North Carolina State clobbers Jayhawks, 56-26

Wolfpack quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 475 yards and five touchdowns.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers had a feeling early on during the Tangerine Bowl that his offense was going to produce against Kansas.
"You never do know if you're going to blow the doors wide open and just be hitting on everything," Rivers said. "But we felt coming in there were going to be some opportunities for big plays."
With the Atlantic Coast Conference's player of the year leading touchdown drives on the first three possessions, the Wolfpack beat Kansas 56-26 on Monday night. He passed for five touchdowns and 475 yards -- both Tangerine Bowl records -- while completing 37 passes on 45 attempts.
North Carolina State (8-5) never let up after jumping out to a 21-7 lead. By the end of the first quarter, Rivers already had 168 yards passing and all 20 of his yards rushing.
Rivers threw for scores of 6, 14, 3, 40 and 21 yards.
"We felt there were a lot of holes right behind the linebackers," Rivers said. "That's where we attacked early and it got us rolling."
Offensive attack
North Carolina State finished with 653 yards of offense, an average of 9.3 yards per play, and 34 first downs -- all Tangerine Bowl records.
"We didn't get anything done," said Kansas coach Mark Mangino, who couldn't lead the school to its first winning record since 1995. "We did not play well on defense at all. We should tackle better, we should cover better, we should play the run better."
The Jayhawks (6-7) surrendered 30 plays of 10 or more yards, and gave up 40 points for the fifth time this season.
After four stellar seasons leading the Wolfpack, Rivers is off to the NFL
"He's what they need and what they're looking for up there," North Carolina State coach Chuck Amato said. "He's going to make somebody a winner, because he is a winner. He's been that way since the day he showed up to our campus four years ago next month. He came in here and jumped right into it -- and that's what he'll do at the next level just the same."
In the days leading up to the game, Rivers insisted he didn't consider the Tangerine Bowl an opportunity to showcase his talents to NFL scouts. Instead, he wanted to have fun in the final game that he donned the red-and-white No. 17 -- a uniform retired last month by North Carolina State.
And it was nothing but smiles for Rivers since his arrival in Orlando last week. The fun began with a theme park visit that thrilled his toddler daughter and ended with 7:48 left in the game, when Rivers and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery were pulled from the game to the last standing ovation in their collegiate careers.
Strong showing
Cotchery set Tangerine Bowl records with 13 catches for 171 yards, and grabbed a pass for the 39th straight game to tie a school record. His 200 career receptions for 3,119 yards puts him in the 200-3,000 club alongside only Florida State's Peter Warrick.
"Those two young men deserve every accolade for every record they could possible do," Amato said of Rivers and Cotchery. "I said, as soon as they get the record, I want to call a timeout and I want those two to leave the field together."
Added Cotchery: "The only record I was aware of was tying the most consecutive games with a catch. When people started bringing up the other record, I got nervous. I haven't had any butterflies since my first game at NC State."
Although Kansas suffered its worst loss in nine bowl games, the Jayhawks said there were many positives to bring home -- beginning with the realization that the program has much to improve.
"We just need to get to work, and get faster and stronger," Kansas linebacker Banks Floodman said. "We're going to take a lot from this and take it into the offseason."
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