Tom Amstutz knows good defense when he sees it.

In Kansas University’s 21-3 victory over Tulsa in last Saturday’s season opener, the Jayhawks certainly had it.

In Toledo’s 63-21 loss at Minnesota, the Rockets did not.

“I thought they were outstanding,” Amstutz, Toledo’s head coach and former defensive coordinator, said of KU. “Their team speed on defense was in the special range. They can run. Their linebackers played really well. It’s a really good, sound football team. The defense stood out. They made play after play. They stopped things before they could even get started.”

A week after shutting down Johnny Unitas Award candidate James Kilian, KU faces another standout quarterback in Toledo junior Bruce Gradkowski.

“His accuracy and throwing ability are unbelievable,” Kansas linebacker Gabriel Toomey said. “It’s going to be a great challenge. The coverage has to be very good and so does the pressure; they work with each other. We’re definitely going to have to get to the quarterback and get some pressure on him.”

KU did that against Tulsa, sacking Kilian seven times. That might not be so easy against Toledo, which has All-America candidate Nick Kaczur at left tackle.

If senior tight end Andrew Clarke returns to the lineup after missing the season opener because of an undisclosed injury, Gradkowski will have at least two dangerous targets.

Clarke caught 35 passes for 433 yards and eight touchdowns last season, while senior receiver Lance Moore led the nation with 103 receptions for 1,194 yards and nine TDs. Moore caught 10 passes for 99 yards in the season opener against the Gophers.

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Gradkowski was second in the nation last year when he completed 71.2 percent (277 of 389) of his passes for 3,238 yards and 29 TDs.

“They throw a lot of short passes,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “They throw quick screens. They like to dump the ball off. They’ll move the pocket around. A lot of it is short stuff, but he throws downfield, and he can hurt you with deep routes.”

The Jayhawks, who were torched for 412.6 yards and 30.5 points a game in 2003, are eager to prove that holding Tulsa to 141 total yards was no fluke.

“It’s very important,” Toomey said. “Coach Mangino, the defensive staff and all the players know that consistency throughout the year is important. They’re pressing that on us real hard.”

Toledo’s defense, meanwhile, will try to bounce back from a staggering loss to Minnesota in front of a national cable TV audience. The Rockets, who have seven freshman on their defensive two-deep, allowed more than 700 yards.

“I knew the challenges in front of us,” said Amstutz, whose team was picked to win the Mid-American Conference West after finishing 8-4 last season. “When you go in with that many new, young players against a team that’s definitely hitting on all four cylinders, primed up and really strong, those kinds of things can happen.”

KU’s offense wasn’t hitting on all cylinders last week when it mustered a meager 201 yards, and Mangino won’t allow his team to become overconfident based on last week’s scores.

“They’re a much better team than they played at Minnesota,” Mangino said of the Rockets. “We’re not taking this Toledo team lightly. We know what they can do.”