Liberty Bowl result for Kansas Jayhawks can't be reduced to a single play.

It was an entire team effort for the Kansas Jayhawks, in both the comeback and the eventual loss.

Stop blaming Jason Bean for the loss suffered by the Kansas Jayhawks in the Liberty Bowl against the Arkansas Razorbacks. [Insert Michael Jordan "Stop It" GIF here] 

While the Kansas senior backup quarterback was the player that missed (badly) on the throw during the third overtime as Kansas fell 55-53, that was far from the most critical error of the game, in both the play selection and the execution:

• Sevion Morrison fumbled a kickoff return in the first quarter.
• Jalon Daniels threw two first half interceptions to end scoring chances.
• Kenny Logan got frustrated and pushed KJ Jefferson while out of bounds to draw a penalty. This was after Jefferson escaped what looked like a sure sack from Lonnie Phelps.
• A pooch punt on the first drive of the second half on 4th and 4, which was universally ripped.
• Multiple huge gains given up by the defense throughout the game.

I don't bring all these up to throw people under the bus or excuse the mistake. Instead, it's to highlight just how unjustified comments being made are. 

So again, Jason Bean did not lose this game. Even the coaches did not lose this game. The fact that these next tweets are even necessary is sickening:

While the comments about Bean are absolutely disgusting, it's important to make sure we don't reduce an entire game to a single unsuccessful play.

The play didn't work. But the process was good. Kansas has had plenty of success with those trick plays this season. Lance Leipold noted (unprompted by the way) that the team didn't have any additional 2-point conversion plays on the call sheet. A similar play earlier in the game gave a good look that Bean just missed. And Kansas needed a targeting penalty on a broken run from Daniels in the second overtime just to get it to that opportunity.

So don't rob this program and fanbase from the joy that comes from a great season and incredible comeback by reducing the entire effort to a blown call in a triple overtime game that looked to be over before a Herculean effort from an incredible player. And don't ruin an incredible season for a great player in Bean by blaming him for a loss because of one bad throw.

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