What Kansas HC Lance Leipold Said After Embarrassing Loss to K-State

Here's what KU's head coach had to say about his team's blowout loss to Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown.

Oct 11, 2025; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold before the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images | Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Kansas fell 42-17 to the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, marking the 17th straight loss the Jayhawks have suffered at the hands of their in-state rival.

The Jayhawks hit the ground running with a quick turnover forced and a touchdown, but it was all K-State after that. Lance Leipold's group was dominated on both ends of the ball, surrendering 371 total yards and turning the ball over four times.

During his postgame press conference, Leipold did not hold back on his team's performance. He acknowledged that it was an embarrassing effort and an incredibly bad loss.

"I’d be embarrassed [if I was a fan]," Leipold told reporters. "I’m embarrassed right now. We need to play better in that. I’m embarrassed. You know, if you’re saying the win streak, I’m frustrated that we’ve lost five, because those are the five that I’ve been here. So I can’t control the past. I can work on the future."

"Definitely a major step backwards in that," Leipold said about the losing streak being extended. “And we have to own that. We were thoroughly outplayed. They executed better than us. They were more physical than us, and that’s very disappointing. And as a head coach, you have to; It’s your responsibility to have them ready to go.”

He praised K-State for its solid defensive effort, but noted that his team needs to be better.

"I thought what they did do is [they] really did a nice job of mixing up how they brought people and brought the backers and stuff and, you know, and those things [can be] very disruptive,” Leipold said. “The thing about it is that I thought that just off observation from the sideline is when they did come, they came physically and they were physical, put their hands and pads on people and when they were coming, they were moving people and that is credit to them."

Outings like this, even in the midst of a 17-game losing streak, are not acceptable for the Jayhawks. They were betting favorites heading into the contest, and many people thought this was the best chance KU has had to end the streak in years.

K-State was previously 3-4 and had struggled against Big 12 competition. However, their defense stifled the Jayhawks all game, and they had no answer for Avery Johnson and Co.

KU now sits at 4-4 ahead of its matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowboys next week, but the outlook of the season has been severely damaged already.

All quotes transcribed from On3.