photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas' Leshon Williams carries the ball against UCF on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Orlando, Fla.

Orlando, Fla. — The Kansas defense started so poorly on Saturday night against UCF that it allowed the Knights to score on all of their first-half possessions, and gave up 99 early rushing yards and two touchdowns to running back Myles Montgomery.

In the second half, Montgomery carried the ball 12 times for 11 yards and UCF didn’t score.

The Jayhawks stopped Knights quarterback Cam Fancher at the goal line with one minute and 47 seconds remaining, then forced four straight incompletions from Fancher on another last-second drive, to claim a 27-20 victory at the Acrisure Bounce House.

“We found a way,” KU coach Lance Leipold said. “It wasn’t the cleanest and things like that early, but I’m really proud of their perseverance in the second half. Being down 14-0 to come back and outscore them 27-6, I think says a lot about the resiliency of this team. We found a way to make some stops.”

Leshon Williams ran for three touchdowns, Laith Marjan kicked a pair of field goals on a rainy evening and KU had enough offense on a night when its second-half defense took center stage.

“It was lovely,” Williams said. “I think it’s my first time (with three touchdowns). It was lovely. I got to give a huge shoutout to my O-line, tight ends, receivers, all the coaches for trusting me to get the one or two yards. But it’s lovely, though.”

Leipold called the running back a “tough son of a gun” who has been banged up recently and battled through it.

“He’s limited in practice quite a bit in what he’s doing,” Leipold said. “And then I’ll ask him how he’s doing, he goes, ‘I’ll be good to go by Saturday.’ And he’s not a guy that’s looking to pace himself. He knows his body, he knows what it’s going to take, but it’s physical.”

Williams, for his part, said, “I ain’t got no choice. I got to push it every time. I can’t go out there and be like ‘Oh, I’m banged up.’ They’re probably banged up too.”

After a short opening drive gained little traction for KU, Montgomery opened the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown run on a porous opening effort from the Jayhawks’ defense.

KU advanced across midfield on a 17-yard catch by Boden Groen, but Groen got called for illegal motion on what would have been a successful third-down quarterback sneak by Jalon Daniels. Daniels ended up missing Levi Wentz low on a fourth-and-2 pass to end the drive.

Montgomery took off for 22 yards to open the Knights’ next series, but KU briefly held to force UCF into a fourth down of its own. After KU had only 10 players on the field and had to spend a timeout, Montgomery eluded multiple tacklers in the backfield for a conversion. He then carried the ball three additional times and scored a second touchdown to put UCF up 14-0.

“It was concerning of course, but I’m really proud that this group didn’t flinch and kept battling,” Leipold said.

Daniels found Groen again in a tight window on third-and-4 for what turned into a 46-yard catch-and-run, and then plowed forward for 12 yards on what was intended to be a quarterback sneak. Williams cashed in for KU with a short touchdown run.

The Jayhawks had UCF backed up in second-and-20 but allowed a 20-yard completion to Kylan Fox followed by a long run from Jaden Nixon to flip the field. A pair of errant throws by quarterback Tayven Jackson consigned the Knights to a 38-yard field goal by Noe Ruelas.

Daniels’ 24-yard completion to Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and 12-yard screen pass to Cam Pickett helped the Jayhawks reach the red zone, as did a pair of tough runs by Williams. The sixth-year senior running back punched in his own second score to make it 17-14.

UCF had the opportunity for a two-minute drill and seized it, with a 13-yard catch by Duane Thomas Jr. on third-and-10 allowing the Knights’ drive to continue deep into KU territory. But with the rain coming down in full force shortly before the half, Jackson had a tough time placing the ball on a series of shots into the end zone, and Ruelas was good again from 38 before the break.

“If you want me to be honest, I feel like every single time it rained, their offense was on the field,” Daniels said. “It seemed like it was storming every time they get on the field, and we get on the field, it was dry.”

The Jayhawks came up with an immediate stop to open the second half, forcing UCF’s first punt of the game.

“We came out flat, and we came as a group together and we just told each other we got to pick up the energy because it was a long game ahead of us,” middle linebacker Trey Lathan said. “They were hitting us early, doing a lot of things that we weren’t prepared for, and we just had to put our cleats in the ground and get grounded to the game.”

