Nobody — and I mean NOBODY — beats Kansas eighteen times in a row and gets away with it.
Except Nebraska.
And Oklahoma.
And Kansas State, apparently.
Insert Hank Hill Garden Hose dot gif.
Freshmen enrolling in college next August will have never seen KU beat K-State in football. In a word: Bonkers.
Kansas lost 35-24 Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, and despite leading twice during the game — including by double digits at one point — the Jayhawks were thoroughly outplayed for much of the afternoon.
K-State outgained KU 568-319, including a staggering 359-168 advantage on the ground. The Wildcats averaged 7.6 yards per play compared to KU’s 5.3, collected 25 first downs to Kansas’s 18, and controlled the ball for more than 36 minutes. K-State converted six of 13 third downs, while KU went just 3-of-11. Both teams committed one turnover, although the turnover column doesn’t come close to capturing KU’s special-teams adventures.
In the first half alone, K-State gained more yards (301) than the Wildcats managed in their entire game against Houston the previous week. Against KU, they had 174 yards in the first quarter. Naturally, KU led 17-7 after those first 15 minutes.
College football remains the stupidest sport in America.
The Wildcats outgained KU 301-116 before halftime, averaging 7.5 yards per play compared to Kansas’s 4.0. KU managed just 59 passing yards and 57 rushing yards, yet somehow scored 17 points thanks in large part to a 95-yard kickoff return by Bryson Hayes.
Then Kansas spent the second quarter dawdling around on offense while K-State put up 11 unanswered points.
Including a safety.
Because of course there was a safety.
Fun fact, did you know that KU is statutorily required to provide K-State a two-pointer in every road matchup? Back in 2021, the state legislature passed (and the governor signed) HB5927 which created KSA 76-7666, requiring the University of Kansas to surrender at least one safety during every football game played in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the provision is optional for games played in Lawrence. But don’t get me started on the Republican supermajority; this isn’t a political substack.
Anyway. Kansas actually moved the ball somewhat better after halftime, gaining 203 yards compared to 116 in the first half. Unfortunately, those 203 yards produced only seven points, while K-State added another 267 yards and 17 points.
The Jayhawks did take a 24-18 lead in the third quarter, and for a few minutes, it was possible for KU basketball fans to believe this might finally be the day for the football squad. However, K-State easily responded with a touchdown through KU’s suddenly swiss-cheese defense, and the Jayhawk offense subsequently went three-and-out. The Wildcats then marched all the way to the KU 1 before turning it over on downs.
Kansas shockingly drove 81 yards down the field, when Isaiah Marshall threw an interception at the K-State goal line. Of course he did. Four plays later, K-State scored. Eventually, the Wildcats won 35-24, outscoring Kansas 28-7 over the final three quarters.
The Streak is old enough to vote and register with selective service now.
Also, I want to give myself some props for almost nailing the final score in the preview prediction.
THE GOOD
The good actually started off kinda bad. Stay with me here.
K-State received the opening kickoff and promptly marched 75 yards in five plays, scoring in just 1:43. Avery Johnson broke loose for 59 yards, and Rodney Fields finished things off with a four-yard touchdown run. Not an encouraging start!
Then Bryson Hayes took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Seven-seven.
K-State drove down inside the red zone again in two plays (bad!) before turning the ball over on downs (good!). Kansas followed that with an actual sustained offensive possession, traveling 88 yards in 13 plays. Marshall found Nik McMillan for a 12-yard touchdown, giving KU a 14-7 lead.
Then the defense forced a fumble, Kansas recovered at the K-State 27, and the Jayhawks added a Martin Connington field goal.
Seventeen to seven!
Against K-State!
Unfortunately, the Jayhawks couldn’t fully capitalize on the turnover with a touchdown when a Marshall touchdown run was erased by a holding penalty, and Kansas had to settle for three points. Still, KU had done enough to take a ten-point lead despite getting pushed around defensively.
