While the search continues for the elusive 1995 Colorado tape, here is a game that was probably just as significant and even more dramatic: KU vs. Iowa State on Nov. 26, 2005.

If you remember, both teams had a lot to play for. ISU just needed to beat KU to earn its first-ever bid into the Big 12 championship game.* The Jayhawks, meanwhile, needed a win to become bowl-eligible.

* — Iowa State, if you were wondering, still has never reached the Big 12 championship game in football. Neither has KU, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Not only that, there were whispers that KU coach Mark Mangino might be coaching for his job in that game. Going into the contest, Mangino was 17-29 in his four years at KU and was on the verge of his fourth straight losing season.

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If Brian Luke wouldn’t have pulled out his Superman cape against the Cyclones, would Mangino still be the coach at KU today? How would history have changed? I guess we’ll never know for sure.

Of course, we all know how things turned out. After beating ISU, KU’s Jason Swanson did his best Joe Montana impression in the Fort Worth Bowl, throwing for 307 yards and four touchdowns as the Jayhawks rolled Houston, 42-13.

Perhaps the ISU game was the turning point for Mangino and his program. Since then, the coach is 28-12 (.700) at KU, and it’s hard to complain about those numbers.

The highlights of the game are below.*

* — Sorry for the poor sound quality. I had to adjust the volume so you could hear some of Kevin Romary and Chip Budde’s commentary.

Some thoughts:

• Wow, those were some ugly throws early from Swanson. It’s hard to believe that was the same guy that tore up Houston in the very next game.

• What would a Jayhawk Flashback be without an Aqib Talib interception? Here’s hoping he gets everything else sorted out so that we see more of him in the NFL. With the way commissioner Roger Goodell has been cracking down on players lately, I’m guessing Talib might face a suspension of about four games for his most recent off-the-field actions.

• That throwback pass to the tight end should look familiar. We saw the same play in our KU-Texas flashback from 2004 and our KU-Missouri flashback from 2003.

• Two really nice throws in a row late by Brian Luke, with both coming in heavy traffic. With KU down 21-14 and just 1:51 remaining, Luke led the Jayhawks on a four-play, 58-yard touchdown drive. Also of note: The touchdown catch was the first reception of Dexton Fields’ KU career.

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• “Boom goes the dynamite!” I love it. Great call by Chip.

• Just an FYI to avoid confusion: ISU kicker Bret Culbertson’s 41-yard field-goal attempt was in the first overtime, not at the end of regulation. His miss gave KU the opportunity to win the game in the first OT with just a field goal.

• Iowa State fell to 7-4 with the loss. Three of the Cyclones’ losses came in overtime.

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• Coach Mangino on reaching a bowl game: “We just want to play another game. Whoever will have us, we’ll come with a smile on our face and gratitude.”

• A note from Ryan Wood’s notebook: At 6-5 with a bowl game to play, KU was assured of its first non-losing season since joining the Big 12 Conference. The Jayhawks were 10-2 in 1995, then finished below .500 in the nine seasons to follow. That included the 2003 Tangerine Bowl team that finished 6-7 with the bowl-game loss.

The contest was also the final home game for linebackers Banks Floodman, Kevin Kane and Nick Reid.

• As Chip mentioned in the broadcast, the goalposts came down for the third straight home game.

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The posts also were knocked over after a 13-3 win over Missouri and a 40-15 triumph over Nebraska.

KU finished with a perfect 6-0 record at home that season.