Moments That Popped: Kansas 25, Baylor 24

"Eyes on the prize!"

"Lock the hell in!"

"That's what I'm talking about, baby!"

Those words, and many others, were overheard on the David Booth Memorial Stadium concourses as elated Jayhawk fans filed out of the stadium following a wild, 25-24 win over Baylor by the home team.

Kansas, which trailed 21-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, scored three times in the final frame — 2 TDs and a key field goal — outscored the Bears 15-3 in the final frame to win the game.

Even with that, the Jayhawks needed some heroics on defense to get the job done, with D-Lineman Blake Herold blocking Baylor's attempt at a 45-yard game-winning field goal with around 20 seconds to play in the game.

"If he makes the field goal, this press conference is completely different," KU coach Lance Leipold said after the victory. "And that's the difference between winning and losing. ... I'm happy for the guys. We see it each and every day that these guys come in and work and they do what they're asked to do."

Herold also "blocked" a pair of PATs earlier in the game, but both went through the uprights anyway. The kick that mattered most, however, did not, and Kansas came away with a much-needed victory in a hard-fought game that featured a little bit of everything.

Herold's field goal block made sure that KU QB Isaiah Marshall's game-winning touchdown drive just minutes before that did, in fact, hold up. Marshall put the Jayhawks in front for good by marching KU down the field 71 yards in 6 plays and just 1:20 to give KU the lead late.

The defense, which did well in many high-leverage situations on Saturday, did its part to hold up on the final drive despite letting Baylor reach field goal range.

The win moves KU to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play and is the first for this team over a Power 4 team this season.

"It's a good day," Leipold said. "And hopefully something we can build momentum off of. That was something that we needed; we needed a win."

The Jayhawks will head back out onto the road next week to take on TCU at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. The game will be televised by FS1.

Here's a look back and some of Saturday's action.

LIKES

• KU TD to open 4th quarter – On a critical 4th and 3 snap to start the 4th quarter, with the Jayhawks down by 11, KU elected to go for it and then ran a wild formation, with the bulk of the O-Line lined up wide and one player ready to snap the ball to Isaiah Marshall. The Bears didn't seem all that fooled by the trickery and Marshall maybe should not have even thrown the ball. But being 4th down, he had to, and Nik McMillan came down with a massive catch as he fell into the end zone to pull the Jayhawks within one score. McMillan added another chapter into his book of one of the best seasons by a KU wideout in quite some time.

• Dylan Edwards' BIG day – A few weeks ago, when Yasin Willis went down, the talk then was whether KU running back Dylan Edwards could handle a much bigger workload. He has. And he did again on Saturday, rushing 30 times for 156 yards and catching 3 passes for 15 more, with Kansas needing every single one of those tough yards and key conversions to get the job done.

• Sudden-change response early – After the Bears took held the Jayhawks on a 4th-down try that ended with Isaiah Marshall throwing an interception on the opening drive of the game, the Kansas defense stepped up and returned the favor forcing Baylor into a failed 4th-down attempt on its first drive of the game. The two possessions took less than 4 minutes off of the game clock and essentially allowed the Jayhawks to restart the game after taking over for Drive No. 2. KU wasn't perfect, but the Jayhawks were pretty good on 4th down in this game, both with the ball and while on defense. KU finished 5-for-8 on the day — EIGHT! — on 4th-down tries, while the defense held the Baylor offense to one 4th-down conversion in three tries. One of the biggest such moments of the day came on what Leipold referred to as a "gadget play" when the Jayhawks moved their line to the left hash and left Marshall alone to take the snap from tight end Carson Bruhn. Bruhn actually was the first option on the trick play, but Baylor covered it well and Marshall had no choice but to throw it up to Nik McMillan rather than taking the sack. As he has done so many times this season, McMillan won his battle and KU converted the 4th-and-3 play into a key touchdown that jump-started the 4th-quarter comeback.

• Tate Nagy returns – He didn't make a huge impact in the game, but simply having him back on the field was good news for Kansas. Nagy, who broke out with a 2-touchdown game in the Jayhawks' loss in London, missed a couple of games with injury. He has proven to be a true weapon for this Kansas team and, with Keaton Kubecka still sidelined, the Jayhawks need as many of those as they can have.

DISLIKES

• 3-and-out before – This one drew more than a few boos from the frustrated KU fan base, who were clearly unhappy with the Jayhawks' decision to sit on the ball rather than trying to get points before halftime. Three straight KU runs, which went nowhere and were followed by three straight Baylor timeouts, allowed the Bears to force a KU punt and gave BU a chance to add points before the break by getting the ball back with 1:09 to play in the half. It didn't lead to points and Baylor never really mounted a threat. But KU fans were likely just as upset by KU not being willing to try to go get points as they were giving the ball back to the Bears. And it's hard to blame them. At the same time, it's hard to blame KU for being a little timid there given how poorly things have gone at the end of halves the past couple of seasons.

• More punting woes – It's rough to pile on a kid punting at this level for the first time, but Matt Gill sure isn't doing himself any favors of late. After being the author of a couple of KU's biggest mistakes this season, Gill had another memorable punt for the wrong reason when he kicked 36 yards with very low hang-time after a KU drive stalled late in the 1st quarter. The boot, which didn't end up hurting Kansas because of a stop by the defense on the ensuing Baylor drive, drew out a few boos from the home fans, who have grown frustrated by the first-year punter's roller-coaster season. Gill entered the game averaging 39.9 yards per kick in 20 punts and finished Saturday with 102 yards on just 2 punts. He did have a 66-yard, roll-aided bomb in the 2nd quarter and it drew a loud roar from the KU crowd, some of it of the Bronx cheer variety and some of it probably legit.

WHAT THE?

• PAT... going, going, good – After the Bears' first touchdown of the day, KU defensive lineman Blake Herold — the hero of the game's final seconds — timed the PAT snap perfectly and got onto the holder before he could even put it down. That put Herold in position to block the kick and as he raised his arms to try to deflect the ball, the kick sailed between his arms and hit off of Herold's helmet. While that would lead to a good outcome on most kicks, because this was an extra point, the ball still had enough on it to flitter its way through the uprights for the point to complete the touchdown and tie the game. Can't recall ever seeing something quite so crazy on an extra point. Here's the wild part, it happened AGAIN after Baylor's second touchdown of the game, with Herold getting the PAT a second time only to see it go through again. That very well could be a first in the history of football. Unreal!

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com