingrained into Husker football fans for a long time. It will be a fitting remembrance of the Bill Callahan/Kevin Cosgrove era for decades, just as Osborne's 255 wins in 25 years is a number to remember, but for different reasons. I thing that 76 should stand for, is that it is/was the final reason for AD Tom Osborne to make sure that the 2007 season is the last one in Lincoln for Bill Callahan and company, for that, there is no doubt.

The game started with a glimmer of hope as new quarterback Joe Gantz led the huskers down the field for the games first touchdown, capping the drive with a 3-yard run. Gantz, a 4-year junior from Palos Heights, Ill then came right back and gave the Huskers their second lead 14-7 mid-way through the first quarter, then the bottom dropped out and Kansas scored on 10 straight possessions and Gantz's 400 plus passing day and the Huskers 39 points on the road, which in many a situation would have been more than enough to earn a victory, was mere window dressing as the Husker defense once again showed they had more holes in it than a sieve as they gave up 572 yards to go along with the 76 points. In fact the Kansas defense had only given up a total of 33 points at home this season in their previous 5 match-ups.

Kansas sophomore Todd Reesing also connected with a bevy of receivers on the afternoon, orchestrating a fine-tuned Kansas onslaught by completing 30-of-41 passes for 354 yards and six touchdown passes. Looks to me that Reesing should be a lock to be the 5th straight Big 12 offensive player of the week after playing Cosgrove's defense. You know the tough part is going to be selecting the Big 12 offensive player of the year after the season is over won't it? Besides the 76 points being a record, the 48 at half time is also a record. Too be sure the Huskers were beaten badly in the past, for example in 2003 we lost to Texas 31-7, to Kansas State 38-9, but those games now look like "nail-biters" compared to 76-39. For more than 90 plays the Jayhawks had only 1 penalty, no sacks allowed and no turnovers.

I tell you that when I first saw the score running on the ESPNEWS ticker, I thought it might be a basketball score that would be possible between these two schools, but not in football. Every week I speculate if our defense had finally reached the bottom, for they say in order to make progress, you have to first hit rock bottom. Well I sure hope to GOD that 76 is rock-bottom, it has to be.

KU's defense, which looked baffled early by some unexpected passing formations, made enough adjustments to come up with four straight turnovers and put the game out of reach. Now there's a concept for Callahan and Cosgrove in particular, make adjustments during the game in order to stop the other team. Hmmm think that might be what is called "coaching"? 76-39 do they have these sort of scores in conference such as the Big 10, SEC, ACC, or Pac-10; this was not Arena Football.

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Lloyds Apple said:

IMO, Callahan was gone when Osbourne was hired (or whatever he is). When I saw the score, I looked over to see if it was a basketball score. Incredible. To give up that many points, you should be a 1AA school. The locker room must be a complete mess. What a terrible hire. Worst of all is the recruiting class you guys had going is falling apart. Hopefully you can retain some of the guys, but damn. But hey, at least you did not get beat by Navy. I expect ND to move up (or down) your bottom five.

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November 04, 2007
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wpeery said:

	Lol... I was joking when I asked if you were predicting that quarterback Todd Reesing was going to be named the Big 12 player of the week. Looks like my question was predicting the future. I feel for you Bugeater and I was actually laughing with Brian about how you were going to have an article about the Massacre in Lawrence.
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November 04, 2007
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wpeery said:

My heart bleeds for the Husker Nation, because Nebraska footbal is one of those types of teams in sports that you either love or hate, there is no in between. As a college football fanatic, I can honestly say that Nebraska football has been one of my favorite brands of football to watch over the years and I was a big fan of Zac Taylor. I was an even bigger fan of Eric Crouch, and "Touchdown" Tommie Frazier, two quarterbacks who ran the option with such flawless efficiency that they could both open their own school on the subject.

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November 04, 2007
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Bugeatersteve said:

Here is a funny thing that former Husker and Oakland Raider quarterback said recently. He was a rookie with the Radiers and they were 3-0 facing the KC Chiefs who were 0-3 and playing in Kansas City. Well, at halftime of the game the Chiefs were up like 42-0 and back then the Chiefs had a mascot that road around the stadium on a horse. Because the Chiefs had score so many point the horse was tired and was all "lathered" up from all the running. In his way Coach John Madden told his players at halftime, that if the defense didn't step up and stop the Chiefs once in a while that they were going to be responsible for Killing that Horse from exhaustion.

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November 05, 2007
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JEH45 said:

	Bugeater: Man, don't want to be insensitive or anything, but I think many of us: A. Saw the score B. Couldn't wait to see what you had to say!
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November 05, 2007
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