It was just another tough game for the KU quarterback, who's tough streak has coincided with the Jayhawks' losing their past four games and falling to 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12.
After adding a little bit of mystery to whether Reesing would be the starter for the game against K-State after he was benched in the fourth quarter last week at Texas Tech, KU coach Mark Mangino said Reesing's job won't be affected by the rivalry loss.
"He has just had a little bit of a streak of misfortune," Mangino said. "He is a great player and he gives us the best chance to win at that position."
Some doubt has also emerged around whether Reesing has been playing injured after Mangino said he was suffering from a groin injury last week. But Reesing denied that he is anymore injured than any other player at this stage of the season.
Instead, wide receiver Kerry Meier said his quarterback's difficulties have had to do with adjustments by opposing defenses.
"Defenses are keying on Todd and they are taking away the things that he is good at," Meier said. "I think they're keeping extra guys in the box, and maybe a spy on Todd, and preventing what he can do."
Reesing appeared to have difficulties throwing the ball deep in the first half, a gameplan the Jayhawks all but abandoned in the second half, including with his first quarter interception.
Looking for a target deep down the field in the first half, Reesing locked on to a receiver, but threw nowhere near his target and into the waiting arms of K-State safety Emmanuel Lamur.
Lamur said Reesing was easy to read at times, because he was going after the same receivers for the most part.
"I was basically just reading his eyes and I made a great play," Lamur said of his interception. "He was reading a lot of his top receivers and he kept a lot of the emphasis on those guys. We just had to keep our reads and get after him."
Reesing became the fifth player in Big 12 history to throw for 10,000 yards in a career on Saturday, but his performance had him clueless as to what is keeping him from performing at his typical level.
"I have no idea," Reesing said. "This week is probably the best week of practice we have had in a long time, and to come out on Saturday and not perform in the matter which you practiced is something I don't have an answer for."
Despite his quarterback's troubles, Mangino didn't take anything away from the Wildcats' performance on offense or defense.
The KU coach said he saw exactly what he expected out of a Bill Snyder-coached team.
"They played good smart football," Mangino said. "(They) took advantage of our miscues and capitalized on them, and played very well."
And although Reesing and other players said they felt like this was a game they could have won, and possibly should have won to get the season back on track, Meier said the Cats did everything they needed to win the game.
"They came in and established the run game and did it for four quarters, beat us up front, beat us in all areas of the game," Meier said. "They deserved to win today."
