Waco, Texas ? What’s this? A Kansas University opponent’s fans razing a goal? Yes, indeed. And it wasn’t a geographical foe like Kansas State or Missouri.

It was lowly Baylor, the Big 12 Conference whipping boy, the school that has now won four of 49 league games since the conference was formed in 1997.

Oh, the ignominy of being the team that ended the Bears’ 29-game conference losing streak.

And what a way to lose, surrendering 11 points in the last three minutes, and bowing 35-32. To Baylor. How’s that for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?

When you lose the way the Jayhawks did Saturday in front of a smattering of fans Baylor officials liberally called the crowd 22,130 in the 50,000-seat stadium somebody has to take the blame. But who?

Was it place-kicker Johnny Beck, the new poster boy for the sophomore jinx? Beck missed his first two placements a field goal and an extra point and the Jayhawks never did overcome those two “wide rights.”

Do you blame coach Mark Mangino? With 1:18 remaining, it appeared Mangino was content to play a little too conservative and send the game, then deadlocked at 32-32, into overtime. Instead, Baylor had enough time to kick the winning field goal with :00.5 showing on the scoreboard clock (and when’s the last time you saw those digits on a football timepiece?)

No, you can’t blame Beck and you can’t point a finger at Mangino playing it close to the vest because Beck’s woes and Mangino’s conservatism would have been mentioned only in passing if the Jayhawks could have stopped the Bears.

Kansas went into this one with the lowest-rated defense in the Big 12 and proved it was oh-so-deserving of that low ranking. Baylor, the Big 12 cough-it-up leader, obliged by giving KU nine penalties, two interceptions and one fumble.

And what did the Jayhawks give the downtrodden Bears in return? How about 479 yards? And they did it mainly by making Baylor sophomore quarterback Aaron Karas look like NFL material.

Bottom line: If you can’t stop Baylor, who in the Big 12 can you stop?

Now let’s talk about the Kansas offense. Something Mangino said last week comes to mind. KU’s first year coach called quarterback Bill Whittemore “quite a weapon.”

No doubt about it. Whittemore is quite a weapon. In fact, he’s the Jayhawks’ ONLY weapon. Whittemore was nearly as good Saturday as he was in last week’s 43-33 win at Tulsa. In the wake of his 395-yard performance at Tulsa, the multi-talented juco transfer contributed 325 yards on Saturday.

If you have a quarterback who compiles over 700 yards of offense in two games and you split those two games, what does it tell you? That’s right. No defense.

Afterward, Mangino sounded like he was talking about the little girl with the curl because when the KU defense is good, it’s very, very good, but when it’s bad, it’s horrid.

“If you take away the big plays,” Mangino said, “our defense did a good job.”

That’s like saying if holes hadn’t been punched in the dam, there never would have been a flood. Hard to believe KU’s defenders could have recorded seven sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery, and still be chopped liver.

After surrendering 68 points combined in the last two games to sad sacks Tulsa and Baylor, the outlook for the second half of the season is scary.

Yes, the Jayhawks hit the point of no return Saturday six down and six to go, and the easiest half-dozen are history, just like Baylor’s south goal.