Lance Leipold says KU football is lacking confidence. Can the Jayhawks fix it?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lance Leipold criticized the Jayhawks’ performance at Iowa State as “soft and timid.”
- KU has lost four of five; stands 5-6 overall and needs one win for bowl
- Senior-day matchup vs No. 12 Utah becomes decisive test for Kansas Jayhawks.
Lance Leipold was met with a barrage of questions, few of them positive, after the Kansas Jayhawks lost at Iowa State.
The KU coach hasn’t always handled such situations well, but he didn’t flinch following a 38-14 road loss in Ames, Iowa. Instead, he gave a direct assessment about his team.
Asked how he thought KU played, Leipold responded, “Not very well, obviously.”
It was the start of a news conference that included Leipold calling the Jayhawks’ performance “soft and timid,” saying the team is suffering from confidence issues and that the performances — both from coaches and players — will be evaluated.
After two consecutive losses, Kansas (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) remains one win from bowl eligibility. And there’s just one regular-season game left: KU hosts No. 12 Utah on senior day.
It’s the exact same position as last season for Kansas. The Jayhawks had a chance to clinch a bowl game if they had defeated Baylor in their regular-season finale. Instead, the Bears blew out the Jayhawks and KU finished 5-7.
The main difference between those teams? Last year’s Jayhawks were trending up, having defeated three straight ranked opponents. This year’s team has lost four of five and is stumbling to the finish line.
“We got off to a slow start,” Leipold said Saturday. “I thought we were soft and timid. When we did have moments to flip it, we didn’t make enough plays to answer that to try to make it a better football game.”
The Jayhawks’ losses, of late, have looked similar.
The defense has struggled. The offense has gone conservative at crucial moments. Both sides have missed opportunities to execute on key downs.
The Jayhawks, who were 4-2 before suffering back-to-back blowout losses at Texas Tech and vs. Kansas State, appear to have regressed as the season has gone along.
This week’s performance was particularly troubling given it came following a bye week.
“It’s concerning that it happens, period, in game 11,” Leipold said, asked about recurring mistakes. “Any time you’re at this (point) and you’re seeing the same stuff, it’s concerning. It’s concerning that you’ve got to continue to look at what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. And who is on the field doing it.
“It’s everything. Who is coaching and who is doing it — everything has to be evaluated or we’re kidding ourselves.”
Team morale was another focus of Leipold’s news conference. And the KU coach indicated that the team’s waning confidence may be showing up on the field.
Leipold also said some players are struggling simply doing their job, and worrying about areas that are taking them out of the correct spots.
“When you’re looking at this whole picture right now, honestly, we’re not playing with much confidence,” Leipold said. “You can see that out there.”
He said it’s visible with defenders facing blockers and players in the second and third levels not making tackles.
“And you’re not playing very confidently in the back end covering guys,” Leipold continued. “We’ve got to continue to work on that and work on building confidence all the way through this as we continue to go.”
There isn’t much time to do so.
The Jayhawks face a short week before Friday’s game against Utah. Quarterback Jalon Daniels, who struggled through a 154-yard passing performance (no touchdowns, one interception) vs. Iowa State, said it starts with building excitement.
KU, Daniels said, has to find the thing that “continues to make you want to go out there and do it.” And he’s hoping that motivation can come from the entire team.
Leipold said the coaches will challenge the players this week.
“You’ve got to go to work on a short week,” Leipold said. “… We’ve been playing for that sixth win for a while. We talked about where they want to be and do they really want to do it?
“We’ve got a bunch of really good young men playing their last regular-season football game (on senior day). I think we owe it to them to put our best efforts out.”
