The message boards may be going nuts. Fans may be questioning Kansas University football coach Turner Gill’s ability to get the job done.

But we learned Friday that Gill has an ally in the form of an old friend.

Former Nebraska University football coach Tom Osborne, the man who coached Gill in the 1980s and instilled so much of his beliefs into the first-year KU coach opened up to The Des Moines Register about his recent conversations with Gill.

After turning around the University of Buffalo football program in just four years, Gill has gotten off to a rough start at Kansas. His Jayhawks are just 2-5 overall and that includes a three-game losing streak that has been among the worst in school history.

In three consecutive games, the Jayhawks were outscored, 159-24, by Baylor, Kansas State and Texas A&M.

The Jayhawks play at Iowa State (4-4) on Saturday, where Gill will employ the services of juco transfer Quinn Mecham to be his starting quarterback, as starter Jordan Webb and backup QB Kale Pick are both out with injuries.

The game will not be televised, marking the first contest in 23 games to suffer such a fate.

For all the gameday action including, photos, updates from Ames, Iowa and analysis and reaction, log on to KUsports.com on Saturday.