Five Observations From Kansas Football’s Thrilling Walk-Off Win Over Baylor

Despite trailing by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter, KU was able to string together two touchdown drives to complete an improbable comeback. The Jayhawks now sit at 3-4 on the season with a real chance to become bowl-eligible with a couple more wins.

More importantly, Kansas snapped a 14-game losing skid against Baylor, which may have bought Lance Leipold a few more weeks of job security. Here are five takeaways from the thrilling victory in the Booth today.

The lowlight of last week's loss to K-State was punter Matthew Gill's dropped snap that resulted in a safety right before halftime. It appeared that a similar scenario was going to unfold today at the end of the first half.

The Australian freshman's first punt of the day was a 36-yard dribbler that resulted in a barrage of boos from the KU faithful. You almost have to feel bad for Gill, who was visibly upset on the sidelines after his attempt.

While the Jayhawks finished the afternoon an efficient 5-for-8 on fourth-downs, Andy Kotelnicki's offense started to become far too predictable down the stretch. Whenever KU faced a third-and-long opportunity, it was apparent that they were going to run it up the middle to make fourth down manageable.

That almost became the offense's downfall late in the final quarter when Dylan Edwards was stuffed before the line to gain, resulting in a turnover on downs a few minutes after a massive KU interception.

While KU's product on the field wasn't always perfect, a significant portion of the blame for this near-defeat has to go on the officiating. After a questionable Carson Bruhn holding call wiped away a touchdown in the first quarter, the refs made another costly mistake in the third quarter.

A second-down sack by Dak Brinkley would have put BU at third-and-26 from Kansas' 37-yard line, putting the Bears in a difficult spot as they tried to extend their 14-10 lead. However, the ref threw a late flag and went to the monitor to review Kansas for an illegal substitution.

The line judge was supposed to prevent the ball from being snapped until both teams had a chance to make their substitutions, but Leroy Harris III was still trying to get off the field when Baylor snapped the ball. Rather than stopping the play and allowing KU to complete its substitution, the officials let the snap happen and penalized the Jayhawks for a mistake they should have been given the chance to avoid. Baylor went on to score a touchdown three plays later to take a two-possession lead.

The Jayhawks were still able to prevail in the end, but the officials royally botched this call by allowing the ball to be snapped.

In the latter stages of the first half, Isaiah Marshall squandered two opportunities at an easy touchdown. The first came on a ball in which he slightly overthrew Nahzae Cox wide open trailing the left sideline, and the next came a few plays later when Nik McMillan was unable to secure a catch in the end zone.

You could argue that McMillan's should have been caught, but Marshall's inconsistent arm is undeniable. The Jayhawks should have been leading going into halftime had he put a little less zip on a few of his throws.

One of Leipold's biggest criticisms is that his teams never show up in the games that matter. Although you could argue that a home clash against a reeling Bears squad looking for a reason to fire Dave Aranda isn't a marquee win, it's still undoubtedly the biggest victory of the season for the Jayhawks.

Leipold deserves credit for getting his team in the right headspace to come back in the fourth quarter and stay alive. The defense showed up when it needed to, and Marshall orchestrated a game-winning drive to give KU its first conference win of the campaign.

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