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Kansas football saw a three-game winning streak end Saturday, on the road in its regular season finale, with a 45-17 loss against Baylor.
The Jayhawks (5-7, 4-5 in Big 12) suffered their most lopsided defeat during Big 12 Conference play this season. The Bears (8-4, 6-3 in Big 12) are now winners of six-straight games. A season that started off with so much promise for Kansas, after bowl appearances in both 2022 and 2023 and a bowl win in 2023, has fallen well short of the expectations KU had for itself.
Here are a few questions to think about as the Jayhawks reflect on the regular season:
Kansas football vs Baylor report card: How Jayhawks graded out in regular-season finale
How will Lance Leipold evaluate any personnel or schematic changes moving forward?
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold’s 2025 team is going to look much different than the one he had this year regardless of any decisions made with the roster, staff or otherwise. That’s because of the sheer amount of veterans who finished up their college careers in 2024. But there will be some reflection from Leipold and company on how to be better next season, and how to approach that campaign.
Asked postgame Saturday how he would evaluate any personnel or schematic changes, according to press conference video from the Lawrence Journal-World, Leipold said they will look at their options and analyze what they are doing. He added sometimes that means looking at teams that might be similar to his, and seeing if there are improvements that can be made. Defensively, that could mean how they approach coverages, blitzes and more, while offensively there are a variety of things that could be discussed.
Will Jalon Daniels be back next season?
Redshirt junior quarterback Jalon Daniels explained earlier in the season that his decision to go through senior day rested on celebrating that moment with his class, and because he’s graduating. He didn’t reveal any information on if he would return for one more season. And postgame Saturday, he didn’t make any announcement on that either.
Daniels noted he wanted to wait until the season was over to think about it, and therefore that process is now going to get underway. Should he leave, Kansas will have a group of young quarterbacks who could compete for the starting job, but the Jayhawks could also look to the transfer portal.
Did the stretch of four-straight ranked opponents wear Kansas down ahead of facing Baylor?
Senior running back Devin Neal, discussing the Baylor loss, allowed there could be some level of guys being tired after facing four-straight ranked opponents ahead of this game. However, he added, at the end of the day they know the sport they signed up to play and understand how tough it can get. He doesn’t want to be the guy who makes excuses, and said they just didn’t close out the regular season in the way they needed to.
Neal, though, did also say in the future the team will need to prepare differently and have a better mindset from the start. He’s not saying guys were complacent early, but he also doesn’t think the team had the same edge or swagger early on that it had in past seasons. He described Kansas’ next fall camp as being really important, and he’s excited to come back to visit and see it unfold.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 3 lingering questions following Kansas football’s loss against Baylor