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

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels fumbles the ball at the goal line against Cincinnati at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Lawrence.

Kansas football reached the red zone four times in Saturday’s 37-34 loss to Cincinnati, but scored 13 points on those drives. Despite the offense totaling 597 yards, the red-zone inefficiency left crucial points on the field.

The Jayhawks settled for field goals on their first two red-zone trips and fumbled on the third. The only red-zone touchdown came on a 12-play, 85-yard drive that gave the Jayhawks a lead with 1:45 left on the clock.

“Our red-zone efficiency wasn’t where it needed to be early in the game,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. “… If we score touchdowns and not kick field goals, then maybe we’re in a better mood in here today.”

Early in the second quarter, the Jayhawks went 80 yards in five plays to set up a first-and-goal at the Cincinnati 5-yard line. After averaging almost 13 yards per play leading up to the goal-to-go situation, the Jayhawks went a yard in three plays and settled for a field goal to tie the game at 10-10.

Later in the quarter, Kansas had plays of 31 yards, 17 yards and 15 yards to get to the Cincinnati 9-yard line. Kansas moved up to the Cincinnati 5-yard line with a 4-yard run from redshirt senior running back Leshon Williams, but a 12-yard loss on a run from redshirt senior quarterback Daniels moved the offense back. An incompletion on third down led to the 35-yard field goal from redshirt senior kicker Laith Marjan.

A touchdown on the drive would’ve tied the game at 17 with 3:15 left in the first half, but instead the Bearcats finished the half up 20-13 after an end-of-half field goal.

The field goals did help the Jayhawks stay in the game, especially early as Cincinnati’s offense averaged over seven yards per carry and had 323 yards.

“At the end of the day, if you get points in the red zone, you’re always doing good to be able to make sure that you stay in the football game,” Daniels said.

But had Kansas finished those drives, the Jayhawks could’ve held a lead at the break.

Kansas got nothing on its next red-zone trip, as a fumble by Daniels gave Cincinnati the ball back at the 1-yard line with the Jayhawks down 30-27 to the Bearcats. Leipold said the mistakes and red zone efficiency “are just little things that we got to be better at holistically.”

After the game, Daniels took ownership of the goal-line fumble, saying he “can’t have plays like that.”

“There was multiple people who were tackling me at the same time, and I was trying to grab my arm to the other watch, but my other arm was being pulled by somebody else and my leg as well,” Daniels said. “So it was a great play by them, but at the end of the day we do ball security every single day of the week. I have to be able to make sure that I have the ball secured in that situation.”

The lone touchdown drive in the red zone came at an opportune time with the score giving Kansas a 34-30 lead, but the following scoring drive by Cincinnati exacerbated the missed opportunities on earlier drives.

The Jayhawks avoided going backward in the red zone on the late touchdown drive, something that the team had been unable to do in the first three attempts. Kansas had a 2-yard loss on the first red-zone drive, which, after a second-down incompletion, set up a third-and-goal from the 7-yard line. The 12-yard loss on the second red-zone drive on a second-and-goal from the 5-yard line pushed the Jayhawks into a much harder third-and-17.

The final touchdown drive, as well as the nearly 600 yards of total offense, showed the capabilities of the Kansas offense. The Jayhawks had six rushes of 10 or more yards and 12 completions of 15 or more yards.

Leipold said Kansas has worked a lot on situational football in practices, and that the team will continue to do so as the Jayhawks work to solve the goal-to-go struggles. Kansas will attempt to do so while in hostile territory, as the Jayhawks take on UCF on Saturday and Texas Tech a week later on the road.