Kansas University had been sorely lacking in big plays from its defense and special teams.

Both units delivered Saturday night at Memorial Stadium as the Jayhawks (1-2) claimed their first victory of the Mark Mangino era  a 44-24 rout of Southwest Missouri State (2-1).

“The key to the game was special teams,” SMS coach Randy Ball said. “They had them, and we didn’t.”

Division I-AA Southwest Missouri State nearly matched Division I KU in offense. Kansas netted 314 yards on 67 plays, while SMS had 295 on 69. Time of possession also was close with KU holding the ball for 31:52 to 28:08 for SMS.

The difference, as Ball said, was the Jayhawks’ 260 return yards, 133 more than the Bears.

Kansas claimed its first lead of the season when freshman Greg Heaggans returned the game’s opening kick 100 yards for a touchdown.

Mangino started the season with Big 12 sprint champion Leo Bookman returning kicks, and gave true freshman Jon Cornish a chance last week against Nevada-Las Vegas before handing the duties over to Heaggans in the second half.

Bookman and Cornish had both struggled with fielding kicks, and Heaggans gave KU fans an anxious moment Saturday when he bobbled the opening kick on the 1-yard line.

“I thought, ‘Uh oh, another guy dropping the ball,'” Mangino said. “He took a disaster and made something out of it.”

Heaggans, a red-shirt freshman from Kansas City Schlagle, returned four kicks for 195 yards, shattering the school single-game record of four for 153 set by John Hadl in 1959.

The Jayhawks’ second possession, however, set up an SMS score when Bill Whittemore’s first pass of the game was intercepted by Tim Meyer, who returned it four yards to the KU 38. Tailback Steve Ennis scored three plays later to tie the game at 7-all.

Ennis and starting quarterback Ryan Porter both were knocked out of the game by injuries. Ennis had 86 yards rushing when he left the game late in the third quarter.

Whittemore put KU back on top in the second quarter. His 24-yard run highlighted a short scoring drive, which was capped by his own 7-yard run.

Unfazed, SMS tied it again with an 11-play drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. Porter lobbed a pass over defensive back Donnie Amadi, and Tony Hill hauled in the 14-yard TD pass in the end zone for a 14-14 tie.

KU seized the halftime lead, though, when red-shirt freshman Clark Green sparked a 10-play drive. The red-shirt freshman running back had a 12-yard run and caught two passes for 48 yards on the drive, which was capped by Whittemore’s 2-yard run with 50 seconds left in the half.

“We got the running game going a little bit,” said Mangino, whose team’s 202 yards rushing were more than KU gained in the first two games combined. “Clark Green looked sharp.”

Green and Whittemore were both making their second starts at Kansas. Green rushed for 131 yards and two TDs and led KU with four receptions for 54 yards. Whittemore finished 10-of-18 for 112 yards with two interceptions.

There were plenty of turnovers to go around. KU’s defense had only one takeaway in the first two games, but the Jayhawks forced turnovers on Southwest Missouri State’s first two possessions of the second half.

Cornerback Remuise Johnson picked off his second pass of the season to halt the Bears’ first drive. Later, linebacker Glenn Robinson forced a Porter fumble that linebacker Leo Etienne scooped up at the 1-yard line and ran into the end zone.

“We need to force more turnovers,” Robinson said. “We talk about that every day.”

KU returned the favor, though, when Bookman fumbled a reverse and SMS took over at KU’s 31. The Bears converted that mistake into Brian Long’s 23-yard field goal.

Whittemore gave the ball right back when Carlos Banks intercepted a pass and returned it to KU’s 24. Backup tailback Zach Dechant carried three straight times, including an 8-yard TD to pull SMS within 27-24 with 2:51 left in the third quarter.

Heaggans came to the rescue, however, with a 52-yard kickoff return, which eventually led to Green’s 9-yard touchdown run.

“I knew I wasn’t going to see the field this year,” said Heaggans, who was moved from receiver to defensive back last week and doesn’t expect to play much on that unit either. “I wanted to contribute some way. I love running the ball.”

Another special teams play sparked KU in the fourth quarter. Johnson returned a punt 34 yards to the SMS 13, and Green scored on the next play.

KU sophomore Johnny Beck completed the scoring with a 37-yard field goal with 1:23 to play.

The Jayhawks know that a tougher test awaits next week when they play host to Bowling Green. The Falcons clubbed Missouri, 51-28, on Saturday.

“We know who we played tonight,” Mangino said. “This was a game we were expected to win, and we did.”