Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall (8) is wrapped up by two UCF defenders on a run during the first quarter on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Nick Krug/Special to the Journal-World

The Kansas football team erased a 19-point second-half deficit, but couldn’t hold off UCF when it counted and fell 33-32 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening.

After a 42-yard pass from Isaiah Marshall to Nahzae Cox that was by far KU’s biggest play through the air all day, Dylan Edwards ran for the go-ahead touchdown with one minute and six seconds remaining. But UCF stormed back, and Alonza Barnett III found Caden Piening for the game-winner with one second left.

Will Stone hit the extra point — he had missed one earlier, as well as a long field goal — and gave the Knights their first road win under head coach Scott Frost.

Marshall threw for 210 yards and rushed for 125 with two touchdowns on the ground. Barnett’s primary target on the day was Josh Derry, who caught eight passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, but it was Piening, with one prior catch, who emerged as the hero.

KU had to punt on its opening possession, but the Jayhawks immediately got the ball back. David Santiago got to Barnett as he threw and forced an interception by linebacker Trey Lathan. Derry knocked the ball away, but defensive tackle Marcus Calvin scooped it up and took it back to the 3-yard line.

After three unsuccessful rushes, the Jayhawks powered into the end zone with a quarterback sneak by Marshall.

Barnett converted a third-and-14 after KU kicked the ball out of bounds, and then threw another 22-yard pass to Derry. But the Jayhawks sniffed out a designed run play at the edge of the red zone and held UCF to a field goal.

Following a series of punts, the Knights gained some traction when Barnett spun out of a potential sack by Leroy Harris III and checked it down to Duane Thomas Jr., who crossed midfield on the final play of the first quarter. Harris was soon flagged for roughing the passer.

On fourth-and-1 from KU’s 10-yard line, UCF came out in a formation that strongly suggested a quarterback sneak, only to hand the ball to Thomas on a sweep for a touchdown. Stone missed the extra point to keep the score at 9-7.

KU went three-and-out, and the Knights’ offense found its rhythm with a series of first downs, including one on the ground from Landen Chambers to pick up a third-and-1. The Jayhawks managed to get a key stop on third-and-goal from the 5 with tight coverage and prompt another field goal.

The two teams immediately traded fumbles, neither of which was prompted by much contact from the opposing team.

Matt Gill pinned UCF at its 8-yard line with a solid punt, but Derry immediately caught a 16-yard pass and Syeed Gibbs committed a facemask penalty. Entering the two-minute timeout, Barnett rushed across midfield for another first down, and then he sprinted for 22 yards on the next play.

KU was able to drive the Knights back by 10 yards with a series of negative plays, and Stone was nowhere close on his 54-yard attempt as time expired, leaving the halftime score at 12-7.

The Jayhawks recorded just two first downs with 61 offensive yards in the first half, including 30 on runs by Marshall and 31 on everything else combined.

A long kickoff return brought UCF to midfield after the break, and the Knights got a 19-yard run from Chambers soon afterward. Taevion Swint punched in a touchdown just three minutes into the half.

Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman fumbled on the ensuing drive, and Barnett connected with Josh Derry, who beat Mason Ellis down the field for a 44-yard touchdown.

KU responded with its most successful offensive drive of the game, one that finally brought it over 100 total yards on the day. Marshall faked out a couple of Knight defenders for a 30-yard touchdown run, and the extra point cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to 26-14.

Harris tracked down Barnett for a third-down sack to prompt a punt by UCF. The Jayhawks continued to have success with Marshall on the ground, albeit not much otherwise. But a holding penalty on Amir Herring wiped out what could have been a 31-yard gain on a screen pass to Nik McMillan.

Marshall took a quarterback draw for another first down to help make up for the missed opportunity. He then found Keaton Kubecka up the seam for a 30-yard reception to set up a touchdown plunge by Cummings-Coleman.

