A cold kickoff – 32° F and clear – didn’t seem to sit well with Kansas in Saturday’s 55-14 loss to Texas at home on a senior day. Even after stopping the Longhorns on the opening drive, the KU offense never quite had an answer, punting on its first three drives of the game.

Returning Jalon Daniels at quarterback, Kansas (6-5, 3-5 Big 12) remained quiet throughout the first half and coughed up two scoring opportunities heading into halftime - a called-back touchdown pass turned missed field goal and late second-quarter pick thrown by Daniels - trailing Texas 31-0.

Scoring twice in the second half, the Jayhawks failed to slow down the Texas ground attack that was responsible for 427 total rushing yards, the most allowed by Kansas since 2019 vs. Kansas State. Bijan Robinson paved the for the Longhorns with a game-high 243 rushing yards.

During postgame, Kansas coach Lance Leipold referred to Robinson as a first-round pick, highlighting the tough battle the Jayhawks faced in the trenches.

“Their offensive line play has been better and I think they did a couple of things schematically to us that we didn't handle well early in the first half,” Leipold said. “They were putting hats on hats, and we weren't.”

The 41-point loss at home is the biggest deficit Kansas has allowed this season, now having lost consecutive Big 12 games to Texas Tech and Texas. The Jayhawks head to Manhattan next week to challenge No. 19 Kansas State to close out the regular season.

Leipold said the loss to Texas in Kansas’ home finale had his group torn on the sidelines. Twelve seniors went through KU’s senior day pageantry on Saturday at David Booth Memorial Stadium.

“They want to compete so bad,” Leipold said. “They're frustrated and want to see us do better because they care so much. And, uh, that means a lot and it means a lot to me and our coaches and other guys. We gotta make sure that we have that spread throughout this program.”

Sidelined for nearly a month, Jalon Daniels completed 17 of 26 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns in his first game back since Week 6 vs. TCU. Leipold made a gametime decision to start Daniels after the junior went through warmups and felt good to go.

Leipold pulled Daniels, sending in Jason Bean - who started in Kansas’ previous four games - early into the fourth quarter.

“There was a little rust,” Leipold said. “I think he could see that with some throws, but all in all, I think he got more comfortable.

“He didn't want to come out because he wanted to keep working through some things. He knows he needs some more live play. It’s a balancing act, you know, especially with somebody that's been injured. You look at the score versus just getting 'em playing time.”

A second-quarter targeting call against Texas linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey after Dorsey hit Daniels in his upper section had Leipold fumed on the sidelines. Leipold recalled the play during postgame.

“There's no question that thing should have come out sooner than it did,” Leipold said. “I watch that stuff pretty close. I thought it was a really bad hit, as bad of a hit as I've seen in my time here, or maybe as a head coach.”

The Jayhawks have posted three conference wins this season, more than the previous three seasons (s) combined. Two weeks ago, Kansas topped No. 18 Oklahoma State in a completely different fashion than Saturday’s loss to Texas in the very same venue.

While Kansas’ six wins make the program bowl eligible for the first time since 2008, it’s no surprise that Leipold is aiming to have this team turning heads at any juncture it can. His team’s loss to Texas doesn’t speak to Kansas’ full potential, according to Leipold.

“Days like this don’t build character, it reveals it,” Leipold said. “It reveals where we're at. It's going to reveal where we move forward. The disappointing thing is we have people from bowls and things coming to check out this football team. They didn't get a chance to see what this team's about.”

Leipold feels the competitiveness his team’s played with all season helped set the stage for some of the successes they’ve experienced. He added there’s still more to learn from that progression from biting heels to winning ballgames.

“We've got to find a better way to understand and react when we play opponents that kinda have their backs to the wall,” Leipold said. “It’s been numerous times, and that's the great thing about our conference right now, but we've run into teams coming off losses as well and certain things, and they've responded well. I don't know if we're matching that punch for punch.”