Kansas coach Lance Leipold was visibly irritated.
His Jayhawks had just lost a heartbreaker to Cincinnati 37-34 inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. KU (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) fell to 1-6 in one-score games dating back to the start of 2024.
That stat doesn’t reflect kindly on the Jayhawks and their staff, but Leipold was ready for the question in his postgame news conference.
“If I knew what it was, we would be doing it,” said Leipold. “Some of those things, everyone has got a little different twist to it. It’s not surprising that question is asked, and we need to be better.”
Finding the specific issue, however, is a little trickier.
“It’s happened maybe before: This year, on either side, we have different people calling defenses. We have different people calling offensive plays,” Leipold said. The Jayhawks have both a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator for this season.
“We have different players out there playing this year,” Leipold continued. “It isn’t like it’s one thing. I can tell you that we have worked two-minute drills (ad) nauseam this year and situational football has been covered more than ever, ever before. But obviously, we’ve got to do more, and I need to do better. We will continue to look for that.”
Perhaps the most frustrating part about the loss Saturday was that Kansas wasted a stellar performance by quarterback Jalon Daniels.
Daniels finished 18-of-27 passing for 419 yards and four touchdowns. He added 55 yards on the ground. Even with a fumble near the goal line, he gave Kansas a chance to win the game.
Daniels’ touchdown pass to receiver Levi Wentz put the Jayhawks up four with 1:45 left. But instead of celebrating Daniels’ career day, the KU fan base was left discussing another tough loss.
Cincinnati converted several key plays late, including a fourth-and-10 that was snagged with one hand. Running back Tawee Walker scored a walk-in touchdown to put the Bearcats up three with 29 seconds left.
