When it comes to Kansas University football, one thing you can say about

first-year head coach Mark Mangino. If it doesn’t work, he tries to fix it. Of course, since Mangino can’t use the waiver wire, he has to shift personnel, like moving Leo Bookman to wide receiver and using place-kicker Johnny Beck on the kickoff return team.

Leo Bookman. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound sophomore from Dickinson, Texas, may be the Big 12 Conference’s fastest runner at 200 meters he’s the defending league champ both indoors and outdoors but the jury is still out on his football acumen. Bookman has washed out as a defensive back and at returning kickoffs, and all in the last three weeks.

Johnny Beck. He isn’t your place-kicking refugee off the soccer team. A standout defensive back at Kansas City Piper High, Beck packs a solid 220 pounds onto a 6-1 frame.

the Jayhawks’ running game. It’s consistent. KU rushed for 69 yards on 34 carries against Nevada-Las Vegas and 69 yards on 33 carries against Iowa State. If the Jayhawks average only 69 yards a game the rest of the way they’ll finish with under 1,000 yards rushing for only the second time in modern history.

opposing defenses. They’ll be using a lot of nickel packages against the Jayhawks. Nevada-Las Vegas coach John Robinson was so concerned about KU’s running game that he started with five defensive backs and stuck with that alignment.

the ball carriers. They don’t fumble. In two games, KU has been charged with just one fumble and it was covered by a Jayhawk.

the defensive platoon. They don’t cause fumbles. Neither Iowa State nor UNLV put the ball on the ground.

linebacker Banks Floodman. If he wasn’t the Jayhawks’ best defender, he was definitely in the top three. But Floodman tore an ACL in the opener and is done for the season. Injuries, as always, are part of the game of football. Oklahoma quarterback Jason White was last Saturday’s ACL victim. Maybe we should start a list.

the schedule. Playing the first two games on the road wasn’t what the doctor ordered. KU hadn’t played its first two games away from home since 1979. The Jayhawks went 3-8 that season.

quarterback Bill Whittemore. The 6-1, 190-pound junior from Nashville via Fort Scott Community College looks like he might be the best junior college transfer quarterback Kansas has had since Mark Williams in 1995. Time will tell, though, if Whittemore is as good as Williams or the next Dylen Smith.

the length of games. You never know how long they’ll last. The Jayhawks’ opener at Iowa State consumed only three hours in spite of TV timeouts. The UNLV game wasn’t televised yet drug on for 3 1/2 hours, thanks mostly to interminable ESPN Radio timeouts.

the secondary. It’s more vulnerable to right-handed quarterbacks. ISU’s Seneca Wallace threw for 234 yards, but UNLV southpaw Jason Thomas counted only 144 aerial yards.

the wide receivers. Kansas has a lot of them, but none has emerged as a deep threat. Still, it was encouraging when Marcellus Jones, a senior with only two catches prior to this season, caught seven passes against the Rebels. Jones isn’t fast, but reliability counts for something.

punter Curtis Ansel. He loves the wind. A native of Lakin out in southwest Kansas where a 40 mph gust is considered a mere zephyr, Ansel used the wind to his advantage in Vegas by blasting an 82-yard punt. More important, a third of Ansel’s nine kicks landed inside the Rebels’ 20-yard line.

the next opponent. Southwest Missouri State hasn’t defeated LaQuinta or Marriott or Sheraton, but the Bears did short-sheet Hampton, 28-26, last Saturday.