Grades from KU’s 21-17 loss to Kansas State and looking ahead to Oklahoma

Peyton Bender appeared to take this loss the hardest.

The Kansas quarterback — as emotionally steady as they come on the Jayhawks’ roster — arrived the postgame news conference following KU’s 21-17 loss to Kansas State with watery, red eyes.

After a strong overall game, Bender couldn’t come through on KU’s final offensive play. The Jayhawks had a screen set up for running back Pooka Williams, who appeared on replays to have plenty of room to run if Bender had gotten him the ball.

Instead, the throw slipped out of Bender’s hand backward, which resulted in a fumble and K-State taking possession for good.

Bender said that teammates tried to comfort him in the locker room. Coach David Beaty made it a point to tell him to not shoulder the loss for too long.

Though he’d made many good throws Saturday, Bender admitted that’d be tough to do. In a winnable game, he couldn’t quite lead KU all the way back.

And in the immediate aftermath, that stung quite a bit.

Here are grades for all three units, a highlight from Saturday’s loss and a look ahead.

Play of the game

Deep strike: KU took a fourth-quarter lead thanks to an outstanding throw-and-catch from Bender to receiver Steven Sims.

Bender put the deep pass in a window between K-State defenders, and Sims took it from there, extending for a difficult grab on a cold day before breaking a tackle on his way to the end zone.

The 65-yard connection was KU’s longest pass play of the season.

Grades

Offense: C-. Some good, some bad, and it all added up to about an average day. KU’s offensive line had one of its best games and opened up consistent running holes (including two big ones for long gains that were called back by penalties). Bender was fairly accurate on a cold afternoon, though a couple of mistakes (a bad ball to Sims down the sideline in the second quarter and the late fumble) were also costly. Kwamie Lassiter dropped an easy touchdown. Tight end Mavin Saunders briefly lost his mind. The Jayhawks finished with an OK-but-not great 5.0 yards per play while scoring 17 points on 11 possessions.

Defense: B: KU’s defense was exceptional in the first half, pitching a shutout (albeit on only four possessions) while keeping K-State at under 3 yards per play. The Wildcats made adjustments in the second half, though, and one the Jayhawks’ biggest problems was an inability to hold K-State to field goals. Instead, K-State scored touchdowns on three of its six second-half drives (not counting a kneeldown at the end), which had to be disappointing for KU’s defense given the strong start.

Special teams: B. It might be damning with faint praise, but KU’s special teams were much, much better than K-State’s. One of the game’s biggest plays was a well-executed short kickoff to start the second half, as KU’s Caperton Humphrey recovered amid a circle of confused Wildcats. Gabriel Rui made a tough-angle field goal, and he and punter Kyle Thompson both did well to sell contact while drawing “running into the kicker” penalties. Williams’ kickoff return fumble was a big mistake, though, and keeps this grade from going any higher.

Next up

KU will go on the road to face Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in a nationally televised game on Fox. The two teams had an interesting matchup last year, as KU’s team captains refused to shake Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield’s hand before the game at the coin toss, which later led to Mayfield making lewd gestures toward the Jayhawks sideline after a third-quarter touchdown pass.

The Sooners ended up winning 41-3 in Lawrence.

Jesse Newell

Jesse Newell covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.