Second-half collapses. Injury upon injury. A blow-up after a close loss to Texas. A 4-7 record after playing in the Tangerine Bowl the previous season.

The 2004 football season could have turned out better for coach Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks, but KU fans had to be happy with a team that was obviously improved from the year before, even without becoming eligible for postseason plays.

Victories over rivals Kansas State — the first in 12 years — and Missouri — on the road in the season finale — also gave the Jayhawk players, coaches and fans something to look back and admire about the 2004 season.

KU's season started on a great note with home wins over nonconference foes Tulsa and Toldeo. The Jayhawks appeared to keep that momentum in their first road game, leading the Northwestern Wildcats, 10-3, through three quarters. Unfortunately for Kansas, Northwestern came back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns and stole the victory.

The game was the first of four games in which KU lost second-half leads. The second was the next week at home against Texas Tech — a 30-5 lead just before halftime that turned into a 31-30 loss.

Kansas led Nebraska, 8-7, in the third quarter a week later before falling, 14-8, to the Cornhuskers for the 36th straight time.

The Jayhawks bounced back the next week with a 31-28 victory over Kansas State, but having the next weekend off didn't help against the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners, who trounced the Jayhawks, 41-10, in Norman, Okla.

KU started a three-game losing streak the next week — losing starting quarterbacks to injuries, that is.

Adam Barmann left a 13-7 loss to Iowa State with a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Jason Swanson. The junior-college transfer fell victim to the short-term curse on KU's signal callers the next week, leaving a 30-21 loss to Colorado with a shoulder injury of his own.

Walk-on John Nielsen started against Texas the next week, but left after suffering an ankle injury in the first half. Brian Luke replaced Nielsen and shone against the Longhorns, nearly leading KU to an upset of the No. 6-ranked team before a late pass interference call against Charles Gordon gave Texas and Vince Young one last chance, which they capitalized on for a 27-23 victory. After the game, Mangino went off about the call on Gordon. He later released a statement saying he regretted the remarks — but not before receiving national media attention for his comments. He also received a $5,000 fine from the Big 12 Conference.

Luke and the Jayhawks didn't let the last-second loss get them down for the next week, though. Not with a Border War battle against Missouri on the horizon. The Jayhawks stormed into Columbia, Mo., the next weekend and destroyed the Tigers, 31-14, for the second straight year — the first time since the inception of the Big 12 that one of the rival teams had won back-to-back games.