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Kansas comes back from 25 down, falls to Arkansas in third overtime of Liberty Bowl

It was a furious rally in Memphis for the Jayhawks, but they came up one play short of a winning record in 2022.

Mason Fairchild and Lawrence Arnold of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrate during the first half of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on December 28, 2022 in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images

The Kansas Jayhawks were down 38-13 to the Arkansas Razorbacks with four minutes left in the third quarter of the 2022 Liberty Bowl. But another furious second half rally for KU head coach Lance Leipold and the early-season darlings of college football saw them force the game to overtime with a Jalon Daniels 21-yard touchdown pass to Luke Grimm to tie it at 38-38 with just 41 seconds remaining in regulation.

But in the third overtime period, Arkansas was able to make their two point conversion while Kansas threw a pass away, and the Razorbacks won 55-53. With the win Arkansas moves to 7-6 on the season, while Kansas falls to 6-7.

Daniels was magnificent for KU, finishing 37-55 passing for 544 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. After an opening drive TD for the Razorbacks to start the second half, the Jayhawks held them to just two more first downs and no more scoring in regulation.

The game appeared to be over in the second overtime, as Daniels appeared to come up a yard short from a needed two-point conversion. But a targeting call on the play gave the Jayhawks new life, and Daniels ran it in on the extra snap to tie the game at 53.

If Kansas would have been able to complete the comeback, it would have been the biggest turnaround in a postseason game since the 2015 Alamo Bowl, which saw the TCU Horned Frogs rally from 31 down to beat the Oregon Ducks in three overtimes.