Kansas trailed Northern Illinois, 42-38, on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, after the Huskies capped an 11-play, 85-yard drive with a one-yard Jasmin Hopkins' one-yard rushing touchdown. The Jayhawks responded with their own 11-play drive capped by a nine-yard Jordan Webb-to-D.J. Beshears go-ahead touchdown with nine seconds remaining.
Kansas, under second-year head coach Turner Gill, didn't win another game that season, but at least they started 2-0, something no other Kansas team has accomplished in the last seven seasons.
In both 2012 and 2013, they lost to Rice in Week 2 after season-opening wins over South Dakota's FCS programs. A Duke demolition in 2014 was followed by the infamous botched-snap South Dakota State loss in 2015. They were smoked by MAC schools at home in Week 2 in both 2016 (Ohio) and 2017 (Central Michigan), and lost to Nicholls in overtime of Week 1 last year.
It's been eight years since Kansas started 2-0. Every other Power Five team has at least one 2-0 start since then.
Four coaches and more than $10 million in buyout payments later, Kansas has a great shot to end the drought. They host Indiana State in Week 1 and Coastal Carolina in Week 2. The Sycamores are rising quickly — 0-11 in 2017 to 7-4 in 2018 — and will bring a talented offense into Lawrence, where FCS teams are 4-5 since 2010, but it's still a favorable matchup for Kansas, as is a transitioning Chanticleers' program a week later.
Kansas should open a season with a winning streak for the first time since 2011.
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