Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino released a prepared statement Sunday after officially learning that no bowl invited the Jayhawks to play another game this season.
“Obviously, we are all disappointed that we did not receive a bowl bid,” Mangino said. “However, we had 12 opportunities on the field this season to leave no doubt, and we did not get that accomplished. It is now time to move forward and learn from this experience.”
Fitting last words to a season full of what-ifs for Kansas, which finished 6-6 in a wild roller-coaster ride of a year. Though the Jayhawks were bowl-eligible, the Big 12 Conference had just eight bowl tie-ins for nine bowl-eligible teams. As expected, the Jayhawks were the odd team out, and no at-large bid was available to save them.
Oklahoma State, the other 6-6 Big 12 team, was invited to the Independence Bowl.
In the end, a numbers crunch eliminated Kansas. But as Mangino alluded to, there’s little arguing that Kansas ultimately eliminated Kansas first.
The Jayhawks blew five second-half leads this season, two of which were particularly devastating. A Sept. 15 game at Toledo slipped away after the Jayhawks turned the ball over in the first overtime when all that was needed was a field goal they already were in range for.
In addition, an Oct. 21 game at Baylor was crushing because KU had an 18-point lead with 9:22 remaining and lost, 36-35.
Kansas is only the second Big 12 team since 1999 to win six games and not go to a bowl. Texas A&M went 6-6 in 2002 and didn’t play in the postseason, though it was partly because school officials said ahead of time they wouldn’t accept a bid to the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, if invited.
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New commitment: KU’s first big weekend for official recruiting visits culminated with at least one commitment.
Kendrick Harper, a cornerback at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, gave a non-binding oral pledge to Kansas on Sunday, according to rivals.com. He told rivals he plans to cancel the rest of his visits and will shut down his recruiting.
Harper, a 5-foot-10, 185-pounder originally out of Hartwell, Ga., is expected to graduate from Butler this month and be at KU for spring practices. He’ll provide immediate depth to a cornerback position that was thin throughout the 2006 season.
In 12 games, Harper had 66 tackles. six interceptions and nine pass breakups. He chose KU over Iowa State, TCU and Memphis.
