Jayhawks head to Las Vegas

Friday, Sept. 6, 2002 | 1:36 a.m.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. AP) - A 45-3 clobbering at Iowa State in his head coaching debut enabled Mark Mangino to identify where Kansas needs to improve.

"There isn't an area of our team that we don't need to improve in, offensively, defensively and in the kicking game," Mangino said. "We studied the game tape of week one very carefully, as a staff and with our players. We realize that we have a lot of things that we need to get done and to improve upon."

It would help if the Jayhawks could stay home for game No. 2 of the Mangino era. But the schedule calls for a trip to Las Vegas to take on a UNLV team coming off one of the weirdest endings ever witnessed to a college football game.

The Rebels (0 (1)- opened their season at home last week before the largest crowd (42,075) ever to watch a team sports event in Nevada. But play was halted with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter when a transformer blew and plunged the stadium into nearly complete darkness.

The result was a 27-7 loss to Wisconsin.

The Jayhawks managed only 150 total yards against Iowa State and have switched quarterbacks, replacing Zach Dyer as starter and giving the nod to junior college transfer Bill Whittemore. The Rebels will offer another tough test for the struggling offense.

"UNLV is a very good football team," Mangino said. "They are very strong defensively. I would say that when you look at raw talent, they're as talented and maybe even more talented than Iowa State's defense. They have one of the top defensive ends in the country in Ahmad Briggs. They've got a top defensive back in Jamaal Brimmer, and several other kids that really run well and are physical players."

The Rebels will be a much less experienced outfit than the one that clobbered Kansas at Iowa State. Against Wisconsin, 20 players made their UNLV debut.

It will be up to Whittemore, the player of the year in the Jayhawk Junior College Conference last year, to give the Kansas offense some much-needed energy.

Rebels quarterback Jason Thomas is more of a threat with his legs than his arm. But Mangino sees a great deal of similarity to Iowa State's Seneca Wallace, who may turn out to be the best in the Big 12 this year.

Against Wisconsin, Thomas led all rushers with 83 yards on just 10 carries. Passing, he was 12-of-26 for 138 yards, with two interceptions.

"Seneca Wallace threw every pass and split the numbers of his receivers every time he threw a pass," Mangino said. "He was just phenomenal. This young guy (Thomas) has the capability of doing that. I know he's had some struggles, but he's better at throwing the ball than he was a year ago. He's worked really hard in the offseason. He's made himself a better player and that's a tribute to him. Yes, it helps having played against Seneca Wallace to go up against Jason Thomas."

The Jayhawks won't get to make their home debut until next week.

"Our kids have been challenged with two road games in a row," Mangino said. "I think it's a great challenge for them and we have to meet the challenge. We can't just say, 'Wait till we get back to Memorial Stadium,' to see if we can win. That's just not the case. Good football teams have to win on the road and we have to do that."