What’s to be made of a 4-7 season?

Is a team fresh off a bowl appearance supposed to be discouraged by it? Disappointed? Angry? Deflated?

Maybe so. But judging a book by its cover might be the wrong way to analyze Kansas University’s 2004 football team.

“If you’re looking at us purely by wins and losses,” coach Mark Mangino said, “you’ve missed the story with this team.”

In fact, disappointed may be the only accurate adjective to describe KU’s third season under Mangino. The Jayhawks aren’t angry. They’re not discouraged, and they certainly aren’t deflated.

But, what if? What if KU had held on after taking a 30-5 lead over Texas Tech, a game that turned into a 31-30 Red Raider victory? What if the offense would’ve clicked on just one more drive in one-possession losses to Northwestern, Nebraska and Iowa State? What if quarterbacks Adam Barmann, Jason Swanson and John Nielsen didn’t ALL get hurt when KU needed to strap it on and battle for a Big 12 North title?

A lot of questions, but Mangino isn’t interested in answering any of them.

“We don’t deal with what-ifs,” Mangino said, “and the reason why we don’t is because it takes too much energy.”

But Jayhawk fans really can’t help it. A 4-7 season was a bounce here, a kick there, and a break anywhere from being really good — say, 7-4 — with ease.

Part of the reason is that KU never started sluggish. In 11 games, opponents scored just 15 points on the Jayhawks in the first quarter — a safety, two field goals and a defensive touchdown. Slow starts can doom teams — just ask Missouri (21-0 at halftime) and Toledo (49-7 at halftime), both victims of KU’s quick spurts.

In fact, KU trailed at halftime in just three games (Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa State) and the largest halftime deficit the Jayhawks faced all year was 10-0 — at Iowa State on Oct. 30, after Barmann went down with a shoulder injury.

6Sports video: Big 12 honors 10 Jayhawks Coaches tap 10 Jayhawks for all-conference squads

All things considered, it’s hard to believe the Jayhawks finished with just four victories in 2004.

“It really is a team that had some adversity and tough breaks and fought hard to overcome them,” Mangino said. “A lesser ballclub, a lesser bunch of kids, would’ve given up a long time ago.”

Which has KU antsy when looking forward to next season. By the start of spring practice, all the quarterbacks are expected to be healthy, and with freshman Marcus Herford looking to be in the mix, it could be a four-man battle for the starting job between Barmann, Swanson, Herford and Brian Luke, the left-for-dead senior-to-be that heroically led KU to a 31-14 season-ending victory at Missouri.

Barmann has the experience, Luke has the strong arm, Swanson has the versatility, and Herford has the sky-high potential.

Mangino doesn’t know who will emerge to start yet. He’s not in a hurry to find out, either.

“I’m not ready to answer that,” he said. “We think we have a good situation.”

Many of the positions largely were unaffected by graduation, notably the all-important linebackers and running backs. Next year, KU could have a solid rotation of Nick Reid, Kevin Kane, Gabe Toomey, Banks Floodman and Mike Rivera at linebacker, while John Randle, Clark Green and Gary Green could spread out carries in the backfield.

So where does it put KU in the Big 12 North race, one that was begging to be won by anyone willing to step up this year?

Again, making predictions is putting the cart in front of the horse. Mangino’s not interested in speculating too much.

“We have to continue to just get bigger and stronger and develop the technical skills of our players,” Mangino said. “We have to keep developing players through our system. That’s important.”