It would be understandable if Kansas University’s football program still had its share of doubters, because the Jayhawks have set their fans up for disappointment before.

KU started 4-1 in its first season under coach Terry Allen, but that 1997 team finished 5-6.

Once again, KU — which had Saturday off — is 4-1 after five games.

This time, the Jayhawks believe they’re for real.

“Our kids think they are pretty good,” second-year coach Mark Mangino said. “That is all that really matters.”

Kansas, which hasn’t had a winning season or made a bowl trip since 1995, finished 2-10 last year and didn’t win a Big 12 Conference game.

It’s early, but for now Kansas (4-1 overall, 1-0 league) sits atop the Big 12 North with Nebraska (5-0, 1-0).

“It’s night and day,” senior quarterback Bill Whittemore said after the Jayhawks knocked off then-No. 23 Missouri Sept. 27. “We feel we’re a different ballclub. I think we proved that today. It was a step in the right direction. We still have a lot to improve on.”

The Jayhawks have two weeks to prepare for an Oct. 11 game at Colorado, which lost Saturday to Baylor, 42-30. A victory in Boulder, Colo., would give the Jayhawks their first five-game winning streak since they started 7-0 in 1995 and move them within one game of qualifying for an elusive bowl berth.

“We’re not even thinking about that yet,” sophomore linebacker Banks Floodman said. “We’re thinking about Colorado.”

New mind-set

For the first time in a long time, the Jayhawks are thinking positive thoughts.

“They didn’t feel good about themselves when I arrived here,” said Mangino, who is trying to stop a streak of seven straight losing seasons. “Every coach has their own ways. There are a lot of ways to help build a program. We had to have great discipline, we had to be honest and fair with our players, but we also had to coach them in a positive manner.

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t get after them and at times have to coach them in a stern way. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. When you look at the big picture here and how we deal with our players and how we talk to them — we are positive. We have done everything we can to build up our players’ self-esteem. It is working.”

The Jayhawks still make plenty of mistakes, but miscues haven’t crippled the team the way they have in recent seasons.

In KU’s 35-14 victory against Missouri in front of a sellout crowd and a national TV audience, the Jayhawks shook off numerous early mistakes — including a missed extra point, a botched field-goal attempt and a dropped pass in the end zone by receiver Moderick Johnson.

“Nobody felt worse than Mo did,” Mangino said. “I went over to him and said, ‘OK, Mo. Come back and make a play now.'”

Johnson did. On KU’s next possession, the freshman kept a scoring drive alive by hauling in a nine-yard pass from Whittemore on fourth-and-five from MU’s 31.

“I think the main thing is, we don’t think as much in the sense of the bad thoughts,” Whittemore said. “We expect to win. We expect to go out there and have fun.”

Mangino’s staff tried to foster a positive attitude by helping the players “find success in the weight room and have them find success in the offseason programs.”

Coaches have continued to point out every positive they could find during the season. Kansas, for example, ranks second in the Big 12 and 10th in the nation in total offense.

“It’s important that anything you excel in, you highlight it with your players,” Mangino said. “You try and show them that if you invest the work and effort in something, these are the results. I’m not a coach who is tied up in stats a whole lot, but at our stage those are things that we can rally around. The kids see a result for investing hard work. It shows that we are making progress.”

Expectations rising

Receiver Brandon Rideau was one of many returning players who made strides during KU’s offseason conditioning program. The junior has 16 catches for 215 yards and two TDs in five games, compared to 27 catches for 307 yards and no scores in 12 games last year. The Texan also has shown a newfound knack for making big plays in traffic.

The Jayhawks also have felt the impact of numerous newcomers. Perhaps none has made a greater impact than sophomore linebacker Gabe Toomey, who leads the team with 60 tackles for an average of 12 a game.

The junior-college transfer leads the team out of the locker room before every game and has been a cheerleader on the field and on the sideline.

“He brings a lot to the table,” Whittemore said. “He just goes out there and has fun. I think that’s the main difference between this year and last year. We just go out there and have a good time. We worked hard all spring and summer. This is paydirt. This year we’re having fun and enjoying it.”

KU fans are enjoying it as well. The sellout crowd was KU’s first in two years, and students tore down both goalposts after the 21-point victory.

“That was big,” Toomey said. “That shows you can’t just overlook us. Their expectations are building a little, and we like that. We want their expectations to be higher so we can answer them every week.”

Not looking ahead

Those expectations could continue to grow. Of the 22 players who started for KU against Mizzou, only eight were seniors. Two of those — tight end Denver Latimore and defensive tackle Sid Bachmann — started in place of injured underclassmen who are expected to return to the lineup.

“We don’t look to the future,” said Floodman, one of three sophomore linebackers in the starting lineup. “We’re looking straight ahead right now. That’s not our motto at all — the future. It’s now. What we’re going to do now and how we’re going to prepare now. I think we’re doing a good job of that and staying focused.

“People can say what they want to say about this program. They can say we turned a corner. I think we turned a corner. I think we’re doing a great job. If we keep playing better defense and offense we’re going to surprise some people.”

The Jayhawks already have. KU was an underdog in each of its first four Division I-A opponents and won three of those games.

“The kids pulled together, Mangino said. “We have a close-knit group of kids. The closeness of the team and the fact they believe in one another and believe in what we are doing here has helped them tremendously. We have got a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction, and that is all I care about as a coach.”

— Sports writer David Mitchell can be reached at 832-6357.