Kansas defensive end David Santiago (44) and Kansas defensive tackle Blake Herold (94) converge on UCF running back Duke Watson (26) during a run in the first quarter on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Nick Krug/Special to the Journal-World

When Kansas defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald turns on the tape, he sees a good defense, one that is solid enough to be competitive in almost every game.

But the defensive struggles at the ends of games keep the unit from greatness, and it’s contributing to the Jayhawks’ 3-6 record this year. To be great, McDonald wants his unit to have more swagger and confidence late in games.

“I’m sure our stats are decent, but the one stat that matters is Ws and Ls,” McDonald said. “We haven’t done that.”

Kansas held UCF to 10 plays across three drives in the third and fourth quarter, during which the KU offense scored 25 points to take the lead back, giving UCF just over a minute to go 73 yards. But the Knights did just that, scoring a last-second touchdown to win the game, the second straight week where the Jayhawks were in a similar position on defense.

“The technique fell off in the last drive with some of our players, which was really disappointing,” McDonald said. “I’ve got to do a better job as the DC to get these guys to play with the technique, with the mindset to not want to not be the reason why we lost but go out there and be the reason why we won.”

McDonald said an incorrect technique in man coverage allowed the Knights to convert an early third-and-10 on the drive. The Knights got an explosive play a little later when a defensive back gave up too much cushion, allowing an easy completion and the receiver space to break a tackle for a big gain. A missed assignment in the flat later in the drive left another receiver open for a play to move the chains, and the Jayhawks didn’t wall up at the goal line for the final play to prevent the touchdown.

It was in total just a few simple mistakes that, as McDonald pointed out, the team didn’t commit at other points in the game on the same plays. But the Jayhawks made the mistakes in the final minute and suffered the loss as a consequence.

“There’s two types of people at the end of the game, guys who don’t want to be part of a loss and there’s guys who want to be part of a win,” McDonald said. “You’ve got to decide which one you are, and as a coach you’ve got to push the buttons to make sure you’ve got 11 guys who want to be part of a win.”

The Jayhawks aren’t lackling players who have stepped up and have been vocal in pushing the defense for more confidence to end games late. Blake Herold, Leroy Harris III and Trey Lathan have made their voices heard on the sidelines in those pressure situations to rally the team.

West Virginia provides another unique challenge to the defense. Head coach Rich Rodriguez’s spread-option offense is difficult to face because it isolates defenders in conflict and confuses and mixes things up.

Harris said the Jayhawks have emphasized technique in this week of practice. Whether that be hand placement for the linemen or the pre-snap alignment for defensive backs or the eyes of the linebackers, the fundamentals are being focused on. Harris said in the late-game situations, players fall back to their fundamentals, so having sound fundamentals makes all the difference when the pressure gets real.

“There’s a bunch of distractions, a bunch of outside noise, but you have to really focus on every play,” Harris said. “You see the ball snapped, what’s your key? You get the play call, what are you looking at? That hones you back in.”

The Mountaineers are averaging the second-most yards per game in the Big 12 while rushing for over 260 yards per game. In a 53-48 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday, West Virginia ran the ball 59 times for 279 yards and had 303 yards passing on just 16 attempts. The Mountaineers confuse and stress defenses in the ground game to open up shots downfield in the passing game. Having the right alignment and knowing assignments are as important as ever for Kansas on Saturday.

“If you’re out of your gap, you’re going to be hearing ‘Country Roads’ quite a bit,” McDonald said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re in our gap, we’re tackling, we’re getting many hats on the football, we’ve got to run, we’ve got to get our feet and eyes set and ready to go.”

With six losses already, the Jayhawks need to win out to guarantee bowl eligibility. Kansas will face the top two offenses in yards per game in that stretch, along with the No. 10 BYU Cougars. Winning out would require a great defensive effort, and that means having the right mentality and technique late in games. It’s something the defense knows and is focusing on in practice to get it done.

“We’re desperate — we want to win,” Lathan said. “We haven’t been able to these last few weeks, but we definitely want to have a postseason, so that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”