Kansas head coach Lance Leipold slaps hands with Kansas wide receiver Nik McMillan (5) during a Kansas drive in the second quarter on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Nick Krug/Special to the Journal-World

Twice in Lance Leipold’s tenure as Kansas coach, the Jayhawks have gone for it on just 19 fourth downs in a single season; one year, they only attempted 15.

Through seven games in 2026, KU has already blown those numbers out of the water with 26 fourth-down tries, which matches the highest total by any FBS team this season — including eight in Saturday’s victory over Baylor. It won’t be long before the Jayhawks exceed Leipold’s high-water mark of 30 attempts from 2021, his first season at the helm.

So what gives? Leipold, now in his 20th year overall as a head coach, acknowledged that there has “definitely” been a change in philosophy within the program.

“I think when you look at a lot of the things that we continue to look at (with) the analytics, and the research and when those people come and talk to us, the game gets down to possessions a lot and having possessions,” he said on Monday.

In their 25-24 win over the Bears, in which they went 5-for-8 on fourth down, the Jayhawks ran 92 plays, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s their most since the 2022 Liberty Bowl, a game that included three overtime periods. Facing a high-tempo team, KU won the time-of-possession battle by more than 13 minutes. That’s in part because of drives like one in the second quarter that included conversions on fourth-and-2 and fourth-and-3.

Of course, there are other factors that have contributed to Leipold’s decision-making. KU has battled inconsistency in the punting game, as he acknowledged. Freshman Matt Gill had a season-best 66-yarder against the Bears but also a 36-yarder more in keeping with recent performances.

And the Jayhawks have had some more success on defense this season, although Leipold said that can lead him in a pair of directions: “Sometimes you feel you got great confidence in your defense — if you don’t make it, they’re still going to play well. Then there’s times also your defense is playing well, so if you back them up (with a punt), that you get the stop and you can get the ball back with good field position.”

Whatever the case, Leipold said he tries to inform associate head coach and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki after first down what sort of yardage he is aiming for in order to consider a potential fourth-down opportunity, “so that obviously his second- and third-down calls can play a part of that, and we can package plays and sequence them in such a way that allows us to go for it.”

The increased aggression hasn’t been perfect for the Jayhawks, of course. They have only converted 13 of their 26 fourth-down attempts, which ties them for 81st in the nation. As Kotelnicki noted on Tuesday, if you look at “conversion downs” — i.e., fourth downs combined with third downs that ended a drive — KU can still stand to improve quite a bit.

Kotelnicki said he had no clue what the highest number of fourth downs he had attempted in a game might have been.

“I’m just telling you guys, it didn’t feel like abnormal to me at all,” Kotelnicki said of Saturday’s display. “We knew what we were going to be doing. You’re playing, you’re calling the play, it’s the next play, you’re always prepared for those moments, or you should be at least in my mind, and we were. It did not feel extraordinary to me at all. It did not feel unique in any way.”

Incontrovertibly unique was the play he drew up for one such fourth down, a fourth-and-3 to open the fourth quarter that had the entire offensive line split out to the left with only tight end Carson Bruhn left to snap to quarterback Isaiah Marshall. Marshall ended up throwing a game-saving touchdown pass to Nik McMillan on that play.

“That’s just the part of trying to win a football game, is to convert those fourth downs,” Marshall said, “and I think we did good doing that, in big opportunities, in big moments that we needed.”

photo by: AP Photo/Colin E. Braley

Kansas wide receiver Nik McMillan, right, catches a pass for a touchdown as Baylor cornerback Reggie Bush II (22) defends during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Lawrence, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.