Kansas had UCF on the ropes, erased a 19-point second-half hole and grabbed the lead with 1:06 left. It still wasn’t enough.
The Knights marched 73 yards in 10 plays after the go-ahead score and finished the job with one second remaining, slipping past the Jayhawks 33-32 on Saturday in a wild finish that left Kansas with nothing to show for a furious comeback.
Isaiah Marshall did everything he could to drag Kansas back into it. The quarterback ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns while completing 21 of 32 passes for 210 yards. His legs and his arm powered a rally that turned a lopsided game into a last-minute thriller.
Kansas actually set the tone early on defense. After forcing a punt on UCF’s opening possession, David Santiago got pressure on the Knights’ first offensive snap and Alonza Barnett III’s pass was picked off by Trey Lathan.
Lathan then fumbled right after the interception, but Marcus Calvin recovered and raced to the UCF 3-yard line. Four plays later, Kansas was in front.
That lead didn’t last long, and the first half belonged mostly to UCF. The Knights shut down Kansas’ first three rushing attempts, but Marshall still punched in a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
That was about the only clean offensive moment for the Jayhawks before halftime. Marshall was just 4 of 11 for 20 passing yards in the opening half, while UCF piled up a 186-61 edge in total offense.
UCF took a 12-7 lead into the break behind a 10-yard touchdown run from Duane Thomas Jr. and two field goals from Will Stone. Even then, the Knights left points on the field.
Stone missed an extra point and later pushed a 54-yard field-goal attempt wide to close the half. Kansas punter Matt Gill, meanwhile, was busy all night and had already punted five times before halftime.
The second half opened badly for Kansas. A big return gave UCF the ball at midfield, and six plays later the Knights had stretched the lead to 19-7 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Taevion Swint.
Then came another Kansas mistake: Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman fumbled on the third play of the next drive, handing UCF the ball in Kansas territory. Two plays later, Barnett hit Josh Derry for a 44-yard touchdown and UCF was suddenly up 26-7.
That could have been the end of it. Instead, Kansas started to find life.
Marshall led a 75-yard drive that ended with his 30-yard touchdown run, and the defense answered with a three-and-out after Leroy Harris III sacked Barnett for a 7-yard loss. The Jayhawks kept pressing, going 80 yards in 14 plays on their next possession. Keaton Kubecka’s 30-yard catch got Kansas to the UCF 10, and Cummings-Coleman finished the drive with a touchdown run to pull the Jayhawks within 26-21.
The defense kept delivering. Harris got to Barnett again on third-and-long to force another punt, and Kansas kept chipping away. A 25-yard catch by Kubecka helped set up Martin Connington for a 34-yard field goal that made it a two-point game.
Kansas got one more stop, then faced a tough field position battle after a 59-yard punt pinned the offense at its own 5. With 1:58 left and three timeouts in hand, the Jayhawks chose aggression over caution, going for it on fourth-and-4 from their own 11. Marshall found Kubecka for the first down, and the drive kept rolling.
Then came the play that changed everything. Marshall hit Nahzae Cox wide open down the sideline for 42 yards with 1:14 remaining.
Two plays later, Edwards scored to give Kansas the lead, and a successful 2-point conversion made it 32-26. In all, the Jayhawks had ripped off 25 unanswered points.
But UCF still had time, and Kansas’ defense finally blinked at the worst possible moment. After the kick return, Barnett led the Knights right back down the field and found Cade Piening in the front corner of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown with one second left. Stone’s extra point sealed the 33-32 win.
Kansas heads back on the road next week to face West Virginia. Kickoff time is still TBA.
In Other News...
UCF Finally Ended Its Road Misery In A Wild Kansas Finish
UCF walked out of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium with a 33-32 win over Kansas, finally snapping a 12-game road losing streak in a game that swung back and forth until the final seconds. Alonza Barnett III delivered the decisive touchdown pass to Caden Piening with three seconds left, and Will Stone added the extra point to complete a finish that left the Jayhawks on the wrong end of a wild one.
For Kansas, the loss only added to the frustration of a game that featured multiple lead changes and plenty of momentum shifts before UCF seized it at the end. Josh Derry and Taevion Swint were among the Knights who made their presence felt, and the result gave UCF a badly needed breakthrough away from home while leaving plenty for Kansas to sort through after another tight finish slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Fans Have Seen This Late-Game Collapse Far Too Often
Kansas had clawed back into the game and put itself in position to escape with a road win, only to watch it slip away in the final seconds against UCF. The finish was as chaotic as it was painful, with multiple reviewed plays shaping the closing stretch before the Knights cashed in on a walk-off touchdown catch and the extra point that sent the Jayhawks home with a 33-32 loss.
For Lance Leipolds team, the result fit an all-too-familiar script. Kansas has now lived through too many late-game defeats under Leipold, and this one stung because the comeback was real, the margin was there, and the decisive play came after a sequence that already had the game teetering on the edge. Caden Piening delivered the touchdown that ended it, leaving Kansas with another reminder of how quickly a promising finish can unravel. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Football Is Drifting Toward A Reset It Can Barely Afford
Kansas footballs slide this fall has put Lance Leipold in an uncomfortable spotlight, with the Jayhawks sitting at 3-6 and the path back to bowl eligibility growing narrower by the week. For a program that had finally started to feel stable under Leipold, the current drift is jarring, especially as the losses pile up and the questions around the direction of the team get louder.
Leipolds overall mark at Kansas now sits at 30-40, and the financial reality around any coaching change only adds another layer of hesitation. His buyout would be $17.9 million if he is fired after December 1, 2026, and with a major stadium construction project already stretching the programs resources, the Jayhawks are staring at a reset that would be expensive to make and even harder to justify. [Read more 🡒]