Kansas outgained Arizona State by 186 yards, held the Sun Devils under 100 passing yards, allowed just 3.5 yards per play, and lost.
College football remains the stupidest sport in America.
After getting pushed around by Missouri last week, Kansas actually responded pretty well in most of the areas that were concerning coming out of that game. The offensive line was better. The Jayhawks ran the ball effectively. The defense was excellent. Kansas generated explosive plays. The offense moved the ball for
long stretches — in the second half, anyway.
And KU still lost 24-17. Just KU football doing KU football things.
I’m not sure how I feel after this game. Kansas was physically competitive, generated 414 yards against a good Arizona State defense, and showed plenty of evidence that it can actually move the football against a legitimate opponent. That’s all useful.
Kansas also turned the ball over three times, failed on all three fourth-down attempts, missed a field goal, allowed a kickoff-return touchdown, produced a 17-yard punt that immediately became another touchdown, and lost a game in which it outgained the opponent 414-228.
That’s also useful information, just considerably less fun.
At 1-2, Kansas now heads into a bye week with plenty to fix.
What was encouraging was that the problems against Arizona State were not the same problems we saw against Missouri. Kansas did not get physically dominated. It did not look incapable of competing.
Less encouraging is that instead of repeating last week’s mistakes, the Jayhawks invented several exciting new ones.
Progress?
Sure.
I guess.
THE GOOD
The defense.
Complain about DK McDonald all you want — criticism is certainly warranted — but this should have been a winning performance.
Arizona State finished with 228 total yards. Cutter Boley completed just 11-of-23 passes for 95 yards. The Sun Devils averaged 3.1 yards per rush, 4.1 yards per pass attempt, and 3.5 yards per play overall. Kansas held ASU to 13 first downs and 4-of-17 on third down.
Leroy Harris III had seven tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack. David Santiago added another sack, and Kansas finished with six tackles for loss.
Even Arizona State’s scoring makes the defensive performance look better than the final score suggests. The Sun Devils’ first possession went 44 yards and ended in a field goal. Their next touchdown came after Kansas punted 17 yards and gave ASU the ball at the KU 25. One play later, touchdown.
Their second touchdown required no offense whatsoever because ASU returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards. Their third touchdown came after Dylan Edwards fumbled and Arizona State returned it to the KU 2.
In other words, Arizona State’s offense produced a whopping three points on a conventional scoring drive all afternoon.
Kansas should win that game.
Honorable mention: The offensive line. It was much better than it was against Missouri. KU ran for 179 yards, averaged 4.4 yards per carry, and generally looked much more capable of moving people around.
THE BAD
Kansas had 17 points on 414 yards of offense.
That math is… not ideal.
KU turned the ball over three times, went 0-for-3 on fourth down, and missed a 44-yard field goal.
Willis fumbled in Arizona State territory. Edwards fumbled at the ASU 22. Marshall threw an interception on fourth down.
The interception is slightly less offensive than the other turnovers because it came on fourth down and Arizona State would have taken possession anyway, but it still ended another Kansas possession in Sun Devil territory.
This is the sort of game where raw yardage becomes almost meaningless. Kansas moved the ball well enough to score considerably more than 17 points. It just kept finding ways not to. The Edwards fumble was probably the worst example. Kansas had reached the Arizona State 22 and had a chance to make it a one-score game. Instead, ASU returned the fumble 77 yards to the KU 2 and scored two plays later.
That’s potentially a 14-point swing in a game Kansas lost by seven.
Football is complicated until it’s not.
There was at least some second-half improvement. Kansas went 0-for-5 on third down in the first half, then began the third quarter 0-2 on third down. But from that point, the Jayhawks finished the game 6-for-9 on third down.
So, the offense did eventually start sustaining drives. It just didn’t finish enough of them.
THE UGLY
Special teams.
Where would you like to begin?
Because, yes, Tate Nagy returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown. That happened. It counts.
Unfortunately, Kansas then spent the rest of the afternoon demonstrating why one spectacular return does not necessarily constitute a good special-teams performance.
Late in the second quarter, Arizona State punted and pinned Kansas at its own 2-yard line. Kansas went three-and-out. Matt Gill then punted 17 yards.
The right-footed Aussie-style punter rolled to his left (???) and booted the ball straight toward the sidelines.
Arizona State took over at the KU 25 and scored on the next play. Kansas had gone from leading 7-3 with less than a minute remaining to trailing 10-7 because of one bad offensive possession and one catastrophically bad punt. Annoying, but survivable.
Ah, but this is KANSAS FOOTBALL, remember?
So of course Arizona State returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown.
Kansas went from leading 7-3 with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter to trailing 17-7 less than a minute into the third quarter while Arizona State’s offense ran exactly one meaningful play.
Outstanding.
Arizona State scored 14 points on a 25-yard touchdown pass after the 17-yard punt and a kickoff return. Another seven came after Edwards’ fumble was returned to the KU 2. That accounts for 21 of Arizona State’s 24 points.
The Kansas defense probably deserves to invoice the rest of the team for emotional damages.
Also Ugly: The Injuries
Kansas was also without linebacker Bam Crouch and wide receiver Cam Pickett, both of whom were game-time decisions but ultimately did not play.
Crouch’s absence makes the defensive performance even more impressive. Kansas still held Arizona State to 228 total yards, 95 passing yards, and 3.5 yards per play without one of its expected contributors at linebacker.
Pickett’s absence left the receiving corps thinner, and Yasin Willis left the game early in the second quarter with a right-leg injury, eventually returning to the sideline wearing a boot.
So while the performance was frustrating, Kansas wasn’t operating at full strength, either.
THE STATS
Isaiah Marshall completed 17-of-33 passes for 235 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also carried 13 times for 52 yards, giving him 287 yards of total offense. Marshall was sacked just once after Missouri got to him four times last week.
Dylan Edwards led Kansas with 89 rushing yards on 18 carries and added four receptions for 16 yards. He also had a 21-yard kickoff return.
Edwards has now fumbled in three different countries for three different teams. He lost one against TCU in Fort Worth while playing for Colorado in 2023. Last year, he muffed a punt against Iowa State in Dublin while playing for K-State. Saturday, he added England to the collection.
USA! Ireland! England! I’m gonna start calling him Mr. Worldwide.
Yasin Willis rushed eight times for 35 yards and caught one pass for two yards before leaving with an injury. He also lost a fumble in the second quarter.
Micah Johnson carried twice for three yards.
Nahzae Cox led Kansas receivers with 68 yards on just two receptions, including a 42-yarder.
Tate Nagy caught three passes for 61 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He also returned two punts for 77 yards, highlighted by the 72-yard touchdown that gave Kansas a 7-3 lead. Not a bad afternoon.
Nik McMillan led KU with four receptions, totaling 44 yards.
Jailen Butler caught two passes for 29 yards, including a 24-yard reception.
Keaton Kubecka had one catch for 15 yards.
Taylor Davis led the defense with eight tackles.
Trey Lathan had seven tackles, including one tackle for loss.
Leroy Harris III also had seven tackles and was considerably more disruptive, finishing with two tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble.
Corey Gordon and Quincy Davis each finished with five tackles.
David Santiago had four tackles and KU’s other sack.
Martin Connington was 1-for-2 on field goals, missing from 44 yards before making a 46-yarder late in the fourth quarter. He made both extra points.
Matthew Gill punted five times for 180 yards, an average of 36.0 yards per punt, with a long of 44. None were inside the 20, and, uh, one went 17 yards.
