The Kansas Jayhawks made a bid for a stunning upset on Saturday, and the school was desperate to get people to the stadium to witness it.
The Jayhawks were 38.5-point underdogs at home Saturday against unbeaten Oklahoma, but the first half unfolded in surprising fashion. Kansas managed to hold the high-powered Sooner offense scoreless in the first half, taking a 10-0 lead into the locker room. Oklahoma did score a touchdown in the third quarter, but Kansas answered with another score of their own to take a 17-7 lead.
As it became apparent that Kansas was at least going to make a game of this, the school made a rather desperate bid to get some fans into half-empty Kansas Memorial Stadium. At halftime, the university sent out a message to the student body urging anyone with an unused ticket to get down to the game.
Things only escalated from there. In the third quarter, Kansas opened up the stadium to anyone in town, no ticket required.
The Jayhawks had good reason to try to get more fans in. As ESPN showed in a series of photos, the crowd started out sparse and didn’t fill in all the way, even by halftime.
It’s a somewhat sad state of affairs that the Jayhawks have to resort to these measures. Still, this is a football program that has generated so little excitement over the years. They might as well try to make the best of it — as long as the power doesn’t go out again, at least.
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