Kansas coach Lance Leipold frustrated by non-offsides call vs. OSU: ‘Baffling’
Kansas coach Lance Leipold couldn’t hide his disdain when asked about a couple of officiating calls in KU’s 39-32 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday.
The primary cause of his ire? A play that occurred with the Jayhawks leading 32-30 with 6:56 left in the game.
The Jayhawks failed to convert a pivotal fourth-and-5 in which two Oklahoma State defenders appeared to jump early, potentially moving into an offsides position.
“I guess what you are asking is if that guy was offsides, because everybody is nodding their heads in the room almost, right?” Leipold said postgame. “Baffling. Baffling, sometimes.”
Leipold explained what the officials told him when he pleaded his case.
“When you talk to the official and it happens on the far side: ‘It’s not mine, it’s his. It’s that.’ (I) talked to the official and it’s not his call. He goes, ‘Well, I didn’t see it. Well, the white hat doesn’t make an offside call.’
“Whatever, I can’t change it. I’ve just got to look at it. If I’m wrong, then we’re all wrong, right? There must have been a reason why you asked the question.”
Kansas quarterback Jason Bean fumbled on the play, as he was sacked by one of the two players who appeared to get an early start. The Jayhawks recovered but turned the ball over on downs.
Bean didn’t blame the non-offsides call for his mistake.
“It didn’t have anything to do with me,” Bean said. “I’ve just got to make a better play. ... My offensive line gave me enough time. I’ve just got to protect the ball in (that) moment and try to make a better play than I did.”
Leipold said the fourth-down decision, which came at the OSU 40-yard line, was based on a mix of analytics and game flow.
”Like I say to them every week: Ultimately, it was my fault that we went for it on fourth-and-5,” he said. “It was my decision. So if we look at it that way, ... then it’s my responsibility as a head coach.”
The non-offsides flag wasn’t the only call Leipold was frustrated about.
Early in the fourth quarter, Bean connected with tight end Trevor Kardell for a 20-yard reception that put the ball on the OSU 30-yard line.
Instead, the Jayhawks moved 15 yards backward: KU running back Devin Neal received a personal foul penalty for unnecessary roughness. It’s possible the referees meant for the foul to be on wide receiver Luke Grimm, who appeared to be engaged with an OSU player at the end of the play.
“They said Devin hit him after the whistle blew,” Leipold said. “I don’t know. ... It’s amazing sometimes what’s decided to be called and what’s not in this league. I haven’t seen it enough to comment on that.”
Bad calls or not, Leipold conceded that OSU was the more physical team — which was part of why Kansas lost. Physicality has been a large point of emphasis for Kansas all season.
“They were the more physical team today, but at the same time, I thought we answered that at times,” Leipold said. “When we got stops, we didn’t move the ball. We allowed explosive plays, and I think we showed, at times offensively, our ability to be balanced.
“What I mean is ... we can move the ball a lot of different ways. The consistency wasn’t there.”
