Listen: Lance Leipold’s Halftime Rant Against Guaranteed Rate Bowl Officials
Lance Leipold’s Kansas Jayhawks defeated UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Tuesday night by a final score of 49-36, moving them to 9-4 on the year — Kansas’s best finish since 2007.
Unfortunately, the biggest headline coming out of this game isn’t about Kansas’ victory, but about something they had to overcome to get it done.
There was plenty to celebrate in the aftermath of a barnburner victory, as Jason Bean overcame three interceptions to have the most productive passing game of his career with 449 yards and a Big 12-bowl-game-record six touchdowns.
That wasn’t the only record set, however, as Kansas tied a Guaranteed Rate Bowl record with 18 penalties, and set the record with 210 penalty yards in the victory.
If you missed the game, Coach Leipold was regularly in the ear of the officials, as they took over the game at several intervals with flag after flag being thrown. During a halftime interview with the Jayhawk Radio Network, Leipold ripped the officials for their antics.
“I don’t know if we can get a new crew or not in time,” Leipold said. “I tell you what, we have no rhythm in this thing, no [rhythm] whatsoever. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know what to tell my team right now.”
In total, 27 penalties were accepted, including four personal fouls (all on KU) and six unsportsmanlike conduct penalties (four on UNLV, two on Kansas). This was incredibly out-of-character for Kansas too, as the Jayhawks had committed just 55 penalties all season, the second-fewest in the Big 12 and 14th-fewest in the nation.
After the game, Leipold seemed to dismiss the penalty issues, instead just praising his team for a hard-fought victory.
“I’m really proud of this football team for a lot of reasons,” Leipold said. “They overcame a lot tonight and persevered. It wasn’t our prettiest performance, but we found a way to make plays and stops when we needed to.”
