COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 3 : Kansas Flawless in Rout of Northridge

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Well, it could have been worse.

Cal State Northridge’s 71-14 nonconference loss to Kansas before 33,300 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night ranks as the second-worst margin of defeat in Matador history.

Kansas (1-1), coming off a 48-13 loss at Notre Dame, rolled up 637 total yards, did not commit a turnover, punted only twice and permitted the Matadors only a glimpse of coming close in the first half while fulfilling most everyone’s expectation of a lopsided victory.

Henri Childs’ 72-yard punt return late in the first quarter gave Kansas a 17-0 lead. The Jayhawks extended the margin to 27-0 before the Matadors scored on a seven-yard scramble by quarterback Marcus Brady with two minutes left in the half.

Kansas, however, doused any Matador momentum with a 29-yard scoring pass from Dylen Smith to David Winbush with 50 seconds left in the half. Kansas led, 34-7, at the break and things grew progressively worse.

Northridge players and coaches tried to emphasize the positives--what little there were.

“The score will be in the newspapers tomorrow and we gotta go back home and face that,” fullback Jaumal Bradley said. “But we hit people hard, we ran the ball hard and we didn’t roll over for them.”

“I don’t feel disappointed or embarrassed,” defensive end Shawnbay Jones said. “We have to play people who are bigger and better than we are if we want to get better.”

Bradley rushed for a career-high 111 yards in 11 carries.

Brady, despite facing a heavy rush most of the game, engineered two lengthy touchdown drives punctuated with crucial completions to Drew Amerson and gains by Bradley.

Northridge (1-1), which was guaranteed $200,000 in revenue in February when the teams signed to play, emerged with no serious injuries.