Kansas Football: Jayhawks Back in Win Column With 38-21 Victory Over Cowboys

The Kansas Jayhawks were coming off what was by far the worst loss of the college football season last week, a 25-point embarrassment to their in-state rival Kansas State. They were in danger of missing a bowl game for a second straight season after building a ton of momentum the two years prior. This was the easiest remaining game on their schedule, still needing two wins to become bowl eligible. It was essentially now or never. They chose now, beating Oklahoma State 38-21 on Homecoming weekend in Lawrence.

Kansas vs. Oklahoma State 2025 Game Recap

Kansas had to overcome a slow start on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys received the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field for a touchdown. The offense was efficient but had the ball only twice in the first half. Luckily, they were able to put points on the board both times. In fact, they scored on all six of their drives in the game (excluding the kneel downs to end the game).

Williams And Hishaw Lead The Way

Jalon Daniels has been asked to carry the offensive workload nearly every time he is on the field. However, that wasn’t the case against the Cowboys. While he did complete nearly 70-percent of his passes and threw for a pair of touchdowns, he attempted just 19 passes for 110 yards. Instead, it was the run game that did a majority of the work on offense.

For just the third time all season, Daniel Hishaw and Leshon Williams were at full strength (or close to it). For just the second time all season, each of them topped 50 rushing yards. Both got 14 carries, with Hishaw gaining 65 yards and Williams gaining 77. The former found the endzone twice and the latter did so once.

Isaiah Marshall also added a 43-yard scamper, while Daniels picked up 28 yards on a half dozen carries. The 232 rushing yards are the most the Jayhawks have had since their 31-point win over West Virginia nearly a month and a half ago.

Bowl Eligibility Back Within Reach

The Jayhawks went 13 years without making a bowl game from 2009 to 2021. Only once during that time were they even within two wins of being bowl eligible. In 2022 and 2023, they broke that streak and began to set a precedent for the program. However, a five-game losing streak last season kept them out of bowl season once again. After bad losses the previous two weeks, they were in danger of putting themselves in a really tight spot once again. While there were much bigger games on the schedule to start the year, this had become arguably the most important game for the program in 2025.

None of the three remaining games are easy, and the Jayhawks will likely be underdogs in each contest. Winning this game means that they will only need to pull off one upset to become bowl-eligible. While it won’t be a cakewalk by any means, it’s a lot better than having to win two of those games.

Next Up: Arizona

Arizona, like Kansas, had a disappointing 2024 season. The Wildcats were one of the favorites to win the Big 12, but won just two conference games against two bottom-half teams. Expectations weren’t as high this year, but they have already surpassed their win total from last season. Noah Fifita leads the offense, finding himself within the top-5 of just about every passing category in the conference.

This will likely be the most winnable game left for the Jayhawks. A trip to Iowa State and Senior Day against what could be a top-10 ranked Utah close the season, so it would behoove Kansas to lock up bowl eligibility prior to those games.