Kansas too tough for Houston

YSU graduate Mark Mangino of New Castle is the Jayhawks' head coach.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Jason Swanson threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, one more than he had in the regular season, and the Kansas Jayhawks beat Houston 42-13 Friday night in the Fort Worth Bowl for their first winning season and first bowl victory in 10 years.
Tailback Jon Cornish turned two shovel passes from Swanson into scores, and also rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries. Brian Murph, who hadn't returned a kick all season, turned a muffed punt into an 85-yard score in the first quarter that put the Jayhawks (7-5) ahead to stay. He also caught a 48-yard TD pass.
Kansas had been in only one other bowl since a victory over UCLA in the 1995 Aloha Bowl capped a 10-2 season. The Jayhawks lost 56-26 to North Carolina State in the 2003 Tangerine Bowl that ended Mark Mangino's second year as coach.
Houston (6-6) has lost six straight bowls since winning the 1980 Garden State Bowl.
Area coaching connections
Kansas has three Youngstown-area coaching connections. Mark Mangino, in his fourth season as the Jayhawks' coach, is a graduate of New Castle High and Youngstown State (1987) and a former assistant coach at both schools.
Brandon Blaney, in his fourth year as the tight ends coach and assistant recruiting coordinator at Kansas, also is a YSU graduate (1999) and served as a student and graduate assistant coach for the Penguins.
And Tim Beck, in his first year as the Jayhawks' wide receivers coach, is a native of Boardman and a Cardinal Mooney High graduate who jumped directly from a Texas high school coaching job to his current Kansas position.
Swanson earns MVP honors
Swanson started his fifth straight game, going 19-for-29 in his fourth victory and earning MVP honors. The senior was the third starting quarterback used by Kansas this year. He hurt his leg during the preseason, but took over in late October after Adam Barrman and Brian Luke struggled.
Cougars junior quarterback Kevin Kolb started his 36th straight game and already is the career total offense leader at the school where David Klingler and Andre Ware also threw passes. Kolb was 20-of-44 passing for 214 yards with three interceptions, all turned into scores by Kansas.
Kolb had a 1-yard sneak for Houston's only touchdown. The Cougars were held to a season-worst 244 total yards after leading Conference USA with 457 a game during the regular season. Kansas had 538 yards.
Charlton Keith got between Kolb and his intended receiver on a quick-out pass in the fourth quarter. He jumped up and grabbed the pass, then sprinted 14 yards and dived into the end zone.
Theo Barnes had two interceptions for the Jayhawks. The first set up Cornish's 30-yard TD catch in the third quarter, and the second led to Murph's TD catch with 9 minutes left for the final touchdown.
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