Kansas football: Remember when the Jayhawks went 10-2 in 1995?

Despite being average during the 1990s, Kansas football put together a pretty incredible season in the middle of the decade.

The Kansas Jayhawks have struggled on the football field for quite a while, but they put together some good seasons during the 1990s under head coach Glen Mason. One year stands out though, and it’s when Kansas football went 10-2 during the 1995 season.

The Jayhawks began the season unranked after finishing the previous year with a mediocre 6-5 record. Heading into the season, not much was expected out of Kansas, and that didn’t change immediately.

Kansas kicked off the season with four non-conference games against Cincinnati, North Texas, TCU, and Houston. The Jayhawks won all four games and rolled into Big Eight play ranked No. 24 in the nation.

The Jayhawks’ first conference opponent was Colorado, the No. 4 team in the nation. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that the game was on the road in Boulder, but that didn’t faze Kansas as they took down the Buffs 40-24. Running back June Henley scored a pair of touchdowns leading the charge on the offensive end for Kansas.

The win over Colorado pushed the Jayhawks all the way to No. 10 in the nation, and they backed it up with a 34-7 home win over Iowa State the following week. The next test for Kansas would be against perennial power No. 15 Oklahoma in Norman, and the Jayhawks took care of business on the road again putting the Sooners away with a 38-17 victory.

Now sitting at 7-0 and No. 6 in the nation, Kansas had another road game against No. 14 Kansas State which they dropped; however, if it’s any consolation, the Jayhawks defeated Missouri the following week in a 42-23 win.

Kansas would face their toughest matchup yet when they had to take on No.1 Nebraska led by head coach Tom Osborne. The Cornhuskers dismantled Kansas 41-3 in Lawrence, but the Jayhawks would go on to win their final game of the regular season against Oklahoma State.

Kansas football finished the regular season tied for second in the conference with a 5-2 record and a national ranking of No. 15. They were selected to play in the Aloha Bowl against UCLA, and the Jayhawks claimed their second bowl victory of the Glen Mason era with a 51-30 victory.

1995 was a really solid season for the Big Eight conference as a whole. Half of the conference finished inside the top 10 of the AP rankings and Nebraska won the national title in a 62–24 blowout against Florida.

The Jayhawks would finish the season ranked No. 9 in the country and with a 10-2 record.