They were going to win. Friday night, 34-34 with the ball and a minute to do something cool? Too easy.

Fans saw tight ones last year, and Kansas always won. Todd Reesing, the funslinger that he is, would ask for the same situation in every game. And Mark Mangino, he loves it. The team that executes better in close games almost always wins them. And say what you want about Mangino and his fixation with privacy and pine trees, the Jayhawks always execute and rarely make the error.

That’s why Reesing’s interception and Maikon Bonani’s ensuing kick that curved right and wide before swinging left just inside the upright came as such a shock.

It was one game, but the loss felt like more. It was a loss of innocence. There was something pure and naïve about KU football last year, like nothing could go wrong. Because for the most part, nothing went wrong.

The Jayhawks won every tight game they were in except Missouri. Texas A&M and Colorado provided scares but nothing else. Kansas State had a million opportunities to win but didn’t.

Aqib Talib or Justin Thornton would get the extra interception. James McClinton or Joe Mortensen would stop someone behind the line of scrimmage. Reesing would find Marcus Henry for a 40-yard pass. Somehow, someone would always bail the Jayhawks out, whether it was themselves because of their execution or the opponent’s foolish play.

And the Jayhawks did it with a quarterback who was too small, a coach who was disrespected for many years because of his weight and lack of success, and a cornerback who wouldn’t shut up until the rest of the country had heard him say how good his team was. It was a dream, too good to be true, only it was true.

Did the South Florida game change that? It was just one loss and a quality one at that. Who knows? It might not dent the Kansas aura.

After all, the Jayhawks lost to a team that will be in the top 25 all season and will probably win the depressing Big East with relative ease. They played as good as any team in the country for the first 30 minutes and then came back after receiving confidence-crushing blows for an entire quarter. They get plenty of opportunities against quality opponents later this year and could still easily compete for the Big 12 North title.

But when you lose that innocence, nothing feels quite the same ever again.

Let’s get outside

The past 12 days have been a mess. Lawrence has turned into Seattle. At least, that’s what it’s felt like.

According to weather.com, it’s rained on all but three days since Wednesday, Sept. 3. In that time, the sun has shined the majority of the time on only one day and the temperatures have hovered around the mid-60s.

Summer weather is supposed to finally return today. It should be in the 70s and sunny, and stay that way for about the next week. So play some tennis, throw a football, break out a croquet set, read a book under a tree. Let’s all just enjoy the bright, sunny days while we still can.

— — Edited by Ramsey Cox