Kansas University’s second- and third-string football players might be salivating at the chance to play Saturday night against Jacksonville State.

Not so fast.

“What we want to do is establish ourselves in the game and play well with our ones (starters),” KU coach Mark Mangino said Monday during the Big 12 teleconference. “If we do what we are supposed to do and play smart football, then we may be able to get our backup kids some work. We are at the stage in our program where our first team still needs a lot of work. We have to continue to get better.”

The Jayhawks (2-1) have gone down to the wire in two of their first three games. KU had a chance to force overtime in a 28-20, season-opening loss to Northwestern before fumbling on the final play of the game. Saturday at Wyoming, Mangino had to play his starters in a 42-35 victory after the Cowboys sliced a 21-point lead to seven in the final minutes.

That likely won’t be the case against Division I-AA Jax State (1-1), which is coming off a 28-16 home loss to Division II North Alabama. But with eight new starters on defense and a revamped offensive line, Mangino wants to work out any problems with his starting lineup in the Jayhawks’ final nonconference game.

KU’s starters have seen most of the action. Starting quarterback Bill Whittemore, for example, has taken 188 of 192 snaps.

“We want our first team to play very well and do what they are supposed to do — play mistake-free football and play smart football,” said Mangino, whose team opens conference play Sept. 27 with a home game against Missouri. “If we do that, we will have the opportunity to play some other kids, but I’m not looking at it that way. I am looking at this game as a way to get tuned up and get prepared for Big 12 play.

“I’m not going to look ahead to playing backups until I know we can win this game with our front-line players and do the things we need to do.”

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Climb every other mountain: KU fans might never know entirely how well the Jayhawks might fare in the Mountain West Conference. The Jayhawks — who already defeated MWC members UNLV and Wyoming — were originally scheduled to face a third team from that league Saturday at San Diego State. But KU paid SDSU $50,000 to buy out that contract and instead will pay Jacksonville State $250,000 for this weekend’s home game.

Kansas quarterback Bill Whittemore scrambles against Wyoming during Saturday's 42-35 victory. The Jayhawks might have an opportunity to give their reserves extended playing time Saturday night against Division I-AA Jacksonville State. Whittemore has taken 188 of 192 snaps through three games.

San Diego State is 2-1. Its only loss was a three-point setback at Ohio State.

“We didn’t want to make another trip to the West Coast,” Mangino said. “We didn’t feel it was in the best interest of our players and our program and wanted to play as many games at home as we possibly could. That’s what we need to do at this stage in our program.”

The Jayhawks didn’t appreciate the fact that oddsmakers made KU underdogs against UNLV and Wyoming.

“Our kids have pride and took it personally,” Mangino said. “I think that it helped with the motivation. The bottom line is that no matter whether you are the favorite or an underdog — you have to show up, and you gotta play well and you gotta play smart football. That’s our approach to Saturday’s game.”

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Big plays: Whittemore has thrown five touchdown passes of more than 25 yards. The only problem with KU’s quick scoring drives is that KU’s defense gets little time to rest.

Hear Mark: Sept. 15 Big 12 teleconference

“What we need to focus on now is that we are scoring on big plays and we are putting our defense on the field for a lot of plays,” Mangino said. “This has happened a couple weeks in a row, and what we need to do is for our defense to go out there and get three-and-outs and give the ball back to the offense. If not, they are out there longer than they ought to be. It’s an area we will focus on this week.”

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KU-MU game on TV: Big 12 Conference officials confirmed Monday the Kansas-Missouri football game Sept. 27 at Memorial Stadium will be televised. Kickoff will be at 11:40 a.m.

Fox Sports Midwest has had the KU-MU game listed on its schedule for the last two weeks. FSM is Sunflower Broadband channel 51.

Other Big 12 games scheduled for TV that day are Pittsburgh at Texas A&M (2:30 p.m., ABC) and Tulane at Texas (6 p.m., TBS).

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Last chance: Kansas season-ticket holders have one last chance to collect their Pure Blue gift bags. The gift bags can be picked up from 4 p.m. Saturday until kickoff at the Fun Zone (located on the tennis courts southeast of Memorial Stadium). Once the game begins, the bags will be distributed on the concourse in Section 32 underneath Memorial Stadium through the end of halftime.

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Odds and ends: KU has scored 40 or more points in consecutive games. The Jayhawks haven’t done that three games in a row since 1996. … Sophomore Mark Simmons has caught a touchdown pass in all three games. … KU’s defense also has scored a TD in each game. … Kansas has scored five third-quarter TDs while giving up one. Conversely, KU has scored one fourth-quarter TD while allowing five.