Seldom one to keep his emotions in check, Glen Mason blurted: “I still don’t believe it. It was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Mason was Kansas University’s football coach the day the Jayhawks staged the greatest comeback in school history. The date was Oct. 17, 1992. The place was Iowa State.

Saturday, as you know, KU rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to shock the Cyclones, but that turnaround bore little resemblance to that October ’92 stunner.

On that day in Ames, Iowa, the Jayhawks trailed by 26 points. And that was late in the third quarter, not halftime. Also, Kansas led early, cruising to a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In fact, early on many Iowa State fans must have wondered whether to leave at halftime or stick it out through three quarters. Then the Cyclones proceeded to score 40 straight points. That’s right. Forty.

Late in the third quarter, Iowa State led 47-21, and the ISU faithful had forgotten all about beating the traffic as they reveled in the euphoria of the Cyclones’ total domination.

No one – absolutely no one – had the slightest inkling that Kansas would outscore ISU, 29-0, over the last 17 minutes and win, 50-47. A shocker, indeed, and yet Iowa State might have held on if the game were played under contemporary conditions. But more about that later.

KU’s comeback began with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter when quarterback Chip Hilleary ran 17 yards for what seemed like a meaningless touchdown. But then, in the fourth quarter, Hilleary tossed TD passes to Dwayne Chandler and Matt Gay, and suddenly Kansas lagged by just five points.

Talk about a momentum shift. Surely, though, Iowa State would regroup. But, no : ISU quarterback Bob Utter fumbled on the first play after the kickoff, KU linebacker Larry Thiel picked it up and rumbled 37 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Ah, but did Utter really fumble? Many players on both teams had stopped because it appeared the ball had squirted out after Utter hit the turf. Yet the officials ruled it was indeed a fumble.

That was, of course, before televised replays became a part of college football, and I’m pretty sure a booth review of Utter’s fumble would have been overruled.

Then again, you can look at it from the standpoint that Iowa State had scored one of its touchdowns on a fumblerooski play in which the quarterback puts the ball on the ground for an offensive linemen to pick up. That play since has been outlawed.

Here’s another oddity: KU scored those 29 points in about 10 1â2 minutes. Thiel’s TD run came with 6:38 remaining. After the Jayhawks kicked off, the shocked Cyclones ran three plays and punted, and KU ran the last four minutes or so off the clock.

As Mason left his postgame news conference late that memorable afternoon, he looked back, smiled and quipped: “Oh, and one thing I didn’t mention. We were damn lucky, too.”

Saturday’s comeback against Iowa State was a dandy, but that ’92 flip-flop was a doozy.