Leipold not happy with officiating, talks after TCU loss
Kansas fell to 1-4 after another loss that looked like it could have been a win at some point in the second half. The Jayhawks took a 24-21 lead midway through the third quarter but yet again could not finish the game.
Head coach Lance Leipold spoke with the media after the game, discussing some of the “strange” officiating decisions, inconsistencies with the offense, thoughts on the defense, and how the team will look to respond from another tough loss.
Leipold thought officiating changed momentum of the game
On Saturday, the officiating got to a point where Leipold said in his postgame presser, “They can fine me today. I don’t really care.” What looked to be a third-down conversion got overturned to an incompletion, Josh Hoover’s fumble got overturned to an incompletion, and there was a potential block in the back on TCU’s punt return touchdown that went uncalled.
“It’s something that this league talks about, but it’s been a continual problem, and we’re going to find a way through it,” Leipold said. “Did it drastically change the momentum of the game? Yes. Did we still need to make plays and didn’t? Yes.”
Leipold said the conference office was in after Sonny Dykes was displeased with the officiating in TCU’s game last week against SMU. He also said he sent in the late hit call on Marvin Grant from the West Virginia game, which the office determined shouldn’t have been called.
“We’ve still got the same problem and we know it on a weekly basis in this conference,” Leipold said.
Offenses’ inconsistencies continue
One of the only things that is consistent about the 2024 Kansas offense is that it’s been inconsistent. There were multiple drives where the Jayhawks found success, primarily in the first two of the game. Kansas has been at its best when it relies on its run game and does not make Daniels do too much.
Daniels threw it 34 times against TCU, the most passing attempts he’s had this year. He completed just 15 of those for a 44% completion percentage. Leipold talked about what he saw from his quarterback.
“Statistically, definitely not one of his best days,” Leipold said. “But again, he still continues to compete and do things.”
Kansas also rotated its offensive linemen a fair amount on Saturday. Shane Bumgardner got some work at RG and Calvin Clements got some run at LT. Throughout fall camp, Leipold said he wanted to have enough offensive linemen to rotate 7 to 8 guys.
“We want to give Logan Brown a little bit of some time, and that’s… not for play reasons,” Leipold said. “So Bryce will move back over, and Calvin’s finally at a point where he’s able to be back, be able to help, and Shane will rotate some as well.”
Defense forces turnovers, but struggles overall
TCU got pretty much whatever it wanted through the air with Josh Hoover. Outside of two interceptions, Hoover was 28-35 with 356 yards and three touchdowns.
“He was in a really good rhythm,” Leipold said. “We created a few plays with pressure, pass rush. We had some opportunities in the backfield, didn’t quite bring them down.”
Leipold said overall the tackling got “a little sloppy.” He also said a lot of Kansas’ defensive contributors didn’t play, with Devin Dye, Cornell Wheeler, Mason Ellis and Logan Brantley all out.
“We know it has to get better and we talked about it at halftime,” Leipold said. “We’ve got trust our training a little bit more in some areas and we'll keep working.”
Defensive coordinator Brian Borland had talked about wanting the defense to force more turnovers. They got three takeaways against TCU and had a 3-1 advantage but couldn’t come away with a win.
Team’s response after another tough loss
Kansas suffered three straight one-possession losses where the Jayhawks led in the fourth quarter. On Saturday, they had a second-half lead and ended up losing by 10. Leipold said the team was “extremely down” after this week’s loss.
“Why wouldn’t you be? If you’re not, you’re not a competitor,” Leipold said. “You put all this time in. We talk about emphasis and we’re not making it happen. So you know, it starts with the head coach. I’m not getting it done for this program and this fan base.”
Leipold also gave a message to the fans, saying to not give up on this football team.
“We’ve had a bunch of close games and opportunities,” Leipold said. “But I also said that first year, we’re not going to have moral victories and play things to be close either. And none of us expected it to be this way right now.”