Gordon doesn’t mind role shifts

Charles Gordon should know by now to never unpack his luggage.

Once settled in at wide receiver, the Kansas University junior was needed at cornerback.

Once in his groove at cornerback, he was needed again at wide receiver.

It would seem a tiring and too unpredictable way to play college football.

But Gordon doesn’t mind a bit, even though records surely would’ve been shattered if he could’ve just stayed put at one position.

“I’ve always been a team player,” Gordon said. “Whatever coach feels can help the team best, I’m up for it.”

Gordon is back at wide receiver, providing a desperately needed spark to an offense that almost flat-lined in the beginning of the Big 12 Conference season.

In KU’s 44-13 loss to Colorado last week, Gordon caught eight passes for 85 yards, including a 40-yard bomb from Jason Swanson and a seven-yard touchdown reception just before halftime.

“It’s still fun,” Gordon said of the offensive duties. “Scoring that touchdown last week was fun.”

Gordon now has impressive career statistics both offensively and defensively. He has 87 receptions for 1,050 yards in his career, despite never solely being a wide receiver. He also has nine interceptions and 93 tackles on defense, despite never solely being a cornerback.

KU coach Mark Mangino has made no secret of Gordon’s situation — his jewel will play a lot of receiver today in KU’s noon game against Missouri.

“Charles retains things very well,” Mangino said. “There might be a route or two in practice that he needs some clarification on, but in the game against Colorado, I think he had one mistake when running routes. I think that’s pretty good for a guy who has just come over to the offensive side of the ball for the majority of the time in the past couple of weeks.”

¢ Good to be home: KU’s stretch of 42 days between games at Memorial Stadium is over, and the Jayhawks couldn’t be happier.

“We do play well at home, so that’s good,” Mangino said. “The downside is we haven’t been playing as well as we need to on the road. This is a good time to be home. We’re glad to be back.”

KU had three road games and a home game moved to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., since the last Lawrence game on Sept. 17. They went 0-4.

The Jayhawks are a different animal at Memorial Stadium, though, where they’ve won 11 of their last 15 games.

¢ This, that: KU still has impressive defensive statistics nationally, ranking second in the NCAA in run defense (74.7 yards per game) and third in tackles for a loss (9.57 per game). … Safety Rodney Fowler is tied for the Big 12 Conference lead with three interceptions. …