What Lance Leipold said about Jason Bean’s critical 2-point conversion, and why it failed
Kansas quarterback Jason Bean slowly removed his helmet and tried to hold back the tears.
As the backup QB slowly walked off, he didn’t divert his gaze from the ground. KU tight end Mason Fairchild put his arm around Bean’s back and escorted him to the locker room.
In potentially his last game in a Jayhawk uniform, Bean had become the easy scapegoat. In triple overtime, Bean’s pass sailed high on the two-point conversion attempt, ending KU’s night.
Arkansas (7-6, 3-5 SEC) would ultimately prevail over Kansas 55-53 in a thriller in the Liberty Bowl at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on Wednesday.
In a game where Kansas made plenty of mistakes to put itself down 25 points (38-13 in the third), it’s Bean’s mistake that people will remember the most.
Kansas coach Lance Leipold felt that wasn’t fair.
“Jason feels terrible,” Leipold said. “There’s plenty of plays we could have performed better on that maybe didn’t even put us to that point.”
The Jayhawks (6-7, 3-5 Big 12) also might not have reached a bowl game without Bean in the first place.
When Bean was replaced by Daniels late last season — and with the senior presumably set to begin 2022 as the backup — it would have been easy for him to transfer. He’s done it once, as Bean transferred from North Texas to Kansas before the 2021 season.
Instead, Bean stuck around. His decision paid dividends.
Bean was an essential part of the Jayhawks’ fairy-tale season, including quarterbacking the win to reach bowl eligibility.
When starting QB Jalon Daniels suffered a shoulder injury in Kansas’ 38-31 loss to TCU, Bean stepped up and played admirably. He threw for four touchdowns to one interception with 262 passing yards off the bench.
Bean would start the next four games, throwing for ten touchdowns, three interceptions and 1,018 passing yards. He led the Jayhawks’ to a 37-16 victory over Oklahoma State, KU’s sixth and final win this season.
Still, let’s take a closer look at the last play, possibly Bean’s final one with the Jayhawks if he does not return for his “super-senior” season of eligibility.
Bean began lined up at a receiver spot to the left.
Daniels snapped the ball and pretended to hand off to running back Devin Neal. Then Bean came running over, received a toss from Daniels and ran all the way across the field to the right.
Bean decided to throw a pass, but he jumped while making the throw and the ball sailed. Lawrence Arnold was in the area, although he was covered. Fairchild was also breaking open on his route in the end zone.
In hindsight, Bean could have done two things: try to run it into the end zone or set his feet more before attempting the pass.
If he tried to run it, there was no guarantee he would’ve scored, as three Arkansas defenders were keying on him. Likewise, if he attempted to plant his feet, he might not have delivered a clean pass attempt with defenders converging on him, though the ultimate result of the play was a failed attempt.
“We came up with a play we used before,” Leipold said. “We really couldn’t exactly see everything Jason saw, whether he had the opportunity to run or not or try to make a throw and complete it.”
Many Kansas fans will wonder why the Jayhawks didn’t keep the ball in Daniels’ hands.
After all, Daniels finished the game with 544 passing yards and five passing touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown. Daniels set new Liberty Bowl records with his six total touchdowns and passing-yardage total.
A possible explanation: Daniels got walloped a few plays before, and Arkansas likely expected him to have the ball, so KU tried to flip the script.
Leipold had a different explanation.
“When you go for a couple of 2-point plays earlier and then you get into a situation where you have to keep using 2-point plays, it’s not like you … just don’t have it charted,” Leipold said, noting the Jayhawks had a plethora of 2-point plays on the call sheet. (Kansas went for 2 twice in regulation and twice more in double overtime, getting the extra attempt in the bonus period after an Arkansas penalty.)
Whether Bean returns for a super-senior season or not, his teammates had his back postgame.
“Yeah, he’s good,” said safety OJ Burroughs. “I am proud of all my brothers (for) the way we fought back and through adversity throughout the whole game.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2022 at 10:10 AM with the headline "What Lance Leipold said about Jason Bean’s critical 2-point conversion, and why it failed."
