No. 6 Cougars come up short in 17-13 loss to Kansas

PROVO, Utah — Two empty redzone possessions and two untimely turnovers hampered No. 6 BYU as it fell 17-13 to Kansas Saturday night at Lavell Edwards Stadium, dropping the Cougars to 9-1 this season and 6-1 in Big 12 Conference play.

"Well, obviously disappointing result, but a lot of credit to Kansas,” said Kalani Sitake, BYU head coach. “They had a really good game plan. And looking at the stats, we just didn't really make enough plays and made way too many mistakes for us to come up with the victory."

The Cougars converted two-of-four drives in the endzone as the Jayhawks went three-of-three. BYU threw an interception in the second quarter and fumbled a punt in the fourth quarter for two turnovers to Kansas’s one. 

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw for 192 yards on 18-of-28 passing, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Hinckley Ropati in the second quarter. 

LJ Martin picked up 76 rushing yards on the night to become the 42nd player in BYU football history to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a collegiate career. Ropati and Retzlaff also chipped in 35 and 21 rushing yards, respectively. 

Chase Roberts led the receivers with 71 yards on five catches. Keelan Marion added 42 yards on three catches. 

Tyler Batty led the defense with eight tackles, a quarterback hurry and a sack. Harrison Taggart and Blake Mangelson recorded six tackles apiece. John Nelson also tallied a quarterback hurry and Isaiah Glasker a sack. 

BYU outgained Kansas in total offense, earning 354 yards to Kansas’s 242. The Cougars posted 162 yards on the ground and 23 first downs to the Jayhawks’ 13.

First Quarter

BYU won the coin toss and deferred to receive in the second half. Kansas quickly marched into Cougar territory and rushed the ball up the middle for the first touchdown of the night. The Jayhawks’ opening drive consisted of 10 plays and 84 yards, spanning nearly six minutes. 

The Cougar offense took the field at their own 25-yard line. Retzlaff connected on a 13-yard pass to Darius Lassiter before an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-nine led to a BYU punt with 6:10 left on the first quarter clock. 

Logan Lutui was credited on a tackle-for-loss to bring up 3rd-and-seven for Kansas on its ensuing drive. An incomplete pass forced the Jayhawks to punt and the BYU defense recorded its first 3-and-out of the game. 

Martin and Sione I Moa each recorded 12-yard runs as BYU strung together eight plays and 48 yards to land at Kansas’s 9-yard line before the first quarter clock expired.

Second Quarter

A Retzlaff run for a loss and an incomplete pass aimed for Lassiter brought out the Cougars’ field goal unit. Will Ferrin connected from 33 yards and Kansas led 7-3 with 14:11 remaining in the first half. 

BYU’s defense locked down Kansas for its second-consecutive 3-and-out. The Jayhawks’ drive lasted just 52 seconds and the Cougars’ offense took the field at their own 31-yard line. 

BYU called timeout on 1st-and-10 at the Jayhawks’ 30-yard line. Immediately following, Retzlaff found an open Ropati down the Cougars’ sideline for a 30-yard completion and a BYU touchdown. The eight-play, 69-yard drive put the Cougars ahead 10-7 with 8:48 left in the second quarter. 

Kansas faced 4th-and-six at the BYU 33-yard line and kept its drive alive with a 27-yard completion to land at the six. Two short rushes and an incomplete pass broken up by Batty forced the Jayhawks to settle for a field goal. 

With 1:46 left in the half, BYU moved 70 yards downfield before an intercepted pass in the endzone ended first-half action. The Cougars and Jayhawks entered the break with 10 points apiece. 

Third Quarter

BYU scored three points on its first drive of the second half as Ferrin made a 35-yard field goal to conclude a 17-play, 66-yard series that spanned 10:26 — the Cougars’ longest drive of the season. The BYU offense converted once on third down with a 5-yard Ropati rush and once on fourth down with a 3-yard Martin rush

The Jayhawks completed a 14-yard pass on 3rd-and-eight as the third quarter expired to bring up 1st-and-10 at the BYU 32 to begin the final quarter of play. 

Fourth Quarter

Glasker sacked the Jayhawks’ quarterback for a loss of five yards on 3rd-and-9. Kansas punted to the Cougars, but a BYU fumble gave the ball back to the Jayhawks at the BYU 3-yard line. Kansas ran the ball into the endzone and regained the lead at 17-13 with 13:23 left in the game. 

Two incomplete passes and a short run resulted in the Cougars’ first three-and-out of the game. BYU maintained possession for just one minute. 

The Jayhawks gained 19 yards on five plays before Marque Collins intercepted a pass for the Cougars on 3rd-and-12 at Kansas’s own 46. Batty was credited with the hurry, and the Cougars took over with 8:19 on the clock. 

Marion collected 12 rushing yards before a Martin carry lost a yard and two incomplete passes brought up fourth down. BYU punted to Kansas with 7:10 remaining.

The Jayhawks completed a 10-yard pass before three short runs left them one yard shy of a first down. Kansas punted to BYU with 4:47 left in the game. 

On the third play from scrimmage, Retzlaff found Roberts for a 24-yard completion to land BYU at the Kansas 40-yard line. The next two plays, Martin ran for 11 yards and Ropati ran for 14 to put BYU at the 15 ahead of the two-minute timeout. Three short runs brought up 4th-and-6 at the 11-yard line and a false start penalty pushed the Cougars to the 16. Retzlaff connected with Roberts eight yards shy of the endzone and the Jayhawks took over with 46 seconds remaining. 

Kansas kneeled out the game and won 17-13. 

Up next the Cougars will travel to Tempe, Arizona for a Nov. 23 matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Mountain America Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MST on ESPN.