In the crushing loss against Missouri, Kansas Jayhawks’ QB Isaiah Marshall and defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald were the two biggest culprits to blame. With that being said, Lance Leipold was also mentioned, as he fell to 0-7 against the KU rivals in his tenure. In this London game vs Arizona State, the Jayhawks lost 24-17 and Leipold let the KU faithful down again.
Like most games, not everything about the loss was negative. Tate Nagy was a tremendous bright spot and was almost the sole reason that KU was able to generate 14 of their 17 points. In the first half, he had a sensational 72-yard punt return touchdown to give the Crimson and Blue a 7-3 lead. In the 4th quarter, he added a 38-yard receiving TD to keep Kansas alive.
Leroy Harris III also continues to be a one-man wrecking crew on the defensive side of the ball and stood out again against the Sun Devils. In Saturday’s game, Harris III recorded 7 tackles (6 solo), 2 tackles for loss, and a sack, as well as a couple of additional QB pressures. He has cemented himself as one of the most impactful players of the season, even just 3 games in.
The defense overall was the brightest spot against ASU, as the Sun Devils QB, Cutter Boley, only threw for 95 yards and connected on 11/23 passes. Meanwhile, KU outgained ASU 414 yards to 228 yards… but committed far too many errors to win the game. Focusing in on the struggles, there are so many options to include in the blame pie, but four stand above the rest.
Leipold’s Players let him Down, but the Head Coach is Most to Blame
40% (and most to blame): Lance Leipold and this team repeatedly underperforming - Coach Leipold himself has stated that “It falls on the head coach” to turn close losses into bowl game appearances. Saturday’s close loss puts this to the test as the Jayhawks once again had plenty of chances to secure a win, but blew so many of them.
KU had 3 turnovers to Arizona State’s 0 turnovers, allowed a 100-yard kickoff return TD, were passive and lifeless on offense for extended stretches, and there seemed to be a general lack of urgency from Leipold at times. This pattern of Leipold letting games get away is frustrating, to say the least and he is officially on the hot seat if he wasn’t already.
25%: Punter Matthew Gill and Kicker Martin Connington - Whenever your team is backed up to its own 8-yard line, seeing a 17-yard punt out of bounds is just about the worst thing imaginable. Prior to Gill’s atrocious punt, Kansas had the lead and ASU had nothing going on offense. Due to the horrendous punt, ASU was able to score right before halftime, swinging momentum dramatically.
In less than a minute of game time, KU went from being up 7-3 to down 17-7… Despite the disasterclass, Kansas forced ASU into back-to-back punts after that and were down just 10 with the ball. Unfortunately, kicker Martin Connington butchered a 44-yard FG that could have cut the deficit down to a one-score game, halting Kansas’ momentum yet again, before eventually losing.
20%: Isaiah Marshall’s continued limitations - While Isaiah Marshall’s performance was definitely an improvement from Mizzou and his relationship with Andy Kotelnicki is still very fresh, his limitations are still very apparent. Kotelnicki clearly hasn’t been able to open up his full playbook for Marshall and the young QB was not efficient at all again (17/33 passing).
15%: Kasen Carpenter and his poor snaps - Whether it was jet-lag or rainy conditions or just a lack of focus, center Kasen Carpenter had a rough game. There were 4 bad snaps from him on Saturday, a few of which went yards above Marshall's head, causing him to have to immediately scramble and run for his life. Carpenter is bound to bounce back, but it was a poor performance.
The Jayhawks have their best shot at getting back in the win column next week when they face off with Middle Tennessee at the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. If we don’t get to hand out some Praise Pie soon, Leipold’s credit in the bank will only take more hits.
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