Whether it’s bad luck or good luck depends on who you talk to.

But the younger brother of Kansas University quarterback John Nielsen will get more than he bargained for after buying a plane ticket from San Diego to Kansas.

James Nielsen planned to just catch a Jayhawk football game and hang out with his brother. Instead, James will watch big brother lead the Jayhawks against No. 6 Texas at 11 a.m. Saturday — something that didn’t seem possible just two weeks ago before starting quarterback Adam Barmann and backup Jason Swanson each went down because of injury.

James will be joined by one of John’s good friends this weekend.

“They booked those tickets not knowing I was going to play,” John Nielsen said with a smile.

But, improbably, Nielsen will start at quarterback Saturday, his first start at KU in his final home game. The senior actually hasn’t had many starts in his entire college career, which included two years at Palomar Community College in San Marcos, Calif.

There, Nielsen was a backup his freshman year, then split time in a two-quarterback system that helped take Palomar to the San Diego Bowl in 2002.

When it came time to pick another school, Nielsen became proactive. He sent game film all over the country, including a package to KU, where former junior-college teammate Sid Bachmann already was playing under coach Mark Mangino.

“He helped me out,” Nielsen said of Bachmann. “He gave me some advice on what I should do, and told me Kansas was a great place to come to.”

Kansas University walk-on John Nielsen will start at quarterback for the Jayhawks during Saturday's game against Texas at Memorial Stadium.

A lot of Division Two offers came his way, but Nielsen liked Mangino’s invitation to be a preferred walk-on at a Division I-A school.

He graciously accepted and became one of Mangino’s favorite scout-team players. With KU’s quarterback situation mired because of injuries and bizarre misfortune, it seemed Nielsen always was a hit or two away from being THE guy.

Saturday, it happened. After Swanson went down, Nielsen was thrown into the fire and passed for 183 yards and a touchdown in a 30-21 loss to Colorado.

Now, a full of week of preparation was designed for John Nielsen to be the starting quarterback. So can he one-up his performance against Texas?

“I’m very pleased,” Mangino said. “One of the things that has really impressed our staff is that he’s very poised and very much in control. He is looking at this as an opportunity. His college career is winding down, and this is an opportunity for him to make a mark on our program.”

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Whatever he does, Kansas will get its money’s worth. While Nielsen has spent countless hours on scout team, in practice, watching film and calling signals on the sideline on Saturdays, the out-of-state tuition bills have piled up for Nielsen and his family — the not-so-glorious side of being a walk-on.

“We’re doing the loan thing, now,” Nielsen said. “We’ll worry about it later.”

Mangino wants to pick up a little bit of the tab, though, saying Wednesday he plans to give Nielsen a scholarship in the spring, even though his eligibility will be exhausted.

“He has been about as loyal as you could possibly be,” Mangino said. “He never complains about anything. He’s just a model young guy that represents our program extremely well. It’s the least we could do for him.”

On Saturday, Nielsen will try his best to give thanks.