With two tackles behind the line of scrimmage on Saturday against Nebraska, Kansas senior linebacker Greg Cole set a school record for tackles for loss at 21.

"As an individual, I'm really happy about that," Cole said. "But I wanted to win, and I wanted to beat Nebraska my senior year. Unfortunately we didn't get that, but I'm happy for the record."

Cole carded his record-setting tackle in the closing minutes of the third quarter, when he brought down NU reserve running back Cory Ross for a 3-yard loss. He replaces Ron Warner, who made 20.5 tackles for loss in 1997, as KU's single-season record-holder.

"Greg Cole is a guy that every coach would like to have on their team because he cares," KU coach Mark Mangino said. "My only regret is he's gone after this year. He showed up every day and did his very best, and that's all you can ask from a guy."

Special no more

After watching a parade of bounced long snaps, partially blocked punts and poor coverage, Mangino was at wit's end about the Jayhawks' special teams after Saturday's 45-7 loss to Nebraska.

"The past two weeks, the punt team has been our nemesis," he said. "We had been pretty good at it all year. But last week, the snaps were not good, fielding snaps was not good. Consistency punting the ball has not been very good, and then we had protection breakdowns."

KU endured two bounced snaps and one mishandled snap on Saturday, the last leading to a blocked punt that resulted in a 30-yard return for a touchdown by senior Aaron Terpening. After that, KU inserted longsnapper Andy Coffman for senior Greg Nicks for the first time this season.

"We invest a lot of time in all our special teams, but we particularly work hard on the punt game," Mangino said. "We'll just have to look at it again and ... make some decisions about the way we want to go with the punting unit."

A look ahead

Though he didn't seem much in the mood to talk about it, Mangino said he expected a quality game next week when Nebraska travels to Kansas State. Mangino's Jayhawks met the Wildcats and Cornhuskers on back-to-back weekends, and were outscored in the two games by a combined 109-7.

"I'm really so focused on our team ..." he said. "It'll be a good football game, I'm sure of that. The K-State-Nebraska game in recent years has been a very good game."

Bombs in the air

Things got off to a rocky start Saturday when vocalist Greg Ryerson, a native of Femont, Neb., muffed the words of the national anthem -- singing "how proudly we watched" instead of "how proudly we hailed" in the opening verse -- and took a lengthy pause to get a copy of the lyrics so he could continue. Thanks to the break, he was later drowned out by a flyover of four F-16 Fighting Falcon jets whose pilots had timed their flight to coincide with the end of Ryerson's rendition.

KU extra points

• For the first time this season, Kansas brought backup kicker Jerod Brooks to a road game. Brooks, a sophomore walk-on from Ottawa, warmed up with starter Johnny Beck but was not called upon to kick.

• According to the Omaha World-Herald, NU coach Frank Solich approached former KU athletic director Bob Frederick about the Jayhawks' head coaching position -- ostensibly when Glen Mason left in 1996. "It never got to the point of serious talks," Solich told the paper.

• Junior Bobby Bihiray got his first career start on Saturday, when he replaced freshman Donnie Amadi at right cornerback.

• Sophomore defensive end David McMillan got his first career interception in the first quarter on a Jammal Lord pass that was tipped at the line by tackle Brock Teddleton.

• Johnny McCoy drew boos from the Memorial Stadium crowd when he dragged Jammal Lord down by the facemask at the end of a 42-yard run on NU's first possession of the second half. The penalty gave NU a first down on KU's 19-yard line, and the Cornhuskers scored three plays later to take a 31-7 lead.

• A total of 111 NU players participated.

• KU's 50-yard touchdown pass from Jonas Weatherbie to senior receiver Byron Gasaway marked career longs for both players.

• Freshman linebacker Nick Reid collected two sacks, a career high.