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CU report: Freeman running man?

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 13, 2008 at 8:14 p.m.

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Kansas State starting quarterback Josh Freeman stepped out of character and ran 18 times for 95 yards and four scores - all career bests in KSU's game this past weekend vs. Texas A&M.

Photo by © AP

Kansas State starting quarterback Josh Freeman stepped out of character and ran 18 times for 95 yards and four scores - all career bests in KSU's game this past weekend vs. Texas A&M.

He Said It

"Our coaches and players are really mature about it. . . . You've just got to keep going; it's no time to drag your head."

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Like Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, Kansas State's Josh Freeman seems to have the Buffaloes' number - and it's a bad one.

Reesing improved his record as a starter against CU to 3-0, directing the Jayhawks to a 30-14 win Saturday. Freeman is 2-0 against CU and takes his third shot Saturday.

Reesing ran for a cumulative 174 yards against the Buffs in 2006 and 2007 but was limited to 33 on Saturday. But he passed for 256 and handed off to tailback Jake Sharp for 118 more and three touchdowns.

Conversely, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Freeman hasn't burned the Buffs on the ground in Wildcats wins in 2006 and 2007, rushing for minus-1 yard in 2006 and 13 yards in 2007. But he wasn't counted on for his legwork; his cumulative passing totals in those two games: 37-of-53, 465 yards, three touchdowns.

Yet in Kansas State's 44-30 romp past Texas A&M on Saturday, Freeman stepped out of character and ran 18 times for 95 yards and four scores - all career bests. He has rushed for 12 touchdowns this season, the highest total for a Kansas State quarterback since 2004.

"I thought he did a really nice job," Wildcats coach Ron Prince said. "It was an unusual situation because he ran the ball so much and so well. . . . We didn't see a need to throw much (and) he did a lot of things well at the line of scrimmage."

CU coach Dan Hawkins said Kansas State is utilizing Freeman more on "designed runs. . . . He's another in a long line of guys (in the Big 12 Conference) who are awesome. He's the biggest of the bunch, but he can run."

Hawkins, on CU's three-game losing streak.

Etc.

* The CU-Missouri game on Oct. 25 in Columbia, Mo., will kick off at 4:30 p.m. MDT and be televised by FSN Rocky Mountain.

* Of the 26 signees in Kansas State's 2008 recruiting class, 15 were junior-college players.