It’s rare for the Mark Mangino to approach the media with an aura of embarrassment.

But it has happened.

It happened 10 months ago, in fact, after thousands watched the Kansas University football team play in the Tangerine Bowl on national television.

There, North Carolina State had its way with KU’s defense, picking apart the secondary, dominating the line of scrimmage and leaving onlookers wondering if the game would be more fair if KU had 15 defenders on the field that night instead of the normal 11.

The Wolfpack scored 56 points on the Jayhawks — many of them too easy simply to give credit to N.C. State. Mangino faced reporters afterward, unsatisfied with the fact his program made enough strides to do the unthinkable to begin with — make it to a bowl game after a 2-10 season in 2002.

Instead, he seemed ashamed.

“We didn’t play well on defense at all,” Mangino said after the 56-26 loss. “There’s no excuses. We should be better.”

Mangino mentioned more than once that night his eagerness to get going with offseason workouts, which still were a month away.

The defense needed work, and anyone with an eye on KU football knew it.

Kansas University defenders Gabe Toomey, left, and David McMillan celebrate as time runs off the clock late in the Jayhawks' 31-28 victory over Kansas State. Toomey and McMillan have helped KU's defense -- a liability last season -- become a strength this year.

Since that night, the change has been monumental. The 2004 Jayhawks are led by a defense that hurries quarterbacks, handcuffs receivers and pummels running backs destined to rack up postseason honors.

It’s exactly what was lacking from last year’s 6-7 team, which tried to score a fair amount of points and hang on for dear life.

This year, the defense is the strength and the facet that has kept KU in every game it has played.

“Everybody’s just on the same page,” safety Tony Stubbs said. “Everybody’s talking and communicating out there, and that’s what’s really helping us.”

Turnovers

Forcing turnovers has been the strength of KU’s stout defense in 2004. Statistically, the Jayhawks are about twice as good this year at taking the ball away than they were last year.

The stat is a bit spooky, in fact: In 13 games in 2003, the Jayhawks intercepted 12 passes and recovered seven fumbles.

This year, through just six games, the Jayhawks have intercepted 12 passes and recovered — you guessed it — seven fumbles.

Personnel could have something to do with the boost in interceptions. Defensive backs Theo Baines and Rodney Harris have combined for three picks this year, and neither played for the Jayhawks last year. In addition, cornerback Charles Gordon has three interceptions, and he spent much of his time on offense last year.

“Everybody’s just running to the football, running downhill and trying to make plays,” said Stubbs, who has two picks. “We just keep trying to get turnovers like we are.”

Mangino, an offensive specialist in past assistant-coaching gigs at Oklahoma and Kansas State, elected to move Gordon primarily to cornerback after last season, despite his unquestionable success as a wide receiver his freshman year.

Transfers

It proved that Mangino’s offseason vow to make KU a respectable defensive team was sincere. And Mangino’s trust in the defensive staff — including defensive coordinator Bill Young — seems to have paid.

“They always kept the faith in the kids,” Mangino said, “even in the first couple of years when we struggled and we couldn’t stop my grandmother’s cat.”

KU’s coaching staff had to find quick fixes after two years of defensive futility under Mangino. The obvious answer was the junior-college ranks, where three players have arrived in Lawrence and immediately made a large impact on defense.

Jermial Ashley has been one of KU’s most pleasant surprises this year. At defensive end, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Ashley has been a playmaker on a defensive line that badly needed one. So far, Ashley has picked up a pair of sacks, recorded six tackles for losses, recovered a fumble and blocked a crucial field-goal attempt against Kansas State.

In addition, his wingspan and height have enabled him to break up six passes at the line of scrimmage. No defensive back on the Jayhawks has broken up as many as Ashley.

Not that the secondary has any complaints about it.

“Not at all,” Stubbs said. “That’s making it easier on us. When he’s batting the ball on line of scrimmage, that’s helping us out.”

Ashley also is an example of what Mangino wants to see more of: a transfer who joins the team in the spring. Ashley came from Tyler Community College in Texas this January and participated in spring workouts and summer conditioning.

He wasn’t alone.

Kansas University's Kevin Kane tackles Nebraska's Cory Ross in the first half of the Jayhawks' 14-8 loss to the Huskers on Oct. 2. Kane is part of the Jayhawks' standout linebacking corps.

Baines and Harris also showed up in the spring, giving the three an added boost in getting comfortable with Division One football.

“It helped a lot,” Ashley said. “You don’t get thrown into things real fast. You can kind of work your way into it.”

As a result, the early success of Ashley, Baines and Harris isn’t too much of a surprise.

“That’s one of the advantages of coming at semester,” Mangino said. “You understand the expectations and how we operate. You get spring practice. You’re tied into the summer program because you’ve been here.”

Other transfers have given the Jayhawk defense depth, too, including defensive end Charlton Keith, who has added a tackle for a loss and two fumble recoveries in a backup role.

Returning players

The linebacker position has been thought of as KU’s defensive strength in the Mangino era, and it still may be, but this year’s defensive unit is stronger as a whole because the line and secondary seemed to have closed that gap.

The defensive line has a good combination of senior leadership (David McMillan, Travis Watkins, Greg Tyree), talented transfers (Ashley, Keith) and solid up-and-coming freshmen (Todd Haselhorst, James McClinton).

The linebackers, meanwhile, are led by four juniors, notably Nick Reid, a Derby native who is the Big 12 Conference’s leading tackler with 60 on the season. He has two sacks, nine tackles for a loss, an interception and a forced fumble this year, too.

Reid, Kevin Kane, Gabe Toomey and Banks Floodman have combined to continue KU’s strong play at linebacker, a necessity for a tough, consistent defense. With improved play at defensive line and among the defensive backs, the sum is what KU fans are seeing now: lots of turnovers, and lots of opportunities for the Jayhawks to win football games.

Through six games, KU has three victories by a combined 70 points and three losses by a combined 10 points. Defense hasn’t been a liability in any game this season.

Can it continue?

Success breeds confidence, and it seems apparent on KU’s defense this year.

After dominating Tulsa in a season-opening 21-3 victory, the Jayhawk defense has continued to flourish, pummeling Toledo, handcuffing Nebraska and doing a great job of containing K-State’s Darren Sproles, a Heisman Trophy candidate.

The meat of the schedule still is upcoming, though. KU travels to No. 2 Oklahoma on Saturday. In addition, No. 9 Texas and a road game with rival Missouri — the Big 12 North leader — remain on KU’s schedule.

But the advantage of having an active defense is that it seems no game will slip away to an insurmountable deficit — like last year’s 30-point loss to North Carolina State in the Tangerine Bowl, which had Mangino longing for a change in team strength.

This year, the defense is giving the offense every opportunity to send KU back to another bowl game. A 3-2 mark the rest of the season will all but assure it.

“We’ve been doing a good job,” Stubbs said. “We just need to keep it going.”