KU Jayhawks football has an encouraging sign — that’s also led to a glaring weakness
To get to the bad news with Kansas football in 2021, you have to start with the good.
So begin here: KU has been competitive in the first half of each game this season while giving its fans some hope at halftime.
Maybe that’s a small accomplishment, but for a program that hasn’t always reached that low bar recently ... it’s at least a step in Lance Leipold’s first season. KU led South Dakota 7-0 at half and after that trailed 28-15 to Coastal Carolina and 14-7 to Baylor, and led Duke, 24-21.
Now comes the harder part: remaining competitive past that point.
Because, frankly, things have been a disaster in the second halves, with KU getting outscored 97-26 after intermission in its four games.
“I looked at it as well this week. Our third- and fourth-quarter scoring is not where it needs to be,” Leipold said Tuesday. “And third quarter becomes the most concerning.”
The reason for that? Leipold’s staff has preached often about remaining competitive until the fourth quarter, where it can then compete for a victory when one or two plays are magnified and can potentially determine the outcome.
KU hasn’t been able to get there the last three games because of dreadful third quarters. The Jayhawks have been outscored 49-13 in that period this season, which includes a 35-3 deficit in the last two losses.
“When we haven’t done something, they have quickly struck against us — the opponent — and scored. Then everything that we battled and built up — that confidence — subsides,” Leipold said. “And we’ve got to maintain that. We’ve got to answer that. We’ve gone into halftime in good positions, and we’ve got to maintain that confidence but also then answer those things.”
In the last two weeks, KU struggled in different scenarios.
Against Baylor, the Jayhawks’ offense had a quick three-and-out, with the Bears following with a one-play, 69-yard touchdown drive. KU couldn’t recover while getting outscored 14-0 in the third quarter.
The Duke matchup was different. KU opened well after running back Devin Neal took the Jayhawks’ first play of the second half for a 62-yard run. The Jayhawks stalled there, though, settling for a field goal before the Blue Devils answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive and 21 third-quarter points.
“We had a chance to really gain big momentum,” Leipold said, “and we got a little momentum.”
Here’s the positive as Leipold sees it: He’s been a part of previous jobs where player effort has been an issue when it came to second-half fades.
Leipold isn’t seeing that with this KU team. An example, he says, was the Jayhawks’ last drive with the game out of reach, as his players were still straining to try to get that final touchdown.
In other words ... KU, in its early stages of a rebuild, is mostly facing assignment corrections while attempting to fix its second-half problems.
And that’s a lot more manageable, Leipold says, than attitude concerns would be.
“That’s part of the embracement that they’ve done that I’m very proud of,” Leipold said. “Now it’s shoring some of these things up and answering things and being more consistent.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 2:54 PM.