With the KU crowd reenergized, the Jayhawks quickly forced UCF into a third-and-10, at which point Harris crushed Barnett from behind. His fumble was recovered by the Knights, but they still had to punt immediately.

Marshall and Cummings-Coleman continued to power KU’s offense on the ground before Marshall hit Kubecka for another big completion. The Jayhawks faced a third-and-6 at UCF’s 16-yard line as the clock ticked under six minutes remaining, and Marshall had to throw away against a blitz from the Knights. Martin Connington made a 34-yard field goal, but the Knights still got the ball back with a two-point lead.

UCF got a quick 16 yards from Derry, but fell behind the chains on a 4-yard loss by Swint. On third-and-6 with just over three minutes remaining, Corey Gordon blew up a screen to Derry to prompt another punt. Tate Nagy had trouble with Atticus Bertrams’ 59-yard punt, and KU had to start at its own 5-yard line.

Cummings-Coleman dropped a pass to open the drive, and the Jayhawks quickly found themselves in fourth-and-4 at the 11, but Kubecka made a sliding catch to keep the drive alive.

Marshall took a quarterback draw into UCF territory, but Dylan Edwards went backwards on a first-down handoff to force a timeout by KU with 1:22 left. That’s when Nahzae Cox broke open down the right sideline for a 42-yard reception down to the 5-yard line.

The Jayhawks were able to make the Knights burn one timeout before Edwards ran in a go-ahead touchdown, and McMillan added a two-point conversion to make it 32-26.

After a pair of incompletions, Barnett found Tyren Hornes for 20 yards, and Chase Hinshaw for 20 more. UCF had to burn a timeout after an unsuccessful rush by Barnett with 19 seconds left, but came back on the next play with an 18-yard catch by Derry.

Waden Charles looked to have an incredible juggling catch on a corner route while covered by Corey Gordon, but it was overturned on review. On the next play, Jalen Todd got flagged for pass interference to bring the ball to the 6-yard line with four seconds remaining.

On the decisive play, Barnett looked for Piening near the right pylon. It was ruled a touchdown on the field, much like Charles’. This time, it was upheld on review as Piening maintained possession going to the ground.

KU fell to 3-6 and will face West Virginia on the road next Saturday.

How they scored

10:25 — Isaiah Marshall 1-yard run. Martin Connington PAT good. Four plays, three yards, 2:01 TOP. KU 7, UCF 0.

6:21 — Will Stone 37-yard field goal. Nine plays, 46 yards, 4:04 TOP. KU 7, UCF 3.

Second quarter

12:03 — Duane Thomas Jr. 10-yard run. Stone PAT missed. Nine plays, 65 yards, 4:23 TOP. UCF 9, KU 7.

5:55 — Stone 23-yard field goal. Eleven plays, 51 yards, 5:08 TOP. UCF 12, KU 7.

Third quarter

11:56 — Taevion Swint 1-yard run. Stone PAT good. Six plays, 50 yards, 2:57 TOP. UCF 19, KU 7.

9:52 — Josh Derry 44-yard pass from Alonza Barnett III. Stone PAT good. Two plays, 46 yards, 0:49 TOP. UCF 26, KU 7.

4:17 — Marshall 30-yard run. Connington PAT good. Ten plays, 75 yards, 5:35 TOP. UCF 26, KU 14.

Fourth quarter

11:26 — Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman 1-yard run. Fourteen plays, 80 yards, 6:12 TOP. UCF 26, KU 21.

5:29 — Connington 34-yard field goal good. Eight plays, 58 yards, 3:37 TOP. UCF 26, KU 24.

1:06 — Dylan Edwards 2-yard run. Two-point conversion good (Nik McMillan pass from Marshall). Eleven plays, 95 yards, 1:21 TOP. KU 32, UCF 26.

0:01 — Caden Piening 6-yard pass from Barnett. Stone PAT good. Ten plays, 73 yards, 1:00 TOP. UCF 33, KU 32.

Box score