GAMES: NON-CONFERENCE
BIG 12 SEASON | BOWL

BOWL COVERAGE: STORIES | MULTIMEDIA

MULTIMEDIA: STORIES
VIDEO | PHOTOS | AUDIO

Mark Mangino's second season as KU head football coach didn't start as he would have liked, as the Jayhawks fell to Northwestern in their rain-soaked season opener. KU bounced back, though, topping UNLV and earning revenge for a 1-point loss in the 2001 season. The Jayhawks then closed their non-conference season by holding off a pesky Wyoming team and trouncing Division 1-AA Jacksonville State

That momentum carried over to KU's first Big 12 Conference game — a blowout victory over No. 23 Missouri spearheaded by an outstanding defensive effort. That defense disappeared against Colorado, though, as the Jayhawks gave up 50 points in a tough overtime loss.

Once again, though, KU followed a close loss with a revenge victory. This time, the Jayhawks defeated the Baylor Bears, who had beaten KU in Waco, Texas, the previous season. That was the Jayhawks' last victory for a while, as KU lost both its next game to Kansas State and quarterback Bill Whittemore, who suffered an injury in the first quarter against the Wildcats.

True freshman Adam Barmann faced two unenviable tasks the next week — playing in his first collegiate game and taking on Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The Aggies' vaunted 12th Man crowd did little to rattle Barmann, but the Jayhawks' defense and turnovers cost KU a victory.

Barmann gained valuable experience for the 2004 season in losses to Nebraska and Oklahoma State before Whittemore returned for KU's regular-season finale, a victory over Iowa State that made the Jayhawks bowl-eligible.

The Jayhawks accepted an offer to play in the Tangerine Bowl, but that game didn't go as KU would have hoped. The North Carolina State Wolfpack trounced the Jayhawks, 56-26, behind the arm of future first-round pick Philip Rivers, but Kansas had built a solid foundation for the future.