The team was looking to continue the success of the prior season in which they lost only a single conference game and went on to win the Orange Bowl.

In the ninth week, after defeating Kansas State 52–21, the Jayhawks became Bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive year, a school record.

The team finished the regular season with a victory over their archrival, the Missouri Tigers (who was then ranked 13th in the BCS Poll), in the Border War.

Junior Todd Reesing returned to the starting quarterback position after a record-setting performance in the previous season.

[2] KU dismissed junior cornerback Anthony Webb in June for violating team rules.

At the same time, senior defensive tackle Todd Haselhorst left the team for health reasons.

Reesing continued his record-breaking ways from the previous week, throwing for a personal best 412 yards, after completing 32 passes on 38 attempts and 3 touchdowns.

Junior running back Angus Quigley played most of the snaps in the second half, and led the Jayhawks with 84 yards.

Key defensive plays included an interception in the end-zone by Chris Harris and safety Darrell Stuckey chasing down and tackling a Louisiana Tech player on a long break-away run, to prevent him from scoring a touchdown.

This made the 14th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 (dating back to 2007), a school record.

Angus Quigley made his first start at running back for Kansas, rushing 16 times for 61 yards and a touchdown.

This made the 16th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 (dating back to 2007), a school record.

Kansas started the second half well when running back Jake Sharp caught at 67-yard touchdown pass from Todd Reesing.

Arnaud led Iowa State to another touchdown to cut the lead to 35 to 33 with 1 minute 15 seconds left in the game.

This made the 17th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 (dating back to 2007), a school record.

A few hours after the Kansas win, the only other undefeated North team in Big 12 play, Missouri, lost to Oklahoma State.

This made the 18th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 (dating back to 2007), a school record.

However, a Reesing interception in the endzone and a missed field goal prevented the Jayhawks from tying the game.

Oklahoma dominated the second half as their Quarterback Sam Bradford had one of the most productive games of his career.

This made the 19th consecutive week that Kansas was ranked in the Top 25 (dating back to 2007), a school record.

A new Memorial Stadium record crowd of 52,230, which had been set already earlier in the season, watched the Jayhawks defeat the Wildcats and increase their lead in the all-time Sunflower Showdown results to 64–37–5.

In order to win the 2004 game against the Kansas Jayhawks, Texas had to convert a 4th-and-18 situation and complete a touchdown pass with only eleven seconds remaining on the clock.

[9] Played in alternating snow and light rain, Kansas claimed a victory over Missouri in thrilling fashion.

Missouri came back in the second half, pulling into the lead late in the game on a Derrick Washington touchdown run.

Missouri raced downfield just as quickly, but a last-second field goal was blocked to preserve a 40–37 win for Kansas.