Picture a classroom full of kids piling on a teeter-totter, trying to figure out who should go on which side to balance it out and have everyone hanging in mid-air.

Picture Charles Gordon as the 300-pound kid who’s making the seesaw a lopsided mess.

That’s what has been going on with the Kansas University football team the last two seasons. If the offense is strong, the defense isn’t. If the defense is strong, the offense isn’t.

And, it seems, Charles Gordon is on whatever side is showing the most strength.

Gordon, a cornerback and wide receiver, has one glaring fault that has hurt the Jayhawk football team to no end the last two years: He doesn’t have a twin.

KU coach Mark Mangino said prior to the season that Gordon primarily would play cornerback this year because that’s where the team needed him most. It obviously was the right call at the time, especially considering the problems KU’s defense faced last year while Bill Whittemore and the high-flying offense carried the 2003 Jayhawks to the Tangerine Bowl.

But what about now? It’s obvious where the 2004 team’s strengths — and weaknesses — are, and it wouldn’t be silly to wonder if moving Gordon back to offense might balance the teeter-totter out a little better. Right now, you have an anvil on the defensive side, and a feather on the offensive side.

Mangino hasn’t dismissed the idea, at least temporarily. In Saturday’s 13-7 loss to Iowa State, Gordon sat out a significant number of plays on defense for the sole purpose of having him available on offense. He saw lots of time on the field when KU had the ball, though he caught only three passes for 18 yards and ran two razzle-dazzle plays with minimal success.

And, despite the limited time on defense, Gordon still intercepted a first-quarter ISU pass Saturday, one that was dangerously close to the end zone.

So what’s a coach to do with this talent?

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“We do need him on defense,” Mangino said Sunday. “As you can tell, he’s one of our top players on that side of the ball.”

But couldn’t that be said about him offensively, too?

Of course, Gordon’s full-time absence isn’t the reason KU’s offense is begging for a life jacket these days. The graduation of Whittemore and offensive lineman Adrian Jones stung a lot more than anyone expected. This year’s offense has chronic stage fright on the road. On Saturday, the injuries to running back John Randle and quarterback Adam Barmann were notable blows.

But there’s little doubt the offense needs any play-maker it can find, and Gordon certainly has proven capable of making things happen. As a red-shirt freshman last year, Gordon was Whittemore’s go-to guy, catching 57 passes for 769 yards and five touchdowns.

Saturday’s game was a rare exception to the season-long trend of Gordon’s use. Iowa State’s passing attack was weak, and the Cyclone defense was strong enough to rattle KU’s offense endlessly at Jack Trice Stadium. Even with KU’s other cornerback, Theo Baines, out with an injury, Gordon really wasn’t needed in the secondary. Ronnie and Donnie took over cornerback duties, and even they didn’t do anything special Saturday. They didn’t have to.

Despite the uniqueness of the Iowa State matchup, you can’t help but wonder if Gordon should start spending more time on the offensive side of the ball.

It still might not matter, though. As lopsided as the Jayhawks are these days, even a figurative behemoth like Charles Gordon might not be able to balance out this teeter-totter.