For the second straight week, the Kansas football team lost a game it might have won with better execution. Against Arizona State in London on Saturday, the Jayhawks failed to execute in many areas, but some plays were more costly than others.
Against Missouri last week, two turnovers deep in their territory on back-to-back possessions led to two quick touchdowns by the Tigers. The game was tied at halftime, but those two scores buried KU.
Although the way that it happened was much different against the Sun Devils, but the result was the same: two plays in a short amount of time helped bury the Jayhawks, and a third was the final straw..
Three plays that buried Kansas against Arizona State
The Kansas offense played an uninspired, ineffective offensive first half against the Sun Devils, but the defense played well. The only scoring by Kansas was a 72-yard punt return by Tate Nagy, but the KU defense hadn't allowed a touchdown for most of the half.
With a little over two minutes to go in the first half, Arizona State punted, pinning the Jayhawks back against the goal line. Leipold, rightfully, decided to play it safe. KU ran the ball for three straight plays, trying to run as much time off the clock as possible. With 25 seconds left, Kansas punted from the eight-yard line, and punter Matthew Gill shanked it badly. The ball only went 17 yards before going out of bounds, giving the Sun Devils possession at the 25. One play later, and Arizona State scored on a 25-yard pass play.
KU trailed 10-7 at the intermission, then promptly gave up a touchdown on the opening kickoff of the second half. In 34 seconds of game clock, the Jayhawks surrendered 14 points, and instead of still holding a slim 7-3 lead, they were down, 17-7.
What was concerning after the kickoff return was that the players on the outside of the formation, the guys who had containment on the kickoff, ran by the ball. No one was available on that side of the return coverage to prevent the Sun Devils when they gained some daylight. Mistakes happen, but that return could have been prevented with better execution.
The third costly play was difficult to watch. Kansas was driving when the ball being carried by Dylan Edwards popped into the air, and Hyram Vaeono plucked it, and then rumbled 77 yards to the KU two-yard line. Two plays later, the SunDevils score and KU is down 24-7.
To rub salt in the wound, Vaeono is a Lawrence native who loved the Jayhawks growing up but never received an offer from them. His play put Arizona State out of reach.
It was bad luck that the ball popped up instead of down on Edwards' fumble. The same thing happened to Yasin Willis in the first half. A helmet struck the ball, and instead of going down, it popped up, right into the hands of an Arizona State defender. That didn't cost KU like the second fumble did, but it was strange to see two loose balls react the same way and against KU.
These three plays: the horrible punt at the end of the half, the kickoff coverage after halftime, and that unfortunate fumble and ensuing Vaeono return led directly to 21 points for the Sun Devils. It is not difficult to see that the defense played well enough to win, and though not great, the offense did enough to get an ugly win.
What is concerning is that these kinds of situations continue to rise with KU. If you go back to the 2024 season, Kansas lost a string of games because of mistakes at the end of first halves and late in games. It's as if the players are losing focus at the wrong times or just not executing in key situations.
It is up toLance Leipold and the coaching staff to address these things and figure out what is happening. Kansas isn't good enough to give up 21 points on preventable mistakes and win ball games. They just aren't. At what point does it become unacceptable?
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