Who could have known then that the Jayhawks would run three more 2-point conversion tries the rest of the way, converting two of them and watching the one that failed bring the end of an absolutely thrilling game?

No one.

That first try, a failed pass from Jalon Daniels to Mason Fairchild, who had just scored the touchdown, left the Jayhawks still down by three scores. A quick punt on their first drive of the second half made things even more dire for the Jayhawks, and there’s no way that anyone could have said at the time that the Jayhawks would be duking it out with the Razorbacks, 2-point try for 2-point try, just 90 minutes later.

But that’s exactly what happened, as Kansas roared back, scoring 40 second-half points to take Arkansas to the wire in one of the most thrilling bowl games in recent memory.

“When you go for a couple 2-point plays earlier and then you get in a situation where you have to keep using 2-point plays, it’s not like you’re going to go to different plays,” KU coach Lance Leipold said after the loss. “You just don’t have a chart of like six of them, 10 of them on your play call sheet.”

KU’s first successful 2-point conversion tied the game, when Daniels found Lawrence Arnold wide open near the back of the end zone on a play that was the Jayhawks’ first brush with a do-or-die situation. Daniels’ ability to buy time with his feet while still being willing to keep his eyes downfield and his body in the pocket allowed Arnold time to come open.

The second successful 2-point conversion, came at the end of the second OT, when Daniels hit tight end Jared Casey along the goal line on a play that was run to perfection. Arnold and Fairchild lined up wide left and then quickly ran slants to the middle at the snap. Casey, meanwhile, ran his to the goal line from his spot at left tight end and then flattened out his route toward the sideline, allowing Daniels to hit him with a perfect pass just a step away from crossing the plane.

Starting with the third OT, the new NCAA rule is to drop the touchdown tries and just go straight to 2-point conversions. For the rest of the game, however long it would last, it was going to be 2-point try after 2-point try by both teams until one team flinched.

It turns out, it lasted just two more plays. Arkansas scored first, on a softly floated pass from KJ Jefferson to freshman running back Rashod Dubinion, who ran just enough of a route to confuse the KU defenders as to where the ball was going to be thrown.

That set up KU’s final play, a reverse pitch from Daniels to back-up QB Jason Bean, who lined up wide left and took a step toward the backfield at the snap. After a fake handoff to Devin Neal, Daniels handed the ball to Bean, who sprinted to the right, looking to make a play. As he reached the right hash marks, Fairchild flashed wide open about three yards deep in the end zone. Bean either didn’t see him or wasn’t comfortable enough to turn his body to make the throw. So he kept running toward the sideline while Fairchild remained wide open.

As Bean reached the 6-yard line, with Casey throwing a block in front of him, Bean finally released the football, sailing high over the head of Arnold in the back corner of the end zone.

Game over.

Rightly so, the critics will point to Bean missing Fairchild or the ball being in Bean’s hands in the first place, instead of Daniels’ hands on a night when KU’s starter set seven Liberty Bowl records.

The questions came about both the play call and whether Bean might’ve thought it was first and goal and simply threw it away. Many also wondered if he could have run it in for the successful conversion. On replay, it sure doesn’t look like he would’ve made it, but that certainly would have been a better option than what transpired.

“It’s a play we’ve used before, whatever people want to call it,” Leipold said of the play often known as the Phily Special for the Philadelphia Eagles’ success with in in the Super Bowl. “I really couldn’t see everything Jason saw, whether he had an opportunity to run or not. He tried to make a throw. Incomplete.”

Just like that, a thrilling finish and a crazy comeback attempt came screeching to a halt.

The ending brought into question college football’s overtime format, but, like it or not, win or lose, it seems like a fair way to decide things while accomplishing the goal of keeping games from reaching 200 plays from scrimmage.

The new format was first adopted in 2021 and was put in place to limit the number of snaps players have to play in a given game. It was basically the latest move made with player safety in mind.

It was also the third major tweak of the college overtime rules in the past 25 years. The first came in 1996, when the NCAA adopted the high school-style OT format of starting at the 25-yard line (instead of the 10) and trading blows until one team outdid the other.

In 2019, the NCAA put into place the rule that said, starting with the third overtime, teams had to go for two.

And then the 2021 rule change, which forced teams to go for two starting with the second overtime and the alternating 2-point tries beginning with the third OT.

The rules didn’t work out for Kansas, but both teams had a fair chance and the Jayhawks left Memphis oh-so-close to coming through with a comeback for the ages.

The 2-point conversion bonanza was not the only wild thing about Wednesday’s game. KU was in the position it was in because of an onside kick recovery by Kenny Logan Jr. late in regulation.

“I think that’s the first onside kick a team I’ve been responsible for has ever recovered,” Leiopld said at the conclusion of his 16th season as a head coach. “To to see that happen and the energy and belief the team had was nice. We just, unfortunately, couldn’t quite close it out.”