How miscues kept Kansas Jayhawks from winning Sunflower Showdown vs. K-State Wildcats

In what ended up being a four-point game against rival Kansas State, KU’s self-inflicted wounds kept the Sunflower Showdown title in the hands of the Wildcats for yet another year.

Miscues piled up for the Jayhawks as they played host to K-State at David Booth Memorial Stadium one final time before renovations begin there in the offseason.

And this 31-27 loss certainly wasn’t how KU wanted to send off its graduating seniors.

KU coach Lance Leipold had a ready answer when asked what hurt the most.

“We played so hard,” he said. “We could all look at multiple plays that you probably wish should have been scored differently that could have been different outcomes.”

Leipold pointed to a dropped pick-six from Rich Miller and the fumbled punt by KU that gave Kansas State possession for a drive that ended up being the final blow.

Kansas jumped out to an 11-point lead on its first drive of the second half, and found itself in prime position to extend that lead to 18 when KSU quarterback Will Howard seemed to have found Miller with ease. And the route for the pick-six was wide open.

Miller, though, was not able to come up with the ball.

The events that followed resulted in the Wildcats cutting the Jayhawks’ lead to three. K-State began to march down the field, sparked by a 52-yard run by Treshaun Ward on the play after the missed interception. Wildcats running back DJ Giddens, who finished with 102 rushing yards, found the end zone, and a successful two-point conversion made it a 27-24.

Still, entering the fourth quarter, KU held a lead. K-State’s opening fourth-period drive resulted in a total of 10 yards lost. The Jayhawks sacked Howard and forced the Wildcats to punt.

Then a muffed punt by KU’s Trevor Wilson gave the ball back to the visitors. This was another costly mistake as the Wildcats scored another touchdown.

“We’re close, but we can make some plays and some opportunities and stuff like that has to be better,” Leipold said of his post-game message to the team. “We play ranked football teams, and things like that, you have to be able to do that.”

Kansas also had an extra-point attempt blocked after Kansas running back Devin Neal’s second touchdown of the game. The Wildcats returned the blocked kick for two points in the second quarter.

KU’s freshman third-string quarterback, Cole Ballard, also threw two interceptions. One of them, a pass picked off by K-State safety Marques Sigle in the end zone, was decidedly more painful. It ended what turned out to be KU’s final drive of the game.

“Just trying to make a play when I really don’t need to,” Ballard said of his two interceptions. “Trying to give guys a chance. I’ve got to be smarter with the ball.”

Ballard said this was a hard game to lose.

“You just have to go 1-0 next week,” he said. “Can’t worry about the past because it’s going to affect your week, so we’ve gotta move on to Cincinnati.”

The Jayhawks will close out their regular season in Cincinnati against the 3-8 Bearcats.

“You’ve got to show up on Monday, go back to work, find a way to end the regular season with a victory,” Leipold said. “It’s important we find a way to win so we can win an eighth football game, and find a way to use that as we get ready to prepare for our second consecutive bowl game.”