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Kansas v. SMS:

David Mitchell: Bears hope to improve on last year's 6-5 season MP3 clip: Coach Mangino on playing in Lawrence play MP3 clip: Coach Mangino on SMS play 2001: KU fends off Bears - Kansas 24, Southwest Missouri State 10 Jayhawks' new offense makes debut against SMS 6Sports video: Jayhawks' offense still needs work SMS locker room: Bears kicker bemoans misses 2001 SMS game day photos SMS home page

Kansas opened 2001 by hosting Soutwest Missouri State, and was the occasion of the unveiling of Terry Allen's "no-huddle" offense. Aside from a few big plays, the Jayhawk offense had trouble rolling. SMS missed three field goals, and KU's defense ran back a Bear fumble for a touchdown. Kansas knocked off SMS 24-10 in one of only two games Terry Allen would win in the 2001 campaign (Tom Hayes was at the helm when KU beat Wyoming to end the season).

SMS plays in the Division I-AA Gateway Conference. Kansas has never lost to a Gateway Conference team, defeating SMS and Illinois State once each, Indiana State twice and Southern Illinois three times.

Except for Kansas, SMS does not have a losing record against any of the teams they face this season. However, SMS has not won a game against a Big 12 opponent in five tries (Missouri once, Kansas once and Oklahoma State three times). Against any Kansas school, SMS has compiled a 50-48-5 record.

SMS has played a total of 17 games against division I-A foes, defeating only UNLV in 1990.

SMS head coach Randy Ball, in his fourth season with the Bears and seventeenth Gateway Conference year overall, is the winningest coach in the history of the Gateway Conference. He compiled a 64-41-1 record at Western Illinois, and a 16-17 mark at SMS.

Last year he passed former Northern Iowa (and Kansas) coach Terry Allen for greatest number of conference wins.

This year, the bears are coming off their fist winning season since 1996.

Southwest Missouri State's first football season was in 1909, when Walter
Langston coached them to a 4-2 record. Except for 1913, 1943 and 1944, they have fielded a team every year, joining the Gateway Conference in 1985.