Cole Ballard’s first start of the season gave Kansas plenty to build on - and plenty to regret.
The Jayhawks moved the ball all afternoon, outgaining TCU 451 yards to 286 in Saturday’s 22-16 loss at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ballard, pressed into duty after a lower-leg injury to Isaiah Marshall, delivered a handful of big plays and helped KU jump out to a 13-0 lead. But two costly turnovers swung the game back to the Horned Frogs.
Ballard finished 20 of 35 for 285 yards, finding Cam Pickett 10 times for 113 yards and Nahzae Cox five times for 145 yards. It was the first time since the 2024 Guaranteed Rate Bowl that Kansas had two 100-yard receivers in the same game. Luke Grimm and Lawrence Arnold did it in that 49-36 win over UNLV, with Grimm going for 160 and Arnold for 132.
Ballard’s best moment came on a 29-yard touchdown strike to Pickett with 4:20 left in the second quarter, putting Kansas ahead 13-0. He also connected with Cox on completions of 35, 44 and 50 yards.
But the game turned on the mistakes. Ballard threw a 60-yard pick-six on fourth-and-5 from the TCU 39 with 4:38 left in the third quarter, cutting Kansas’ lead to 13-7.
Later, with the Jayhawks at the TCU 27 and facing third-and-3, he lost a fumble with 12:06 remaining. A touchdown there would have pushed KU in front 20-14.
“It’s really frustrating,” Ballard said after Kansas dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. “You can’t turn the ball over.
That’s on me. You can’t turn the ball over, but they played really well on defense.
They played really well up front. We didn’t execute well enough.
We’ve just got to execute better.”
On the pick-six, he added: “I was just trying to make a play when there was really nothing there. I’ve just got to throw it away, give a guy a better chance.”
Even with the loss, Ballard said Kansas still has something to play for with four games left, beginning with Saturday’s home game against UCF.
“We’re hungry. We’ve been hungry. We’ve got four games left, and we still have a chance to make a bowl game,” Ballard said.
The offense earned a C in the grading breakdown. Kansas piled up nearly 500 yards, but the pick-six and the failed fourth-and-goal from the 2 loomed large. TCU also had a second pick-six wiped out by penalty.
Dylan Edwards was kept in check, finishing with 42 yards on 20 carries and one catch for 8 yards. Keaton Kubecka added 58 yards on three carries, Ballard ran for 36 yards on 13 attempts and Chase Belcher had 18 yards on seven carries.
The defense got a B-plus after holding TCU to 286 yards and delivering a key goal-line stand just before halftime to protect the 13-0 lead.
Horned Frogs quarterback Jaden Craig rushed for 87 yards on 15 carries, including the game-winning 17-yard run with 1:11 left. He completed 13 of 29 passes for 141 yards.
Trey Lathan led KU with seven tackles, while Jalen Todd had five. Corey Gordon, Austin Alexander and Taylor Davis each finished with four. Davis delivered one of the game’s biggest plays when he stopped Jacobe Hayes at the 1 on a fourth-and-goal from the 2 after Craig’s pass.
Special teams also drew a B-plus. Todd recovered a muffed TCU punt in the first quarter for his first career fumble recovery.
Martin Connington made field goals from 34, 42 and 27 yards but missed from 26. Tate Nagy returned two punts for 9 yards, and Matthew Gill punted four times for a 41.0 average with a long of 46.
The play of the game belonged to Davis, whose hit at the 1 kept TCU out of the end zone right before halftime.
Kansas now turns to UCF on Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m., and the game will be shown on ESPN2.
In Other News...
Kansas Got A Painful Answer In Cole Ballards First Start
Isaiah Marshalls lower-leg injury left Kansas without much of a choice against TCU, and Lance Leipold said the quarterback was not close to being available. That opened the door for Cole Ballard to make his first start, and the young passer showed enough to keep the Jayhawks moving, throwing for 285 yards and a touchdown while giving the offense a spark in a tough spot.
The problem was the other side of the ledger. Ballard also turned the ball over, and those mistakes helped swing the game against Kansas in a loss that left both quarterback and coach focused on the same theme afterward: missed chances. Leipold and Ballard both acknowledged the errors, and Ballard made clear how much the turnovers bothered him, leaving the Jayhawks with a painful but revealing answer at the position. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Just Got Another Reminder Of How Loaded This Roster Is
Kansas got another reminder this week that the roster Bill Self is putting together has real conference weight to it. Freshman Tyran Stokes and transfer forward Trey Kaufman-Renn both landed among the top 10 players in the Big 12 on Ariel Petermans preseason list, a nod that underscores how much attention this group is drawing before the season even tips off. Stokes, already named Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year, comes in with the kind of buzz that usually follows a cant-miss newcomer, while Kaufman-Renn brings a proven frontcourt presence from Purdue.
For Kansas, the appeal is in the balance. Stokes gives the Jayhawks a high-end freshman centerpiece, and Kaufman-Renn adds older, established production to a roster that is expected to be one of the leagues most talented. Having two players recognized that highly in the same preseason ranking is a strong sign of the ceiling here, and it also hints at how much pressure opponents will face trying to account for both ends of the Kansas front line. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Blew A 13-0 Lead In A Brutal Home Collapse
Kansas had the kind of first half that can make a home crowd start thinking big, controlling the game early and taking a 13-0 lead into halftime against TCU. Cole Ballard was sharp enough to keep the offense moving, and Nazhee Cox gave the passing game a real spark with a big afternoon as the Jayhawks looked in command for much of the opening two quarters.
The second half told a much different story. Turnovers and missed chances opened the door for TCU, which steadily chipped away before finishing off a 22-16 comeback win, leaving Kansas to sort through a collapse that felt especially painful on its own field. Ballard finished with 285 passing yards, but the Jayhawks could not turn that production into enough points after halftime. [Read more 🡒]