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 this season, the underdog Blue Devils jumped out against the Jayhawks with a long two-play touchdown drive on their first possession. But after that it was all Reesing and Kansas as he passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-16 romp yesterday.
"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 against 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 touchdown 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 the ball 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 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 touchdown pass to Donovan Varner five minutes into the fourth quarter to make the score 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 touchdown.
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 touchdown passes covered 14 yards to Dezmon Briscoe, 7 yards to Sharp and 6 to Kerry Meier. Briscoe had six catches for 117 yards.
Duke 7 0 3 6 -- 16
Kansas 7 13 17 7 -- 44
First Quarter
Duke--Lewis 21 run (Maggio kick), 9:46.
Kansas--Briscoe 14 pass from Reesing (Branstetter kick), 7:10.
Second Quarter
Kansas--Sharp 7 pass from Reesing (kick blocked), 4:59.
Kansas--Meier 6 pass from Reesing (Branstetter kick), 1:16.
Third Quarter
Kansas--Onyegbule 48 interception return (Branstetter kick), 12:58.
Duke--FG Snyderwine 37, 11:21.
Kansas--Opurum 4 run (Branstetter kick), 7:30.
Kansas--FG Branstetter 31, :23.
Fourth Quarter
Duke--Varner 11 pass from Renfree (pass failed), 9:22.
Kansas--Opurum 3 run (Branstetter kick), 2:14.
A--50,101.
TEAM STATISTICS
Duke Kansas
First downs 22 23
Rushes-yards 33-95 31-152
Passing 299 338
Comp-Att-Int 30-50-2 28-41-0
Return Yards 0 91
Punts-Avg. 6-42.0 5-39.8
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-45 5-40
Time of Possession 31:16 28:44
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Duke, Hollingsworth 9-38, Kurunwune 8-28, Lewis 8-14, Renfree 4-8, Boyette 4-7. Kansas, Opurum 17-70, Reesing 8-51, Pick 1-18, Sharp 5-13.
PASSING--Duke, Lewis 16-27-2-184, Renfree 14-23-0-115. Kansas, Reesing 28-41-0-338.
RECEIVING--Duke, Williams 8-75, Kelly 5-98, Varner 3-40, Boyette 2-23, Bell 2-15, Trezvant 2-7, Kurunwune 2-1, Hollingsworth 2-0, Parker 1-16, Huffman 1-12, B.King 1-6, Watkins 1-6. Kansas, Meier 8-64, Briscoe 6-117, McDougald 6-37, J.Wilson 4-63, Opurum 3-50, Sharp 1-7.
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