Meanwhile, KU’s offense found its most consistent rhythm of the game, and Daniels continued to spread the ball around to a wide variety of targets. But that rhythm halted with a third-and-2 false start by right tackle Enrique Cruz Jr., and Daniels couldn’t quite place a tight-window throw to Henderson on the ensuing third-and-7.

Marjan’s subsequent field goal cut KU’s deficit in half, and then he stayed perfect on the year and tied the game with a 41-yarder after a big completion up the seam from Daniels to Pickett.

With UCF facing the prospect of a third consecutive three-and-out, Jackson dropped back and got crushed by blitzing safety Jalen Dye, who forced a fumble that was recovered by Lathan.

“I just seen the hole open like the Red Sea, and then hit it,” Dye said.

Jackson was injured on the play and replaced by Fancher, and in the meantime Williams scored his third touchdown to give KU its first lead of the night.

UCF regained possession early in the fourth quarter and earned a first down for the first time in the second half, then gained some ground when Fancher split two Jayhawk defenders, dodged another and ran for 18 yards. But a pair of false starts derailed the series and led to a punt — which the Knights downed at the 1-yard line.

KU went three-and-out, and UCF initially benefited from its favorable field position. Fancher converted a fourth down with a 22-yard pass to DJ Black, and a third-and-18 right at the marker with a connection to Waden Charles.

Facing third-and-10 on KU’s 14-yard line, Fancher threw well short of the sticks to Domercant. But a facemask penalty on Austin Alexander turned a 3-yard gain into an automatic first down.

The Jayhawks held the Knights on second- and third-and-goal plays from the 1-yard line, then Lathan held Fancher short on a keeper to force a turnover on downs and give KU the ball backed up against its own end zone once again.

KU burned just 10 seconds, due to UCF’s three timeouts, before punting the ball away, but managed to get a second stop deep in its own territory.

“it was pretty amazing,” Lathan said. “You’re expected to lose in that situation, but when you come out with a W it’s a great feeling.”

The Jayhawks, who improved to 4-2 and 2-1 in Big 12 play, will travel to face Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

Notes and observations

Jalen Todd started at nickel back for the Jayhawks in place of the injured Mason Ellis, replicating a look that KU deployed against Cincinnati when Ellis’ usual backup Syeed Gibbs was also injured. With Todd on the inside, Alexander and D.J. Graham II played outside corner for the Jayhawks.

Marjan was listed on the injury report all week and made it to Saturday as a game-time decision, but he was good to go for the Jayhawks, at least at first. Leipold said he had spent the week dealing with a lower-body injury.

“I think you could see a guy who didn’t practice all week,” Leipold said. “The field goal that was 41, it hit the crossbar, I think he was starting to get tired. I asked him if he was OK, he said he was, but the next kickoff went out of bounds and I think he did start to tire. But he gave us a gutty performance from a kicker standpoint and he’s been very good for us. I told the team afterwards how proud I was, the way he gutted it out.”

Henderson served as KU’s rotational fourth captain for the game.

How they scored

First quarter

8:15 — Myles Montgomery 29-yard run. Noe Ruelas PAT good. Ten plays, 79 yards, 4:33 TOP. UCF 7, KU 0.

Second quarter

14:55 — Montgomery 3-yard run. Ruelas PAT good. Eight plays, 60 yards, 4:00 TOP. UCF 14, KU 0.

11:14 — Leshon Williams 1-yard run. Laith Marjan PAT good. Nine plays, 75 yards, 4:17 TOP. UCF 14, KU 7.

7:49 — Ruelas 38-yard field goal. Seven plays, 55 yards, 2:49 TOP. UCF 17, KU 7.

1:55 — Williams 4-yard run. Marjan PAT good. Eleven plays, 75 yards, 5:49 TOP. UCF 17, KU 14.

0:05 — Ruelas 38-yard field goal. Twelve plays, 54 yards, 1:44 TOP. UCF 20, KU 14.

Third quarter

7:07 — Marjan 33-yard field goal. Ten plays, 59 yards, 5:46 TOP. UCF 20, KU 17.

4:01 — Marjan 41-yard field goal. Six plays, 46 yards, 2:24 TOP. UCF 20, KU 20.

3:00 — Williams 2-yard run. One play, two yards, 0:05 TOP. KU 27, UCF 20.

Box score