No. 19 Kansas football upset by Illinois in ugly road matchup. Here are 3 takeaways

Midway through the third quarter, Kansas coach Lance Leipold erupted on the sideline, screaming at the officials after they picked up a penalty flag rather than calling defensive pass interference downfield.

That moment — and the interception that followed a few plays later — perfectly encapsulated the Jayhawks on Saturday: never entirely in control as chaos ensued.

Kansas had multiple chances to win Saturday’s game, but instead, Illinois upset the No. 19-ranked Jayhawks 23-17 at Memorial Stadium. It was the Illini’s first upset over a ranked team since beating Wisconsin in 2019, and their fans stormed the field afterward.

Kansas had the ball trailing 23-17 with 58 seconds left and no timeouts. After getting to about the 50-yard line and needing to attempt a Hail Mary pass with four seconds left, Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels had the ball knocked out of his hand by Illinois’ Xavier Scott. The Illini recovered the fumble, Daniels’ fourth turnover, as time expired.

Daniels finished 18-of-32 passing for 141 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. KU running back Devin Neal had 101 rushing yards on 14 carries.

Early on, the Jayhawks appeared to have some semblance of control.

The Jayhawks scored their first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard pass from Daniels to Luke Grimm to put KU up 10-3. After Illinois converted a 50-yard field goal, the Jayhawks had a disastrous finish to the half.

First, wide receiver Quentin Skinner fumbled (and recovered) the ball on a run play, which caused the Jayhawks to lose 7 yards. Shortly after, on a long third down, Daniels lofted a screen pass that was picked off by Scott, who returned it for a touchdown. It was his second interception of the day. Kansas went into halftime trailing 13-10.

After forcing a 3-and-out, KU regained the lead after Daniels led a 14-play, 81-yard drive that culminated in a 13-yard passing touchdown to Lawrence Arnold. Illinois would answer with a touchdown to take the lead with 9:34 left in the game.

Up next: Kansas will host Nevada at Children’s Mercy Park on Friday, Sept. 13. The sides will rematch after KU’s win in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl last year.

Here are three takeaways from the Jayhawks’ Game 2 loss...

Jalon Daniels has had better games

Saturday featured, without exaggeration, one of the worst halves of football that Daniels has played in a long time.

Whether it was rust or something else, Daniels’ decision-making left much to be desired. He locked in on Grimm early — seven of Daniels’ first nine completions went to him — but so did his first interception, an underthrown ball that Illinois’ Scott read perfectly and snagged.

He finished 10-of-16 passing for 53 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the first half.

The most puzzling part of that performance: At half, running back Devin Neal was averaging 10.4 yards per carry (73 yards), yet the Jayhawks only ran the ball with him seven times in the half and 14 total for the game.

Although he looked better in the second half, Daniels threw another interception and had the fumble.

KU’s defense kept them in the game

As KU’s offense struggled, the defense allowed the Jayhawks to hang around.

Kansas forced one turnover and limited the Illini to 271 total yards. KU’s defense also forced four pressures and had two sacks.

One of the most impressive parts was that KU contained Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer’s scrambling. Last season, Altmyer had a 72-yard touchdown run and two rushing scores.

In this game, he had 18 yards on the ground. The Jayhawks did an excellent job of swarming and cutting off Altmyer’s running lanes.

Still, the defense wasn’t perfect. It allowed Altmyer to scramble for 18 yards to extend a drive that would eventually turn into a touchdown.

KU allowed 23 points but did hold with 58 seconds left to get the Jayhawks the ball back one more time.

Special teams not an issue

Those who have followed the Jayhawks have seen special teams falter in close games — and cost them games, on occasion — over the past few years. That part was not an issue Saturday.

Kansas kicker Tabor Allen made his first field goal, from 29 yards out. Return man Trevor Wilson averaged 22 yards per return, with a long of 28 yards.

KU punter Damon Greaves averaged 54.5 yards per punt, with a long of 58. Kansas special teams remained steady in a game where the offense and defense made crucial mistakes as various points. The Jayhawks also almost recovered a muffed punt late, but Illinois landed on it in the end zone for a touchback.