Did Kansas football get too conservative in loss at WVU? Inside two late sequences

When Kansas coach Lance Leipold reviews the tape of KU’s 32-28 loss to West Virginia, he will see plenty of things for the Jayhawks to improve upon.

KU lost its third straight game after allowing a go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown, also for the third week in a row.

“A lot of things to correct, but this team is still close,” Leipold told reporters at his postgame news conference. “I know it stinks for everybody associated with our program, our fans, everybody. ... I know this group’s got a lot of fight in them.”

The Jayhawks certainly made mistakes on both sides of the ball, but there were also two late-game sequences in which they could’ve righted the ship.

Before a two-hour weather delay due to lightning, the Jayhawks had possession facing fourth-and-2 on the West Virginia 46-yard line.

The Jayhawks sent their punting unit onto the field, and eventually took a delay-of-game penalty after which the referees reviewed an incompletion on third down. After the game resumed two hours later, Kansas punted the ball — now on fourth-and-7 — while leading 21-17.

Kansas could’ve handed the ball to running back Devin Neal, who finished the day with 110 yards, or Daniel Hishaw, who ran for 72 yards and a touchdown on the original fourth-and-2. Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks’ dual-threat quarterback, was also an option.

Leipold explained his thought process postgame. He initially wanted the officials to review Trevor Kardell’s third-down catch attempt, which was ruled out of bounds.

“I felt we had gone for one (fourth down). ... I made the decision that we are going to punt the football,” Leipold told media present in Morgantown. “I was hoping it was going to get reviewed. After the review, the truck decided to get it to the replay official. I don’t know how that works, so we didn’t get it back in time.

“Still, at that time there’s 10 minutes left in the game. I thought our defense was playing well. I think we (forced) a couple of punts in a row. I thought if we pinned them back again, if we’re going to have a chance again and they’re going to beat us, they are going to have to drive the field.”

The Jayhawks did go a perfect 2-for-2 on fourth down on Saturday outside of that attempt, including one conversion on the following offensive drive.

They did stop the Mountaineers after punting the football away, and scored to go up 11 points. However, on the second-to-last KU drive of the game, the Jayhawks faced another important decision.

Kansas had the ball with 3:23 left, leading 28-25. KU ran the ball twice, prompting a West Virginia timeout, and faced a third-and-4 at the 2:32 mark.

Instead of passing the ball, KU ran it with Neal for a third time. WVU stuffed him for a 1-yard loss, and KU punted the ball on fourth down.

WVU scored the game-winning touchdown on the subsequent drive.

Leipold was not asked about that sequence and play-call after Saturday’s game.

There were reasons in that situation to stick with the ground game, even as the Mountaineers loaded the box with eight players, particularly the struggles of Daniels, who has nine turnovers through four games.

In Saturday’s game, he finished 15-of-25 passing for 184 yards with one passing touchdown and one interception, plus a lost fumble.

However, KU’s lack of aggressiveness — combined with other mistakes throughout the game — allowed West Virginia to come back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter.

Leipold, as has often been the case this year, didn’t single any player or coach out for blame.

“It’s not enough. I can’t say it’s one guy or one position,” Leipold told media present at the postgame news conference. “I wish it was.”

He added: “When things go your way and it’s really close, you’re that close to losing. We’ve said that many times. I can pick a game that we won that’s really close and … (the opposing) coach had to answer a lot of tough questions (about) this and that. This call or that call. That’s college football today. We’ve got to find a way to be better and give this group a chance. We will.”