BYU (3-1) had its chances, but in the end, Kansas (4-0) was able to put the Cougars away for a 38-27 victory at home inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels threw three touchdown passes and running back Devin Neal ran for a game-high 91 yards to lead the Jayhawks to victory.

BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis completed 30-of-51 passes for 357 yards with two touchdowns for the Cougars in the loss. Slovis faced a tough task as the Cougars — once again — could not move the ball on the ground as BYU finished the day with just 9 rushing yards. Yes, 9 rushing yards when factoring in the three sacks the Cougars had. BYU’s two running backs LJ Martin and Deion Smith each averaged just 2.5 yards per carry. The longest run of the day for the Cougars was 7 yards.

While BYU was able to keep it close, the one-dimensional offense couldn’t keep it going down the stretch as the Jayhawks overcame a 17-14 halftime deficit and improved to 4-0 in back-to-back years for the first time since 1914-1915.

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The loss was disappointing in what was BYU’s Big 12 debut. While BYU had more total yards than Kansas (366 to 351), the Cougars not only settled for several field goals in the red zone, but the Jayhawks defense was able to score twice on a pick-6 and a fumble return for a score.

The scoop and score looked like it could have been targeting, however, the refs not only didn’t call it, but there was no review either. That play not only put Kansas up 7-0 to start the game, but it also took Parker Kingston out of the game due to concussion protocol.

Another frustrating part of the contest was BYU’s timeout usage. To sum up just how bad it was, the Cougars called a timeout after already coming out of a timeout. The Cougars also wasted a timeout in the third quarter to avoid a delay of game penalty, despite it being 3rd and goal from the 23-yard line and the Cougars weren’t going to score anyways.

After the timeout, the team trotted out and ran a play right up the middle for 5 yards to kick a field goal. It was a big waste considering the Cougars needed those timeouts at the end of the game to stop the clock with Kansas set on running out the clock the last five minutes.

While the loss stings, the good news is that, unlike Independence, the Cougars season isn’t over as BYU still has a lot to play for. The loss is just frustrating for Cougar fans because the game was very winnable. The Cougars contained the Jayhawk offense, but the team couldn’t overcome two defensive touchdowns.

Here’s how the media, fans, and players reacted after the win:

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