photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas linebacker Trey Lathan just misses an interception late in the game against Cincinnati at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Lawrence.

The Kansas football team is facing the prospect of another empty winter.

With Friday’s gut-wrenching 31-21 loss to No. 13 Utah, the Jayhawks finished 5-7 for the second straight season, again suffering a decisive loss in their final game with one last chance to clinch bowl eligibility. But unlike in 2024, when KU went on a remarkable late-season run to put itself in contention, this time the Jayhawks faltered several times down the stretch and never quite got over the hump — and with a mid- to low-level Academic Progress Rate, they likely won’t be one of the rare, lucky five-win teams to make the postseason, if any get there at all.

One similarity between the last two campaigns: Multiple games slipped away from the Jayhawks in the final moments, ultimately consigning them to their grim fate. In 2024 that meant things like a fumble bouncing off multiple Jayhawks and landing harmlessly with a UNLV player in an eventual shock loss to the Rebels, or a veritable comedy of errors in a heartbreaker against rival Kansas State. In 2025 the cruel twists of fate were largely confined to three close losses, as described below, including Friday’s.

While the KU program has not been accustomed to bowl games in recent decades, the Jayhawks got two tastes of the postseason in 2022 and 2023, including a victory in the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The challenge for the Jayhawks will be to return there in 2026 after a second straight offseason of change — including, for the first time, at the quarterback position, with Jalon Daniels’ long and winding career at an end.

Sept. 27, 2025, vs. Cincinnati: The narrowest of margins

One could look at the final box score from this game and suggest that KU squandered one of the best performances of Daniels’ career — 445 passing yards and four touchdowns — and certainly the best of Emmanuel Henderson Jr.’s.

On the other hand, one could also marvel at the fact that the Jayhawks had a chance to win at any rate a game in which they allowed 603 total yards. They certainly did have a chance, but it slipped through their hands.

A goal-line fumble at the start of the fourth quarter, forced and recovered by Cincinnati’s Antwan Peek Jr., marred what was essentially a perfect day otherwise for Daniels. But it’s important to note that the play’s impact on the eventual outcome was minimal because KU’s defense forced a rare stop on the ensuing series, and then Daniels led what could have been, with a more favorable result, one of the defining drives of his career: a 12-play, 85-yard grind, highlighted by a big 16-yard snag on second-and-15 by Keaton Kubecka, to help set up Levi Wentz for the go-ahead score to make it 34-30.

Then KU’s defense had to somehow find another stop after getting picked apart all day by Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby — and it almost did.

It was an uneasy drive. Facing second-and-10 from his own 35-yard line, Sorsby rolled to his right and connected on a deep ball to Isaiah Johnson, but it got called back because Johnson had stepped out of bounds. On the next play, third-and-10, defensive tackle Blake Herold, essentially the only player to generate notable pressure against the Bearcats all day, got around the left edge and hit Sorsby as he released a pass down the middle that sailed way over receiver Jeff Caldwell.

It hit the hands of middle linebacker Trey Lathan and then bounced off the extended left hand of safety Lyrik Rawls. No game-sealing interception, but it was still fourth-and-long.

Then Noah Jennings beat D.J. Graham II off the line on a crossing route, drifted upfield as he kept running toward the far sideline to ensure he’d be able to reach the marker, and then corralled Sorsby’s pass with one hand. First down, Bearcats.

As much as that felt like the death blow for KU, Cincinnati actually still had to go 47 yards in 58 seconds with one timeout. But that became essentially a formality. The Bearcats only needed half that time, and the Jayhawks did nothing when they got the ball back.

A better catch by Lathan or a worse one by Jennings, and the Jayhawks get to six wins.

Nov. 8, 2025, at Arizona: The wrong decision and what preceded it

This one requires some reverse chronology, because the big moment on which postgame discourse centered — and it was a big one to be sure, one of the most pivotal of Lance Leipold’s entire tenure as head coach — took place very late, but KU previously had any number of opportunities before then to prevent it from carrying such weight.

Facing third-and-9 in Arizona territory with 2:47 to go and a three-point lead, Daniels dropped back to pass with solid blocking and actually had Wentz open on a short crossing route, but well short of the sticks. The quarterback opted to take off, but Wildcat defensive back Ayden Garnes broke free from Cam Pickett’s attempt at a downfield block and dove at Daniels’ legs, ensuring he wouldn’t make it to the sticks. As Daniels plummeted to the ground, he took a second hit from linebacker Myron Robinson and fumbled.

