Kansas football coach Mark Mangino promised before the college football season began that his Jayhawks would play hard for four quarters.

On Saturday night Mangino, for the first time as a head coach, told the media his players did not do that.

“I told our players I’ll never lie to them, and I’ll never lie to you folks either, and you have to call what you see,” Mangino said of his team letting up after halftime of a 39-16 loss to Bowling Green at Memorial Stadium.

“Tonight was the first night that it showed that we have some areas that we have to be mentally tougher in. We had some adversity, and we didn’t respond well to adversity.

“I can’t stand up here and tell you we did a good job and we were just outplayed. That makes me a liar and I’m not going to do that.”

Mangino’s players agreed they lacked effort the final two quarters.

“I think everybody basically gave up,” freshman linebacker Nick Reid said. “We didn’t play to the end like we should have, or like we did the three previous games.”

Mangino criticized nearly every aspect of his team:

“Our wide receiver play is inadequate.

“Our secondary play is soft.

“I’ll be honest with you, Bowling Green just flat whipped us up front.

“I’m disappointed with the mental toughness of our defense tonight.

“Glory’s fleeting isn’t it,” Mangino also uttered about the woes in a kicking game that played a vital role in KU’s victory last week against Southwest Missouri State.

Mangino said those type of mental mistakes are costing the Jayhawks an opportunity at victory.

“That’s not good enough for any team at any level,” he said.

Several of the Jayhawks said Mangino was relaxed in his postgame meeting with the team, but they too expressed disappointed in what seemed like a different attitude in the second half.

“There were a couple of guys here and there that had that sad, dog-face look,” said linebacker Greg Cole. “I just tried to keep motivating people.”

That was tough to do on a defensive unit that gave up 503 total yards.

“We played good at times,” defensive back Johnny McCoy said. “But it seems like any time we have a sudden change we let down on defense.”

Mangino said all the mistakes made Saturday were correctable.

“We’re constantly working with our kids about what it takes to be a winner, and how winners react to adversity,” he said. “There’s no question, whatsoever, that the attitude, working on attitude and mental toughness and expecting to succeed rather than waiting for something bad to happen, those are the key issues.”

And Saturday night, KU failed.

“We have to play four quarters strong,” Cole said. “Can’t have no mental breakdowns.”