William Dalrymple (historian)

The 1985 Kansas Jayhawks football team represented the University of Kansas in the Big Eight Conference during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third and final season under head coach Mike Gottfried, the Jayhawks compiled a 6–6 record (2–5 against conference opponents), finished in sixth place in the conference, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 294 to 281.^[1][2] They played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

The team's statistical leaders included Mike Norseth with 2,995 passing yards, Lynn Williams with 373 rushing yards, and Richard Estell with 1,109 receiving yards.^[3] Sylvester Byrd, Skip Peete, Willie Pless, and Mike Norseth were the team captains.^[2]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	at Hawaii*	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	W 33–27	46,626	[4]
September 14	Vanderbilt*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 42–16	39,000	[5]
September 21	Indiana State*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 37–10	38,500	[6]
September 28	at No. 4 Florida State*	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	L 20–24	57,135	[7]
October 5	Eastern Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 44–20	37,500	[8]
October 12	at Iowa State	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	L 21–22	43,117	[9]
October 19	Kansas State	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)	W 38–7	40,000	[10]
October 26	No. 12 Oklahoma State	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 10–17	35,200	[11]
November 2	at No. 9 Oklahoma	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 6–48	75,008	[12]
November 9	Colorado	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 3–14	25,000	[13]
November 16	at No. 2 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	L 6–56	75,863	[14]
November 23	Missouri	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (Border War)	W 34–20	22,000	[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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