On a day that the Kansas offense racked up 597 yards and 34 points, it was the defense surrendering 603 yards and 37 points that did the Jayhawks in during a 37-34 home loss to Cincinnati at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Those painful numbers for Kansas included Cincinnati marching 75 yards in 10 plays in just 1:16 late in the fourth quarter after KU went ahead 34-30 on a touchdown pass from Jalon Daniels to Levi Wentz with 1:45 to play.
More from Saturday's loss...
Daniels finished 19-of-28 for 445 yards and 4 TDs on the day. But he also had a costly fumble near the goal line that took points away from the Jayhawks.
Even though KU got a rare stop by its defense after the Daniels fumble, it’s hard not to look back on that play as pretty important in a game that was decided by just 3 points.
There were, of course, plenty of other moments, small and large, that wound up costing Kansas in this one.
Yet again, the Jayhawks’ defense, which struggled mightily with Cincinnati’s offensive line all day, was on the field far longer than the Cincinnati defense or the KU offense. Cincinnati ran 81 offensive plays compared to just 55 by KU.
A pair of one-play touchdown “drives” by the Jayhawks contributed to some of those lopsided totals. But it’s becoming a thing to see the Kansas defense on the field far too long during these games.
KU is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play, with a road Big 12 game at UCF slated for next Saturday in Orlando.
Game time is set for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff, central time.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and memorable moments from Saturday afternoon.
LIKES
• Henderson strikes again… and again – A pair of 1-play touchdown drives were made possible in large part by the insane speed of Emmanuel Henderson Jr., who scored on a kickoff return last week and then scored on the first offensive play of the day by Kansas on a go route to give the Jayhawks an early lead. Later in the day, after KU went behind by 7, the Jayhawks tied the game in a heartbeat after Henderson caught a pass over the middle that was behind him and then raced untouched 75 yards for another score. The DB slipped a little at the point of the reception and that left him no hope of getting up and catching Henderson. He finished the day with 214 yards and 2 TDs on 5 catches, giving him the 6th-highest single-game receiving total in program history and making him just the 1st Jayhawk ever to have two scoring plays of 75 yards or more in the same game and just the third player in Big 12 history to have the two long scores and 200 or more yards.
• Blake Herold balls out – Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby had not been sacked all season entering Saturday's game at Kansas. But Blake Herold got him down. The sack by Herold was just one play in a monster game for the defensive lineman, who has now put together a couple of really strong games in a row in Big 12 play. Herold finished with 5 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 3 QB hurries and 1 pass break-up in the tough loss on Saturday.
• Pickett sacrifices body – It won’t be remembered by most, but it’s one of those plays that likely will be highlighted when the team watches film of this one. And it’s entirely about sacrifice. With KU QB Jalon Daniels scrambling to his right on the Jayhawks’ second scoring drive of the day, the Cincinnati defense was closing in on him as he approached the sideline. Pickett, who had been out in a route, rushed back and threw his body in front of the closest pursuing defender to keep him from clobbering Daniels. Pickett got drilled and landed face first on the turf, but his quarterback stayed safe. Small stuff, but pretty significant in the big picture and definitely indicative of the way the guys on this team play for each other.
• Little moments matter – It didn't wind up helping the Jayhawks in the end, but it certainly could've. After Kansas took the lead with 1:45 to play, Cincinnati had just one timeout remaining instead of two. The Bearcats called one on that KU scoring drive to try to preserve time for their offense. But they burned one earlier in the half after subbing late and then having to wait for KU to match its substitution. KU's players came onto the field slowly in that scenario, which allowed the play clock to wind down and forced Cincinnati to call timeout instead of being hit with a 5-yard delay of game penalty. Again, it didn't matter because the Bearcats did not need the timeout in the end at all. But it's those little details that can make a world of difference in close games, which Leipold said he told his team they better brace for as Big 12 play rolls on.
DISLIKES
• Jalon & Hyde? – The numbers alone will say that Jalon Daniels had a good day. But he missed some throws, had the critical fumble and looked, at times, like he lacked consistency and rhythm, even though the Jayhawks scored 34 points and racked up nearly 600 yards of offense. It’s the fumble more than anything that seems to be alarming. Daniels has had a history of putting the ball on the ground in key moments, and Saturday’s fourth-quarter fumble near the goal line certainly adds a chapter to those woes. Daniels was hard on himself about the fumble after the loss, saying directly that the Jayhawks work on ball security every single day and that he has to secure the ball in that situation.
• 4th down defense – Kansas had a golden opportunity to put a stranglehold on the game midway through the fourth quarter, but Cincinnati’s aggressive approach paid off. The Bearcats went for two 4th down tries on their first scoring drive and converted both. That paved the way for the visitors to tie the game at 7 late in the first quarter. The first 4th-down try came in Cincy’s territory, with the Bearcats electing to go for it on fourth and less than a yard. They easily converted on a QB run. They also converted a 4th-and-5 via pass on the 13-play, 75-yard drive that spanned 5:32 of the first quarter.
• Late 1st half woes – The Jayhawks are pretty lucky that Cincinnati didn’t lead by more at the half, because a Cincy punt return that went to the house but was called back because of a block in the back looked like it put KU in a tough spot. The Bearcats did get 3 out of the drive to go up by 7 at the break, but being down two scores, especially after a gaffe like that, where the punter fell down long before the return man even got to him, would’ve made for some serious momentum for the visitors and potentially forced the home team to tighten up a little.
WHAT THE?
• 3 KU QBs play – It’s not every day that you see a team play three quarterbacks in the same game without one getting injured. But that's exactly what happened in this one, with both Cole Ballard and Isaiah Marshall taking snaps from center despite Daniels remaining healthy all game. In both instances, Ballard and Marshall executed called QB runs, gaining big yards on each play. Marshall almost broke his for a touchdown and Ballard's picked up nine yards on a first-down play. Daniels said he loves seeing them get in the game and show their skills because it further adds to the feeling that this is a total team effort and commitment.
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