Kansas Jayhawks football grades: Report card from KU football’s loss vs. Utah
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU finishes 2025 season 5-7, misses bowl for second straight year; Leipold takes blame.
- Jalon Daniels 10-of-27 for 187 yards, three interceptions that produced 17 Utah points.
- Run game erupted for 290 rushing yards; Williams and Hishaw combined for 211 yards.
Kansas football’s season is over after a tough loss to No. 14 Utah.
The Jayhawks failed to make a bowl game for the second straight season. Kansas has made a bowl twice under coach Lance Leipold — in 2022 and 2023 — but the Jayhawks have had just one winning season in his five-year tenure.
“I have to do a better job,” Leipold said postgame. “I’ve fallen short of expectations as the head coach, and I have to be better.”
Here are our grades for all three phases of Friday’s contest for KU (5-7, 3-6 Big 12), plus a player of the game...
Offense: C
In his last game in a Jayhawks uniform, quarterback Jalon Daniels played one of his worst games.
Daniels finished 10-of-27 passing for 187 yards. The sixth-year quarterback scored two touchdowns but threw three interceptions, including a pick-six in the red zone and another in the end zone.
His interceptions turned into 17 Utah points. It was a brutal game for him — and the Kansas wide receivers, who seemed out of sync all game.
The bright spot was the running game. The Jayhawks ended up with 477 total yards, with 290 coming on the ground.
Running back Leshon Williams averaged 6.9 yards per carry, while combining for 211 rushing yards with Daniel Hishaw. Hishaw and Daniels both had rushing touchdowns.
Still, it wasn’t enough to overcome Daniels’ passing mistakes.
Defense: B
Given the opponent, KU’s defense played one of its best games all season Friday.
The defense held Utah to only 24 points (the other seven came on the pick-six). On top of that, the Utes only finished with 161 rushing yards. Coming into Saturday, Utah had averaged 280 rushing yards per game.
Even allowing a late touchdown that sealed the win for the Utes, the KU defense more than did its job Saturday. The offense let it down.
Special teams: B-
KU’s special teams had an up and down day.
After kicker Laith Marjan began the season with a school-record streak for consecutive makes, he missed a field goal in a third straight game — this time a 36-yard kick.
Punter Finn Lappin averaged 45 yards on his two punts.
Primary return man Emmanuel Henderson averaged 22 yards on his two kick returns.
Players of the game: Daniel Hishaw/Leshon Williams
Look, there weren’t a lot of bright spots for the Jayhawks’ offense, but Williams and Hishaw were two of them.
Friday was the best KU’s run game has looked all season. It was badly needed with Daniels struggling as much as he did.
Hishaw rushed for 107 yards and had one touchdown, while Williams had 104 rushing yards on 15 carries.