The third-quarter opening drive was encouraging, too. Kansas traveled 75 yards in nine plays, with Leyton Cure providing 44 receiving yards and Marshall converting a fourth down with his legs. Dylan Edwards scored from three yards out to put KU back in front, 24-18.
There were also some genuinely impressive defensive stands, with the KU defense forcing two turnovers on downs from K-State inside the red zone. Those were big plays. In a game where Kansas allowed 568 yards, the defense at least prevented K-State from turning some of those yards into touchdowns.
THE BAD
Let’s discuss the Kansas run defense.
Or more accurately, the complete absence of one.
K-State rushed for 359 yards on 51 attempts, averaging seven yards per carry. Joe Jackson gained 159 yards, Avery Johnson added 132, and Rodney Fields contributed another 66.
Remember our preview, when we discussed how vulnerable K-State looked in the trenches? Apparently, the Wildcats read it.
Or more accurately, someone read it to them.
Anyway, Johnson’s 59-yard run on the opening possession was bad enough. Jackson later added a 64-yard run. But the more concerning problem was K-State’s ability to consistently move the football on the ground.
Four yards here. Six yards there. Another first down. Another sustained possession. The Wildcats finished with 25 first downs, 14 of them rushing. And they possessed the ball for more than 36 minutes. Kansas simply couldn’t get off the field.
And consider K-State’s final scoring possession. The Wildcats ran the football ten consecutive times before kicking a field goal. At that point, K-State wasn’t particularly interested in disguising what it wanted to do. The Wildcats wanted to run the ball, burn clock, and put the game away.
Kansas knew it was coming. They couldn’t stop it anyway. Hell, I bet K-State could have told them what play was coming and it wouldn’t have mattered, it was that bad.
Johnson also threw for 209 yards and a touchdown, giving him 341 total yards personally accounted for. He looked much more like the dangerous dual-threat quarterback we expected coming into the season than the inconsistent player K-State fans had been complaining about recently. Because of course he did.
The Kansas offense doesn’t get off the hook here either, because when the other team is averaging 7.6 yards every time it snaps the football, sustaining drives become rather important.
THE UGLY
Eighteen.
Kansas just keeps falling on its face.
Let’s start with the final two minutes of the first half. KU led 17-13 and had possession with 2:17 remaining. At that point, the Jayhawks had an opportunity to take a lead into halftime despite being thoroughly outplayed statistically. Just don’t do anything stupid.
Seriously. That’s the entire assignment.
But nooooooooooooo.
A holding penalty backed the Jayhawks up near their own goal line. Then, on third down, Marshall took a hit along the sideline that certainly looked late enough to warrant a flag. Naturally, there wasn’t one. Now, I’m not blaming the officials for what happened next, but a 15-yard penalty there would have given Kansas an automatic first down instead of forcing the Jayhawks to punt from deep in their own territory.
And we all know how that turned out.
Matthew Gill couldn’t secure the punt snap, and the football eventually went out of the back of the end zone for a safety. I will note that it wasn’t a bad snap, either. Gill just didn’t catch it. So now it’s 17-15 KU pending the free kick.
But wait! There’s more!
K-State returns the kickoff to midfield, and the Wildcats quickly moved into field-goal range. Luis Rodriguez connected from 28 yards with 24 seconds remaining. K-State 18, Kansas 17.
Kansas had the ball and a four-point lead with 2:17 remaining in the half. Less than two minutes later, the Jayhawks were trailing. Five points surrendered without K-State needing to score a touchdown.
That’s some impressive work.
According to the Twitterverse, KU has been outscored 57-19 in the final 30 seconds of first halves against power-conference opponents since 2024. (I have not verified this stat.) I have, however, verified that Kansas has lost a potential halftime lead in the final two minutes in three of its four games against power-conference opponents this season.
Now, not every end-of-half disaster is a clock-management failure. Saturday’s safety was primarily an execution problem, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. But at some point, the recurring inability to navigate critical situations becomes a coaching issue. (More on this later this week.)
