Todd Reesing was there. Dez Briscoe showed up as well. Kerry Meier? Oh yeah.

Even the offensive line made an appearance in a 41-36 victory Saturday against Iowa St. as Reesing only had to make two or three acrobatic plays to elude would-be tacklers. True freshman Toben Opurum was in and out, but he showed up for the most part.

The defense, however, was no where to be found.

And to say it showed up on the final drive is like saying the Twins showed up to play the Yankees in the ALDS . An overthrown pass to a wide open receiver that would have been a possible game-winning score isn't exactly "stopping" the offense.

Here are the raw numbers:

• 219 rushing yards (5.1 yards per carry)
• 293 passing yards
• 512 total yards
• 6.1 yards per play

No, those aren't Reesing and the Jayhawk offense's numbers. Instead, that was 3-3 (0-2 in the Big XII) Iowa State's numbers. The same team that has not won a Big XII football since 2007.

The defense was suspect coming in to the season but played well the first three games of the year. Yes, it was against directionally-named programs, but it still looked like it would be better than 2008.

However, since the second half of the Southern Mississippi game, KU's defense is allowing a touchdown and two-point conversion per quarter. That isn't going to get it done against Oklahoma, Texas, or even Kansas State.

As impressive as ISU's numbers were, Reesing and the Jayhawks' performance was even better. Reesing tied his own team record for most completions (37) in a game and had a career-high 442 yards through the air. Briscoe broke the all-time KU receptions (165) record, then Meier (167) stole it from him. Meier then set the KU game reception record with 16. Each scored two touchdowns for good measure.

But one game this season, the offense isn't going to click. Reesing with throw a couple of INTs. Meier and Briscoe will drop some passes. Senior running back Jake Sharp is banged up, and Opurum is a true freshman. They will have down games at some point.

Kansas averaged 33 points per game in 2008, but scored just seven against Texas and 21 against Texas Tech. If that happens in Austin this year, do you think Colt McCoy is going to only put up 14 points on the board?

In 2007, the 12-1 Jayhawks won games three games when scoring 24 points or less, including their Orange Bowl victory against Virginia Tech.

The fact of the matter is, there should be no excuses. Yes, Bill Young is gone, and Clint Bowen is green. Yes a strong linebacking corp the past six or seven years has been reduced to a few no-name question marks. However, this is Big XII football. No one feels sorry for anyone. Nebraska beat the Jayhawks for 36 straight seasons, and the 'Huskers wanted to do all they could to push the streak to 37.

So, now is the time defensive leaders Jake Laptad and Darrell Stuckey pull their stoppers together and have a serious discussion about keeping the ball out of the end zone.

Maybe that's where the defense is right now; together, with no one else around, trying to figure out what needs to be done. Because any Jayhawk fan will tell you, it sure didn't look like they were on the field Saturday.