Lance Leipold on extra point issues, calls by the refs, Jalon Daniels

The Jayhawks came up on the losing end in a tight game against Oklahoma State in which they could not capitalize on some key opportunities.

Head coach Lance Leipold discussed the play of Jason Bean, the controversial failure on fourth down, the issues that came about from their kicking unit and the status of Jalon Daniels ahead of the bye week.

Bean put together what might have been his best half of football as a Jayhawk in the first half, throwing for 274 yards and four touchdowns. The offense was rolling until Bean threw a red zone interception late in the third quarter, setting up a scoreless fourth quarter.

Leipold hopes that the one interception did not lead to everything else that followed.

“I don't think Andy [Kotelnicki] changed a whole lot, but, yeah, I'm sure everybody kind of gets down when you throw one,” Leipold said. “There is another opportunity for us to put points on the board and who knows what happens there.”

The fourth quarter drives ended with an interception, two failed fourth down conversions and the clock running out to end the game. Leipold knows that there were some opportunities left on the field.

“I think he struggled a little bit there late in the fourth, obviously, but before that I thought he played outstanding,” Leipold said. “I thought he made some really nice throws and some things and created some things with his feet. But there are some plays I know wish we all had back.”

As the Jayhawks set up for a huge fourth-and-five up two with under seven minutes to go, it appeared that the Cowboys had jumped offsides. If the penalty had been called, it would have given the Jayhawks a first down and kept their drive alive.

Leipold stayed firm with his thoughts on how it was handled, but kept his cool as well.

“Oh, we thought the guy was offsides," he said. "It's baffling sometimes."

The play in question may have been a field goal attempt instead, however, a personal foul penalty after the whistle put the Jayhawks at the 45 instead of the 30. Leipold was not a big fan of this call either, but did not want to get too far into it.

“It's amazing sometimes what's decided to be called and what's not," he said. "I haven't seen it enough to comment on that.”

The botched extra point that was returned for two points against UCF did not seem to be a big deal at the time. Owen Piepergerdes was in the game, and the holder Grayson Addison struggled holding for the lefty, and it cost the Jayhawks three points in a 29-point win.

One week later, after Seth Keller struggled on his first two attempts, the Jayhawks went to Piepergerdes to see if he could do better. The result was Addison fumbling once again, the second missed extra point of the game.

The Jayhawks tried to go for two later in the game to make up for some of the misses, but missed on that, meaning that they left three points off the board in the extra point column.

Leipold said that Oklahoma State’s interior penetration was the reason that he went from Keller to Piepergerdes.

“I think a lot when they were getting solid push, they have a lot of length in their defensive line and getting their hands up. So I decided to make the switch.”

Quarterback Jalon Daniels made the trip down to Stillwater and stood on the sidelines during the game. Last week he was not on the sidelines, meaning he was much more involved with the team for this game.

“He's listening, taking part in stuff,” Leipold said. “He's active on the sideline. He's talking with Coach [Jim] Zebrowski and different things that he sees. He's mentally going through the calls in his mind as he sees them. Yeah, it was good to have him."

Leipold is holding onto hope that Daniels can come back and be impactful sooner rather than later.

“I got great hope, you can see him moving a lot better than he has been," he said. "I have no reason not to.”

Daniels got some mental reps during the game, and going into the bye week, it leaves time for him to potentially get back on the field in time for the game against Oklahoma.

“We'll see what next week brings, and then as we head into that Oklahoma week where he's at,” Leipold said.