Daniels and his linemen retained the ball, but what bore greater import was what took place after the play: The officials took Daniels out for an injury timeout, and Leipold couldn’t call a timeout of his own to ensure his quarterback would be able to return. Leipold said afterward he had planned to attempt a fourth-down conversion — which if successful could potentially allow KU to take a decisive two-score lead or if nothing else run the clock down to 30 seconds or so — but elected not to do so if he couldn’t use Daniels.

Leipold later admitted after KU’s bye week that he “made the wrong choice” and that it still weighed on him.

Kicker Laith Marjan, who had previously made a school-record 14 straight field goals, missed a chip shot, not that it mattered all that much: The Wildcats shredded KU’s defense on the ensuing drive, and as against Cincinnati, the Jayhawks did nothing on their desperate final series.

Again, though, KU could have made any number of plays to eliminate or at least alleviate the stakes of that final fourth-down decision. Shortly before halftime, with a minute remaining in the second quarter as Arizona was trying to string together a late scoring drive, KU defensive end Leroy Harris III had a tremendous pick-6 called back due to a holding penalty on Jalen Todd away from where the interception took place. The Wildcats went on to score a touchdown two plays later and what could have been a 24-7 lead became 17-14.

The game remained incredibly close throughout the second half because neither offense could score, and the Jayhawks’ defense missed out on two more chances to make things significantly easier in the fourth quarter. Taylor Davis had a dramatic interception of Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita overturned because the ball hit the ground, and on the Wildcats’ next drive Syeed Gibbs broke on a pass in the flat and knocked it down, but he could potentially have caught it and taken it all the way back.

Instead, KU never managed a two-score lead despite its consistently effective defense, so Arizona could simply go down and win the game after the fourth-down misadventure.

Nov. 28, 2025, vs. Utah: Uncharacteristic mistakes

Members of the KU football team spoke prior to facing Utah about how they intended to draw from Kansas State’s rushing performance against the Utes a week earlier. Whatever they saw on film, they were clearly able to take advantage. They didn’t quite match the Wildcats’ 472 yards, but put up 290 with both Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams clearing the 100-yard mark. It was the first 100-yard game of the year for Hishaw and the second for Williams.

Unfortunately for KU, it had more in common with K-State than it might have hoped, as both teams saw upset bids slip away in agonizing fashion. In the Jayhawks’ case, it was largely as a result of a pair of red-zone interceptions that served as a black mark on Daniels’ final game.

KU held a 14-10 lead entering the fourth quarter and had made it deep into Utah territory as a result of 25- and 22-yard completions by Daniels, along with the hard, persistent running of Hishaw and Williams. On the first play of the final period, Hishaw charged ahead for 15 yards down to the Utah 10-yard line. At that moment, KU’s win probability according to ESPN Analytics was 71.8%.

It had already been a dicey day for the Jayhawks in the most important parts of the field. After playing a strong first quarter, KU had ended it trailing 3-0 because Daniels threw a pick to Smith Snowden on the Jayhawks’ first drive and Marjan missed a field goal on the second.

That trend continued when it mattered most. Kash Dillon stopped Hishaw for a loss of two yards, forcing KU behind the chains, a position in which it rarely found itself on Friday. The second-and-goal play was a disaster. Daniels initially stepped up like he wanted to scramble, then got flushed to his right. Midway through his run toward the sideline, he looked back up for a receiver and didn’t find anyone. He threw the ball away with Lander Barton bearing down — but not nearly far enough, as it landed in the hands of Utah’s Jackson Bennee in the corner of the end zone.

The long-dormant Utah offense quickly cashed in and took a 17-14 lead, but the Jayhawks were undaunted. This time they ran the ball seven straight times before Aliki Vimahi stuffed Hishaw on second-and-goal to force a third-and-goal at the 5-yard line.

The play actually looked promising at the snap. Daniels might have had Boden Groen over the middle, but he threw immediately to Pickett in the flat — and Pickett never turned around. Sitting in zone, Elijah Davis broke on the route, secured the ball and took it back 97 yards for a touchdown. The new win probability: 3.2%.

Granted, victory had been far from assured when KU made it to the red zone up 14-10. KU’s peak win probability had been 87.7% at Arizona and 89.8% against Cincinnati, so this could still have been anyone’s game even if the Jayhawks went up 21-10 early in the fourth quarter. It’s not quite in the same category as the other two heartbreaking losses — even if Utah’s offense had been largely neutralized until the picks gave it new life.

Actually, the game was still in play after Daniels’ errors. He led a quick and efficient scoring drive with a touchdown to Leyton Cure to cut it to 24-21. But much like at Arizona, the defense that had been so reliable all day eventually folded, allowing the Utes to earn three hard-fought first downs and then a touchdown.

That ended KU’s hopes of a sixth win.