The Kansas Jayhawks aren’t off to the best start this season.
Two sloppy losses to Missouri and Arizona State have already dampened the mood on what was supposed to be a team trying to reach the bar of bowl eligibility for the third time in six years under head coach Lance Leipold.
But a 1-2 start is never the best way to keep the positive summer momentum churning.
It doesn’t help when the team is massively struggling with injuries, and it helps even less when those injuries are becoming less and less of an acceptable excuse to a fanbase that feels deserving of a bowl game.
However, despite that, wideout and returner Tate Nagy is stepping up to the challenge.
During his freshman 2025 campaign, the former 3-star prospect tallied 17 punt returns for 116 yards and three kickoffs for 57 yards and no scores. While Nagy was never truly able to break away for a touchdown, he frequently showed exceptional pace and was always keeping himself moving forward, showing promising signs of a strong returner.
In the receiving game, Nagy added just 2 receptions for 20 yards.
One year later, Nagy has already shown tremendous progress in all aspects
So far through the 2026 season, Nagy has compiled 7 punt returns for 125 yards for a 17.9-yard average and one touchdown. That touchdown came against Arizona State in their latest 24-17 disappointing loss in the Union Jack Classic.
Nagy took advantage of porous punt coverage and was able to kick up to full speed against the Sun Devils in what turned into a 72-yard punt return touchdown, which briefly gave KU a 7-3 lead with 10:57 to go in the second quarter, before ASU answered with 20 seconds to play in the half thanks to a 25-yard pass from Cutter Boley.
“I don't wanna use the word “scrappy,” but he's a highly competitive guy that's kind of a great feel for the game. He can make people miss in the return game,” opened head coach Lance Leipold when asked about Nagy’s impact despite the loss.
Through the air, Nagy has already added 6 receptions for 101 yards and 2 scores.
“Even on the touchdown, or I think it was the catch before they touchdown he had, he just kind of throttled down, and found an opening to get a catch, and gives us a first down, and then the next one, of course, he makes a guy miss, and I thought he played extremely well. And again, with everything that's going on, we're going to need somebody like him to step up.”
Nagy’s latest touchdown came from an impressive pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Isaiah Marshall who perfectly leveled the ball over of a defender into the hands of Nagy who was able to keep his momentum in the right direction, allowing him to take advantage of the busted coverage, propelling his run into the end zone that shrunk the KU deficit from 17 to 10.
While Nagy still has a lot of work to do in order to crack into the upper echelon of the wideout corps he is doing all that could be expected and more.
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