BYU fought hard today. They were in it the whole time and showed promise. Sadly the magic ran out as BYU fell to Kansas 17-13. With only one touchdown on the board and two costly turnovers, BYU was not the team they were against Utah. BYU threw an interception on what could have been a touchdown right before halftime and then lost the ball on a pooch punt. Those turnovers ultimately were the difference in the game, causing BYU to lose a touchdown and give up a touchdown.
BYU struggled on third down again, converting only three of ten. The Cougars also made questionable play calls on the final drive, running the ball when it wasn't working. BYU turned the ball over on downs, and Kansas almost lost the football on the kneel-downs. The Cougars would get one interception, but it would only result in a punt.
Retzfaff struggled tonight, throwing errant passes, including an interception. Despite 354 total yards and a ten-minute, twenty-six-minute drive to start the third quarter, BYU only scored one touchdown, with two field goals being the only other offensive accomplishments.
Kansas started with the football and marched down the field en route to an 8-yard Devin Neal touchdown run. BYU would punt it away on their first possession and Kansas would punt it back. The Cougars would march down the field and score a field goal. Kansas would punt again and BYU would get a 30 yard touchdown pass to Hinckley Ropati.
Kansas found their rhythm with under nine minutes to go. The Jayhawks would tie the game with a field goal. BYU drove down the field and got into the red zone, but Jake Retzlaff threw an interception on a bad throw to end the half at ten each.
BYU came out of halftime ready to play, putting together a drive that lasted over ten minutes and ended with a field goal. Kansas would drive down again and face a fourth and fourteen on BYU's 36-yard line. They called a pooch punt and it bounced off of a Cougar helmet before being recovered by Kansas. This would turn into a touchdown.
BYU would punt on their next drive and then intercept a pass from Jalon Daniels after a miscommunication between him and his receiver. BYU would end up punting and Kansas would kick it right back. BYU would have to go 79 yards in four and a half minutes. The Cougars would false start inside the ten and ultimately came up short. The Cougars would try to sack or strip Daniels during the kneel-downs but to no avail.
BYU didn't click today like they have throughout the season. It was too easy for Kansas to move the ball. The Jayhawks racked up 242 total yards and made BYU's normally tight pass defense look silly. The Cougars will need to tighten up defensively and make smarter choices on offense if they still want to compete in the postseason.