Then came the third quarter. Kansas finally put together a legitimate touchdown drive, taking a 24-18 lead. And what happened immediately afterward? The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, K-State took over at its own 35, and marched 65 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
I’m not suggesting that ten extra yards of field position single-handedly determined that possession. Kansas still had opportunities to stop the Wildcats. But it’s another example of what has become an infuriating pattern in this particular matchup.
Kansas does something good.
Kansas immediately does something stupid.
Rinse. Repeat.
The Jayhawks also had two apparent rushing touchdowns wiped out by penalties. Marshall’s first-quarter touchdown after the K-State fumble recovery disappeared because of a holding call, and a 46-yard Marshall touchdown run in the fourth quarter was erased by a facemask penalty. At least they were legitimate calls this time. (Never forget.)
Still, that’s two potential touchdowns erased by mistakes. And then there’s the fourth-quarter interception.
After KU stopped K-State on fourth-and-goal at the 1, the Jayhawks put together an impressive 81-yard drive. Kansas had second-and-five at the K-State 18, trailing by one point. A touchdown would have given KU the lead (again).
Marshall threw toward the end zone. Logan Bartley intercepted it. And K-State promptly drove 84 yards in four plays to extend its lead to 32-24.
That sequence is probably the most revealing of the afternoon. Kansas made a terrific defensive stop. The offense responded with a long drive, moving into scoring position with a chance to take control of the game. And then everything fell apart.
Again.
But here’s the thing: We shouldn’t let the missed opportunities obscure the fact that Kansas was also thoroughly outplayed.
K-State gained 249 more yards than KU. The Wildcats rushed for 359. They averaged 7.6 yards per play and dominated possession. Kansas was fortunate to be in a position to win at all, which makes the game difficult to categorize. Was it another missed opportunity, or was K-State simply the better team?
I think the answer is both.
And maybe that’s what’s so infuriating. Sometimes KU gets blown out. Sometimes it plays well enough to win and finds a spectacular way to lose. And sometimes, like Saturday, it gets pushed around for much of the afternoon but still has opportunities to steal a victory.
The result never changes.
THE STATS
Isaiah Marshall completed 12 of 26 passes for 151 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He rushed 14 times for 117 yards.
Dylan Edwards rushed 16 times for 57 yards and a touchdown. He added two receptions for 28 yards.
Bryson Hayes returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and had one rushing attempt for seven yards.
Nik McMillan caught five passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Leyton Cure finished with two receptions for 44 yards.
Carson Bruhn caught two passes for 20 yards.
Cam Pickett recorded just one reception for four yards.
Trey Lathan and Bam Crouch led Kansas with eight tackles apiece. Crouch also recorded one tackle for loss.
Corey Gordon finished with seven tackles, while Taylor Davis and David Santiago each had six. Santiago also recovered a fumble.
Marcus Calvin recorded four tackles, including KU’s only sack, for a loss of three yards.
Leroy Harris III was effectively neutralized by K-State, as he was credited with just two tackles on the day, one QBH, and a PBU. Apparently, they can block him.
Martin Connington connected on his only field-goal attempt, from 31 yards, and made all three extra points.
Matthew Gill punted four times for 132 yards, averaging 33.0 yards per punt, with a long of 40 yards. I don’t usually do this here, but let’s talk about the punting game for a minute. This game, along with Arizona State, were two of the worst games by a punter I can recall ever seeing. Out of his four punts, only one went farther than 32 yards. And that can’t be explained away because there was not a situation where he was punting from midfield and trying to pin a ball inside the 20.
However, on the season, he hasn’t been bad. (He hasn’t been great, either.) One important qualification: Gill is a freshman from Australia playing his first season of American football. That matters when evaluating whether he’s simply a poor punter or an inexperienced player struggling with consistency.
UP NEXT
Kansas returns to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 24, to face Baylor.
The Jayhawks are 2-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play, with six games remaining. KU needs four more victories to reach bowl eligibility, so you guys know what that means.
Go ahead, you know you want to.
It’s officially basketball season in Lawrence.