LAWRENCE, Kan. _ Kansas football has now waited more than two years, 19 league games and a couple of coaching stints for a winning performance in the Big 12.
After a 31-24 home loss to Iowa State on Saturday, the conference losing streak staggers forward.
Kansas (1-9) came into the game last in the nation in turnover margin at negative-15, but an early-game takeaway from the Jayhawks sparked early confidence.
Iowa State took a 3-0 lead, and again drove down to the Kansas 15-yard line before KU safety Fish Smithson jumped a route and came down with an interception while skidding out of bounds to thwart the Cyclones' offense.
That takeaway set up an 88-yard touchdown drive from the Jayhawks led by quarterback Carter Stanley, who was only recently named the starter. He went 6-of-9 through the air on the drive, and Ke'aun Kinner rushed four times for 33 yards.
The Jayhawks put together more of the same on their next scoring drive, going 76 yards and capping it with a 1-yard Taylor Martin touchdown run. With that, they took a 14-3 lead to start the second quarter and seemed to be on their way to the elusive conference victory.
"This being one of the first games we started off really strong offensively, we definitely felt like we were in a position to win that game," wide receiver Shakiem Barbel said.
The Cyclones, who also came into Saturday with only one win on the season, had other ideas.
ISU got the ball back midway through the second quarter after a KU punt and the first smattering of boos from the crowd in Lawrence. The Jayhawks faced a fourth-and-2 at the Cyclones' 37-yard line and called a timeout before electing to send its Stanley in to take the snap and punt anyway.
"Just too far away," Kansas coach David Beaty said. "Fourth-and-2 is a whole different animal. If we were out there and it was fourth and half a foot, something like that, it's a little bit different deal. We just didn't feel good about what we were seeing."
Momentum flipped on the ensuing possession, and ISU pulled within 14-10 with 3:35 left in the second quarter when Allen Lazard pulled down a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Park.
After a field goal to open the third quarter, KU's defensive backs got crossed up in coverage in the red zone, leaving Iowa State's Deshaunte Jones wide open to haul in a 12-yard touchdown. ISU botched the extra point, so Kansas clung to a slim lead, 17-16.
Moments later, Kinner burst through a pocket of interior blocking, and scampered 39 yards for the Kansas score, barely touched on the way.
"As the linemen go, I go," Kinner said. "Those guys did a really good job up front, so I was just following them. ... I saw a little crease and I just hit it."
The Jayhawks held a 24-16 lead _ until their gassed defense allowed 12 straight points from ISU.
Mitchell Harger rushed for a 6-yard score that brought Iowa State within two (24-22), and Joel Lanning punched one in from one yard out to take the 28-24 lead.
"Really the adjustment they (ISU) made was not throwing the ball as much, only when they needed to," Smithson said. "For the most part, they just ran it right downhill and ran it down our throat in the second half."
The Cyclones added a field goal, and Stanley threw an interception with just more than two and a half minutes remaining.
Kansas has two more chances at victory this season, against Texas or Kansas State. Beaty said that Stanley is Kansas' starting quarterback moving forward; the redshirt freshman finished 26 of 38 for 171 yards, a touchdown and interception.
"It's good to see him have a pretty good start today," Beaty said. "When you don't win a game, it's hard to think that you had a good start. Obviously we're all very, very disappointed because we thought we had a chance to win."
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