WACO, Texas – Kansas football began its Big 12 Conference slate on Saturday afternoon, falling to Baylor, 26-7, inside McLane Stadium.

Kansas struggled on third downs throughout the game, unable to convert them on offense and likewise unable to get off the field on third downs on defense. Baylor was able to get a first down on four of its first five third downs, helping contribute to its 23-0 first-half advantage.

Despite holding the Bears to just three points in the second half, Kansas couldn’t recover from the early first-half deficit. Behind a strong second-half defensive effort, the Jayhawks held Baylor to 26 points, its lowest amount scored this season.

For the fifth game in a row, senior linebacker Joe Dineen Jr., recorded a double-digit tackle performance after tallying 11 solo tackles and two assisted tackles. Dineen moved into fourth place on KU’s all-time tackles-for-loss chart by adding 2.0 TFLs and he also was credited with two quarterback hurries in the game.

KU was not able to establish its ground game against the Bears like it had in its previous two outings, both of which resulted in wins. The Jayhawks, who put together a 405-yard rushing performance in its win over Rutgers a week ago, managed just 122 yards on the ground led by freshman running back Pooka Williams Jr.’s 89 yards.