The Kansas Jayhawks and head coach Terry Allen entered the 1998 season eager to improve upon a disappointing ’97 in which they finished 5-6 (3-5 in the Big 12).

With a road win over Iowa State on Saturday, the Jayhawks could come close to at least equaling last season’s numbers.

After falling in weeks one and two to conference opponents Oklahoma State and Missouri, the Jayhawks picked up some confidence in a couple of pushover non-conference games before stumbling through three more Big 12 contests.

Kansas seems to have righted the ship, at least to a degree, in recent weeks, posting a thrilling upset victory over Colorado and a pounding of North Texas which were sandwiched around a predictable thrashing at the hands of Kansas State.

The Jayhawks have won only one conference game and are 4-6 overall, but a win over the Cyclones would equal last season’s overall record and give the team momentum going into the offseason.

The signal-caller for Allen’s offense has been Jay Alexander in recent weeks.

Alexander stepped in against the Buffaloes and again when starter Zac Wegner went down with his second concussion of the season against Kansas State. He has been mildly effective in the three games he has played, making up in motivation what he lacks in experience.

So far, Alexander is 30-of-58 passing for 302 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

He’ll be leading the nation’s 89th-ranked offense and 82nd-ranked passing game.

Freshman Harrison Hill, sophomore Termaine Fulton and junior Michael Chandler are the biggest KU targets, accounting for over half of the team’s 121 receptions and 1,669 yards to date.

Chandler, the team’s leading receiver last year, has been hampered part of this season by an ankle injury.

The biggest offensive threat in the Jayhawk huddle is sophomore halfback David Winbush.

Currently one of the nation’s top 50 running backs, Winbush has averaged 87.6 yards per game, including a career-day against Colorado in which he piled up 268 rushing yards and three touchdowns in leading the Jayhawks to their biggest upset in recent memory.

Mitch Bowles has been an effective backup to Winbush, averaging 5.2 yards on 79 carries. Bowles is also Kansas’ primary return man.

The offensive line, which last year doomed the Jayhawks to a ranking of 112 (out of 112 teams) in total offense, returned all five starters and has shown some improvement. Most notably, the Jayhawk running game, last year ranked 103rd in the nation, is currently 58th.

On the other side of the ball, Kansas has been up and down so far in 1998.

Against the pass, the Jayhawks have been very effective.

Senior corner Jamie Harris and co-captain Michael Allen lead a secondary that has given up only 150.4 yards per game, the sixth lowest total in college football.

Their ranking of 29th in pass efficiency defense, however, paints a clearer picture of the truth about the Jayhawk “D.” The backfield is good, but appears great only because opposing teams never have to pass the ball.

The KU rush defense is 108th in the country, giving up an average of 239.4 yards per game.

Without standout defensive end Dion Johnson, they would likely be dead last.

Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, they will be without Johnson against Iowa State after the junior separated his shoulder in Kansas’ 23-14 win over North Texas two weeks ago.

Juniors Adrian Greene, John Williams and Jeremy Hanak will likely make up the starting front three for KU.

At linebacker, the Jayhawks are a little better.

Outside backer Patrick Brown has been a team leader and excellent pass defender for several years, but his supporting cast is suspect.

Inside linebackers Steve Bratten and J.J. Johnson have been effective when healthy, but have been battling injuries all season.

Senior Hanson Carter is unproven at the other outside position.

On special teams, KU has shown some improvement from last season.

Kicker Joe Garcia and punter Joey Pelfanio have matched their solid numbers from ’97.

The return teams, which were among the nation’s worst a year ago, have been effective when the ball finds its way into the hands of the elusive Bowles.

Coach Terry Allen will be looking to snap an eight-game conference road losing streak in Ames on Saturday against the Cyclones, who will be looking to snap a couple of streaks of their own: seven straight and six straight against the Jayhawks.