Moments That Popped: Iowa State 38, Kansas 14

Ames, Iowa — The season wasn't completely on the line for the Kansas football team on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

But there were plenty of people out there who believed that Saturday's game at Iowa State was the Jayhawks' best, if not last, chance to get that sixth win for bowl eligibility this season.

Instead of taking advantage of it, KU was handled by an Iowa State team that picked up win No. 7 on its Senior Day, sending the Jayhawks back to Lawrence on the wrong end of a 38-14 loss.

While the Jayhawks showed signs of life in the second half, this one was really over from the start. Iowa State took an early lead and never looked back, twice allowing KU to close the gap to 10 points but never really sweating a Kansas comeback.

KU's offense kept fighting, as they've been known to do, but the game was effectively over when a promising drive ended with a Jalon Daniels interception at the ISU goal line, where it appeared Daniels just didn't see the Iowa State defender.

That gave the Cyclones the ball back with a 17-point lead and 7:01 to play and the rest was a mere formality.

Saturday's loss dropped the Jayhawks to 5-6 overall and 3-5 in Big 12 play. It also marked KU's 4th loss in the last 5 games, since starting the season 4-2.

Now, KU returns home for one final regular season game and one last chance at getting win No. 6. That one is slated for next Friday (11/28) at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium against No. 13 Utah (8-2, 5-2), which is still in the mix for a potential College Football Playoff berth and will likely not come sleepwalking into Lawrence.

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on ABC or ESPN.

Here's a look back and some of Saturday's action that put KU firmly in the do-or-die situation entering next week.

LIKES

• 2nd half start – The Jayhawks' opening drive of the third quarter was every bit as good as most of their play in the first half was bad. And it all started with a change in mindset. Kansas was much more physical from the opening snap of a 4-play, 65-yard scoring drive that cut the Iowa State lead to 17-7 and gave the Jayhawks life after a dreadful first half. The big play on the drive was a 30-yard pitch and catch from Jalon Daniels to Levi Wentz. But it was three hard runs by Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams (who had the TD) that really illustrated how willing these guys were to keep battling. The backs ran hard and the line won at the point of contact on all three hard-nosed plays. It was somewhat bittersweet because it immediately called to mind questions of, "Where was that in the first half?" But better late than never. And certainly a good tone setter for the 2nd half.

• Cole delivers – The appreciation here is two-fold, first for Jalon Daniels putting his body on the line and trying to make a play while getting cracked. And then for back-up QB Cole Ballard coming in and making a hell of a play on his first snap of the day. With KU facing a 3rd-and-3 at the ISU 21-yard line and Daniels on the bench after the injury, Ballard took a shotgun snap in an empty set, ran right like it was a designed QB run and then peeled back and hit Boden Groen in the end zone over the top of the Iowa State defense for a 21-yard TD score that cut the Cyclones lead back down to 10. Ballard was hit hard on the play but saw Groen come down with the pass while still on the turf. There's been so much talk for the past few years about how engaged and ready Ballard stays as the Jayhawks No. 2 QB. Nothing shows it more than that play right there.

• Jalon returns – I know there are people clamoring to see more Ballard or, perhaps more loudly, more Isaiah Marshall instead of Jalon Daniels at QB for Kansas. But watching Daniels' career come to a close without starting his final home game would've been a shame. After getting knocked out of the game before that Cole Ballard touchdown throw, Daniels was right back in there on the next offensive series for the Jayhawks, doing what he could to rally his team. Say what you will about his stats, his overall success or his shortcomings. Daniels deserves to be starting next week when the Jayhawks host Utah on Senior Day in what could be the final game of his KU career.

• Finn Lappin saves the day, er, play – With KU already trailing 7-0 and going nowhere on its first offensive possession, the punt snap sailed well above the head of KU punter Finn Lappin, creating what looked like it would be an absolute disaster. Rather than panicking, Lappin calmly located and scooped up the bouncing ball and then had the werewithall to find a way to get the kick off anyway. Not only did he get it off, he also got a pretty nice roll out of it, pinning Iowa State back at its own 28-yard line instead of allowing the Cyclones to start deep in KU territory. ISU scored anyway, but that was a heads-up play in a tough spot by the KU specialist.

DISLIKES

• Defense never got going – Whether you're talking about the soft coverages, big holes, free yardage the Jayhawks gave up via penalty or any number of other issues this defense had on Saturday, nearly all of it showed up right from the start. Before the Jayhawks knew it, they were in a 17-0 hole and scrambling like crazy to try to climb out of it. D.K. McDonald's defense has been criticized throughout much of the season, and most often fairly so. But this effort, particularly on the heels of a bye week, was perhaps the most concerning of them all. Not necessarily because the Jayhawks weren't lined up right and missed gaps — which did happen — but because they appeared to play pretty uninspired football in a borderline gotta-have-it game. More than that, KU coach Lance Leipold pointed out after the loss that one of the big issues that continues to plague the defense is the idea of guys trying and wanting to do too much rather than just doing their job. That's tough to see this late in the season and, more to the point, tougher to get fixed in six days.

• Coin toss decision – This lands on here because of the issue mentioned above it. We already knew that the defense has struggled this season. So, why not put the offense out there first after winning Saturday's coin toss? I get it. I really do. There's a certain way coaches prefer to do things — whether that's by the book or otherwise — and it can be tough to get most of them to deviate from that way or thinking or predetermined strategy. Deferring their choice to the 2nd half is one of those for Leipold, along with a huge percentage of football coaches throughout the rest of the country. This was an instance where it seemed like a good idea to consider going the other way. Take the ball, put your offense out there, see if you can get a lead instead of trailing and let that set the tone. Instead, the Jayhawks allowed their defense to struggle and watched Iowa State march down the field for a game-opening touchdown, letting that set the tone instead. It was never a game after that. And while making a different decision after the coin toss might not have changed that, it seems like something that would've been worth considering.

• 4th down – Iowa State started the day 3-for-3 on 4th down with two of the conversions going for touchdowns and the other helping set up a touchdown on the Cyclones' first drive of the day. The touchdowns looked eerily similar, with Kansas loading up near the line of scrimmage to play the run only to watch the Cyclones slipping wide receiver Brett Eskildsen (2 TD catches on the day) and tight end Benjamin Brahmer behind the KU defense in the end zone for touchdowns. KU recovered to make the pass Eskildsen less than a sure thing, but Brahmer was wide open. The Jayhawks held on the Cyclones' fourth 4th-down try, but that came with KU still down three scores and just 10:05 remaining in the game. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks' were 0-for-1 on 4th down, watching a key second-half drive stall when a run by Jalon Daniels came up just short. ISU finished the day 4-for-5 on 4th down, while Kansas missed on its lone 4th-down try.

WHAT THE?

• DB cushion – It's a familiar refrain among Kansas fans, who have suffered mightily throughout the years with watching defenses that give up huge cushions to opposing wide receivers only to watch their quarterbacks pepper them with passes in front of the back-pedaling KU defenders over and over and over again. There are a number of reasons to utilize this strategy, none of which Kansas fans are too keen on hearing right now. Even if the philosophy is sound, the visual and results are at best a bit repetitive and at worst downright maddening.

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