LAWRENCE, Kan — All quarterback Montell Cozart had to do was grasp the snap and spike the ball, and give Kansas an opportunity for a tying field goal in coach David Beaty’s debut Saturday.
Instead, the ball squirted onto the turf. Cozart quickly jumped on it. Time slowly ran out.
South Dakota State streamed onto the field to celebrate.
After blowing a big first-half lead, the FCS-level Jackrabbits survived a frantic rally by the Jayhawks — and a tense few seconds at the very end — for a 41-38 victory.
“I felt like I got too lax,” said Cozart, who threw for 291 yards and a touchdown in leading the comeback. “We work on clock situations all the time. When the ball hit me, I fumbled it.”
Simple as that.
It was a dubious debut for Beaty, who became the Jayhawks’ fourth head coach in the past seven years when he was hired to replace Charlie Weis.
“Obviously, unbelievably disappointing right now,” Beaty said. “You never think about stuff like that until it happens to you,” Cozart said of his game-ending fumble. “It feels like an uppercut to the gut.”
