Kansas Jayhawks football grades: Report card from KU’s Big 12 loss vs. Cincinnati
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas’ offense produced 597 yards, led by Jalon Daniels' 474 total yards
- KU defense surrendered 603 yards, including six red-zone scores by Cincinnati
- Emmanuel Henderson became first KU receiver since 2017 to top 200 yards
Kansas football blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost to Cincinnati on Saturday.
The Bearcats defeated the Jayhawks 37-34 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Kansas is 1-1 in Big 12 play.
KU coach Lance Leipold praised Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby after the game.
“I don’t know if we played real confidently in coverage all day, to be honest,” Leipold said. “We started to create some pressure. That’s a good quarterback. He took shots, he put the ball where it needed to (be), he spread it around. They had a good game plan on attacking us, and they executed.
Here are our grades for all three phases of Saturday’s game for KU (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) plus a player of the game.
Offense: A
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels had one of the best games of his college career Saturday. He was in total control all game.
Daniels finished 18-of-27 passing for 419 yards and four touchdowns. He added 55 yards on the ground. His only blemish was fumble at the 1-yard line, but KU’s defense forced a Cincinnati punt after.
On top of that, he put Kansas in position to win. He connected with wide receiver Levi Wentz for a touchdown that put KU up four (34-30) with 1:45 left.
KU totaled 597 yards of offense. Emmanuel Henderson had five catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns. The lone blemish of the day was Daniels’ fumble, but otherwise the offense was excellent.
Defense: D+
KU’s defense was abysmal on Saturday.
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby finished 29-of-43 passing for 388 yards and two touchdowns. He added 52 yards on the ground. Cincinnati totaled 603 yards of offense.
On top of that, UC went 7-for-16 on third down. The Bearcats even went a perfect 6-for-6 in the redzone, leading to 34 total points.
The only reason this grade wasn’t an F was the aforementioned stop after Daniels fumbled at the 1.
Special teams: B
KU’s special teams was fine, but unspectacular, vs. the Bearcats. Kicker Laith Marjan remained perfect on the season, converting two field goals. His longest one was 35 yards.
KU punter Finn Lappin averaged 43 yards on his two punts. Henderson returned one kick for 20 yards.
Player of the game: Emmanuel Henderson Jr.
Henderson had one of the best games by a KU wide receiver in a long time. In fact, his 214 receiving yards made him the first Jayhawk since Steven Sims (233 yards vs. Kansas State in 2017) with over 200 yards in a game.
The Alabama transfer has made the most of his opportunity in Lawrence.
This story was originally published September 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks football grades: Report card from KU’s Big 12 loss vs. Cincinnati."
