All offseason, Kansas coach Lance Leipold emphasized to anyone who would listen that the Jayhawks needed to take things one game at a time.
“My goal is still that we are better today than we were yesterday, and then the wins and the other things will take care of themselves,” Leipold said in August . “To win a Big 12 championship, that’s really a game that’s not even on the schedule yet, that you haven’t earned it. … I always try to stay away from that.”
KU football and its fans got a stark reminder of that on Saturday, as No. 19 Kansas lost 23-17 to Illinois at Memorial Stadium. And then Leipold shared a near-exact sentiment to his August comment.
The Jayhawks entered Saturday’s game as a 5.5-point favorites, but they ran into trouble fairly early. Quarterback Jalon Daniels turned the ball over four times: three interceptions and a fumble on the game’s last play.
He finished 18-of-32 passing for 141 yards with two touchdowns.
“It was a hell of a good football team,” Daniels told reporters in Champaign, Illinois, after the game. “They came out and did a lot of stuff they didn’t show on film, and they just came out here and made a lot of plays.”
Kansas did have success with its ground game: Kansas running back Devin Neal had 101 rushing yards on 14 carries. KU’s rushing attack totaled 186 yards.
Neal believes it’s an opportunity for Kansas football to grow.
“I think we have to learn from this for sure,” Neal told reporters in his postgame media session. “It was needed for us in a way; not saying that we were cocky or complacent where we were, but I do think we need a little fire under our belly for sure.”
Kansas linebacker Cornell Wheeler called the loss “humbling.” Even so, it was a reminder of how far the Kansas program has come under Leipold.
After all, Illinois fans stormed the field after the upset victory over Kansas, not to mention the game was Illinois’ first sellout in eight years.
While Saturday’s loss showcased that the Jayhawks still have a long way to go to reach their goal of winning the Big 12 championship, the season certainly isn’t over.
Kansas hasn’t yet started conference play, which will begin when KU travels to Morgantown in two weeks to play West Virginia. And Leipold highlighted that point postgame.
“We are going to see what we are made of,” Leipold told reporters after the game. “We’ve got 10 more games to play — this is a nonconference football game. Like I said to you guys, a lot that are here every day: Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’ve got a long way to. We’ve got a lot to do. Everyone wants to go into things that aren’t on the schedule yet, to talk about a football team that has to get a lot better.
“There’s a lot of good teams and there’s a lot of good coaches. A lot of things happen. Now we’ve got to play another good team in six days. If everyone thinks our goals and everything are out the window, they are sadly mistaken. … We’re barely into the season, yet, guys. This is what it is, but we are going to see what kind of team we are, what kind of resolve we have, what kind of leadership we have — starting with the head coach on down.”
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