Kansas University has gotten into a nasty habit of digging its own grave.

The Jayhawks have fallen behind by two touchdowns in each of their last three football games, a trend coach Mark Mangino would like to stop when KU (2-5, 0-3 Big 12) plays host to Texas A&M (4-2, 1-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

“We just can’t continue to spot teams two touchdowns in the first quarter, so we’ve taken some steps to try and improve on how we get out in the first quarter and how we play in the first quarter,” Mangino said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “We’re going to start our practices with a little more intensity. That’s something we were highly focused on yesterday and will be the rest of the week.”

Mangino said he hoped having players fired up early in practice would carry over to the first quarters of games.

The Jayhawks’ pattern of starting slow began Sept. 28 at Tulsa, Okla., when the Hurricane stormed to a 13-0 lead.

All three phases of the game contributed to the deficit. First, kicker Johnny Beck missed a 53-yard field-goal attempt on KU’s first drive.

The Jayhawks’ defense gave up two big plays on Tulsa’s first two scoring drives. Hurricane quarterback Tyler Gooch completed a 30-yard pass and had a 22-yard run.

Kansas quarterback Bill Whittemore, meanwhile, fired some poor passes and also was the victim of dropped passes as he completed only four of 14 first-quarter passes. The junior finished 18-of-31 for 218 yards as Kansas rallied for a 43-33 nonconference victory.

The next week at Waco, Texas, Baylor took a 14-0 and went on to snap a 29-game Big 12 Conference losing streak with a 35-32 victory.

The Bears completed five passes of more than 20 yards, including two TDs, on their first-quarter scoring drives.

Once again, KU squandered an early scoring chance when Beck missed a 34-yard field-goal attempt on the Jayhawks’ second drive, which stalled when receiver Derick Mills dropped passes on consecutive plays from the BU 17.

Kansas' Brandon Perkins, right, and Jeff Reinert hook up as assistant coach Bill Young, background, offers encouragement. The Jayhawks on Tuesday moved the contact portion of drills earlier in practice in an attempt to jump-start the effort at the beginning of their games.

Kansas overcame the two-touchdown deficit for the second week in a row, but the Jayhawks couldn’t hold an eight-point lead in the final three minutes.

Last Saturday at Memorial Stadium, Colorado quarterback Robert Hodge completed two passes of more than 20 yards on CU’s opening drive, and running back Chris Brown added a 78-yard TD run as the Buffaloes claimed a 14-0 lead. KU helped with a Whittemore fumble in between.

Kansas rallied for the third week in a row and led 18-14 in the third quarter, but CU won 53-29.

KU’s coaches hope changing practice routines will change game results.

“We’ve changed the stretch routine,” Mangino said. “We’ve changed what we’re doing in the first half hour of practice. Instead of it being a learning and teaching period, we’re going to get after it and fly around and have some blitz drills and intense group drills. Then we’ll go back to teaching periods.”

Players of week: Mangino announced KU’s players of the week Tuesday. Whittemore and offensive lineman Justin Sands were selected as offensive co-players of the week. Whittemore had his third straight game with 300 or more total yards, and Mangino said the line played its best game of the season as Kansas netted 450 total yards. Defensive lineman David McMillan was the top defensive player with eight tackles, including a sack. Greg Heaggans, who had a 56-yard kick return, was the top special teams player.

Last in the Big 12: KU ranks last in the league in scoring defense (37.1 points per game), rushing defense (261.3 yards per game), passing defense (151.82 yards), total defense (460.1 yards), pass efficiency (99.7 rating), pass defense efficiency (134.3 rating) and opponent first downs (149).

Brown in front: CU’s Brown entered last Saturday’s game against KU as the Big 12’s leading rusher. His 309-yard performance improved his average to a 164.5 yards, which ranks first in the nation.

Ticket sale: KU announced Tuesday that it is offering a special ticket package for the Kansas State (Nov. 2) and Oklahoma State (Nov. 16) games. For $60 fans can purchase the “Two For Blue” mini-pack and receive a reserved ticket to each of those two games. Fans interested in ordering the mini-pack can call the KU ticket office at 1-800-34-HAWKS.