Dylan Edwards fumbled at the Arizona State 22 early in the fourth quarter, Hyrum Vaeono scooped it up at the ASU 21 and ran it 77 yards to the Kansas 2, and Cutter Boley punched it in from a yard out moments later for a 24-7 lead. Kansas lost 24-17 at Wembley Stadium after outgaining Arizona State 414-228. After the fumble return, Owen Long intercepted Isaiah Marshall at the ASU 6 at 9:34 of the fourth quarter.
The rest of the ledger is just as lopsided. Kansas had a 22-13 edge in first downs and lost the turnover battle 3-0, and Cronkite News counted 20 of the game's 41 points as direct special-teams points, Jaren Hamilton's 100-yard kickoff return, Tate Nagy's 72-yard punt return, and a field goal from each side. Seven more ASU points followed a 17-yard Kansas punt. Martin Connington's missed 44-yarder cost three more. Nothing on that list is an offensive or defensive shortcoming. All of it is the difference between 1-2 and 2-1.
What the bye is actually for
There is no Kansas game this week. That is genuinely the news, because the calendar behind it is unforgiving. Kansas opened at home against LIU, hosted Missouri, played Arizona State in London, and now takes its only bye before nine consecutive Big 12 games, five of them on the road. Whatever does not get fixed in the next ten days gets carried through the rest of the season.
The most urgent item is the backfield. Yasin Willis left in the second quarter after eight carries for 35 yards and spent the second half in a walking boot, with no diagnosis reported. Lance Leipold said he did not know how long Willis would be out and called the situation "highly concerning," then answered "Extremely" when asked about running back depth. With Justin Thurman and Kory Amachree already out and Jalen Dupree not fully healthy, four of Kansas' eight running backs are unavailable or limited. Behind Edwards, the healthy backs, Micah Johnson, John Kelly and Jack Reeves, have 17 career carries combined. For an offense trying to win on the ground, that is the thinnest possible margin.
The second item is smaller and more embarrassing. Center Kasen Carpenter put four snaps over Marshall. Leipold's explanation was mechanical rather than mysterious. "Sometimes, when the center's trying to make a block … he's moving and snapping instead of getting the snap first." Marshall now wants 5 to 10 practice snaps on the sideline before every drive. This is the kind of problem a bye week is built to solve, and if it shows up again on Oct. 3 it stops being a fluke.
The Kotelnicki question is still open
Andy Kotelnicki came back to Lawrence this offseason as associate head coach after two years at Penn State, and the reason Kansas fans cared is specific. His 2023 offense averaged 7.0 yards per play and 211.3 rushing yards per game, the engine of the program's best season in decades. Three games in, the raw materials look right and the situational work does not. Kansas ran 41 times for 179 yards, 4.4 a carry, and gained 414 yards. Its first third-down conversion came late in the third quarter.
That gap is where the portal class sits too. Edwards' 18 carries for 89 yards were his best game since transferring in, David Santiago recorded his first sack as a Jayhawk and Eamon Smalls his first tackle for loss. Edwards also lost the fourth-quarter fumble. The newcomers are producing plays; they are not yet producing reliable ones, and Willis' injury removed the other proven back from the rotation.
One separate question, about who backs up Marshall, did close. Cole Ballard was ruled out on Friday's availability report with an undisclosed shoulder injury suffered on the Missouri trick play, and Rice transfer Chase Jenkins was named the backup, with Leipold saying Kansas felt confident Jenkins "can run our offense and lead our team." Kansas knows who the No. 2 is and still knows nothing about how he plays.
The week ahead
Kansas and Arizona State are both idle Sept. 26. The Jayhawks return Oct. 3 hosting Middle Tennessee State on Family Weekend, a game the model gives Kansas an 81% chance to win, the last comfortable projection on the board before the conference run. After that come 6% at Utah, 16% at Kansas State, and 54% at home against Baylor. The turnovers and return touchdowns that decided London will decide those too, and this is the only bye Kansas gets to sort them out.
Kansas' Week 4 happens in practice.
The full board is at the interactive guide, and the forecasting details are in the methodology.