Jayhawks Return Home to Host South Florida

Sept. 20, 2006

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The University of Kansas (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) returns home Sept. 23 for its final non-conference matchup of the season as the Jayhawks host South Florida (3-0, 0-0 Big East Conference) in a nationally televised game on FoxSports Net. The Jayhawks have won their last eight games in Memorial Stadium and haven’t lost a non-conference game at home since the first contest of the 2003 season (Northwestern).

Kansas dropped to 2-1 on the season after falling 37-31 at Toledo on Sept. 15 in a double overtime thriller. The KU defense was stellar in the contest, particularly in the second half, when the Rockets were unable to gain a single first down. The Jayhawks outgained UT 391-237 in total offense, but were unable to overcome five turnovers.

South Florida enters its second-straight road contest with an umblemished 3-0 record after defeating McNeese State, Florida International and Central Florida earlier in the year. In USF’s most recent contest, the Bulls outscored UCF 17-7 in the second half for a 24-17 come-from-behind victory to keep their perfect record intact.

“Jim (Leavitt) has done a fantastic job there, starting that program from scratch,” said Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino at his Tuesday press conference. “It is remarkable what they’ve done. The university has made a commitment to put in resources and making it a Division I program and I think they have the right guy with Jim.”

— KU —