Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino wishes he had more players like running back Clark Green.

âÂÂIf we could have another Clark Green on the other side of the ball, that would be a real help to our team,â Mangino said after the Jayhawksâ defense allowed 549 yards – 397 passing – in a 55-20 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Alas, the two-way player is a thing of the past at KU, so Green did all his damage on offense in the season finale. The red-shirt freshman from Tampa, Fla., had his best game of the season with 160 yards rushing on 29 carries and four receptions for 55 yards.

âÂÂClark Green is not a real big guy,â Mangino said of the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder. âÂÂHeâÂÂs not a real fast guy, but he has the heart of a lion. HeâÂÂs a tough son of a gun. He personifies what weâÂÂre trying to make this program be âÂÂ:quot; tough, gritty, hard-nosed, playing hard every snap.âÂÂ

GreenâÂÂs 30-yard run set up his own 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. On a second-quarter drive, Green had a 37-yard run and a 24-yard reception that set up Johnny BeckâÂÂs 42-yard field goal just before the end of the first half.

Green said he did a better job of finding the holes.

âÂÂThatâÂÂs something weâÂÂve been working on in practice, hitting the holes hard, looking up and following your block,â he said.

Green finished his first season as KUâÂÂs leading rusher with 753 yards and four touchdowns. He ranked as the Jayhawksâ season-leading receiver and set a single-season school record for catches by a running back with 37 for 408 yards.

The Jayhawksâ season ended earlier than KUâÂÂs Big 12 Conference foes. The 11 other Big 12 teams each have at least one regular-season game remaining, and eight are bowl-eligible.

Mangino said he hoped to take advantage of the early finish by getting a jump start on recruiting, and heâÂÂll look for more hard-nosed players like Green.

KUâÂÂs returning players, meanwhile, will start offseason conditioning Monday.

âÂÂWe have to take advantage of it,â Green said. âÂÂWe have to get an early jump on the other teams that have bowl games. ItâÂÂs going to be real important because we have a lot of young people coming back who need to get bigger, stronger and faster.âÂÂ