Lance Leipold's Kansas Jayhawks always play well enough to win the ballgame, until they don't.

KU found yet another gut-wrenching way to lose in today's showdown against UCF, falling 33-32 on a walk-off touchdown catch and extra point. That ending didn't come without its fair share of drama, though.

Despite trailing by as many as 19 points in the second half, the Jayhawks rallied all the way back to take a 32-26 lead with a little over a minute to play. All the defense needed to do was come up with a couple of stops to force a giveaway or turnover on downs. Instead, they did what fans have grown accustomed to in recent years.

D.K. McDonald's unit was standing tall during the early stages of the two-minute drill, but UCF converted a pair of third downs to set itself up with favorable field position. Then, with 13 seconds left in regulation, Knights wideout Waden Charles came up with a game-winning touchdown catch — or at least that's what everyone in the stadium thought.

The officials quickly reviewed the play and determined he was still bobbling the ball at the back of the end zone, resulting in an overturned call. That was the big break Kansas needed. Finally, something went the Jayhawks' way, right?

Not quite. A Jalen Todd pass interference call set up UCF at the six-yard line with four seconds remaining, leaving time for one final play. In a moment when the Jayhawks needed a defensive stand the most, tight end Caden Piening played spoiler.

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Just like the Charles touchdown catch that was overturned, the refs went to the monitor to review the call on the field. Fans tuning in at home were able to listen to the entire conversation the replay booth had with the officials, and at one point, Jayhawk fans got a glimmer of hope.

An angle displayed on the KU jumbotron appeared to show the ball ever so slightly moving once Piening made contact with the turf. When that vantage point was shown, Jayhawk fans roared and thought the call was going their way.

But in the end, the replay officials concluded there was not conclusive evidence to change the call. Piening secured the pigskin before coming to the ground and no angle presented proved he lost control during the process of making the catch. That was the right decision in the end and we aren't trying to say they got it wrong, but it was still an absolutely heartbreaking sequence for KU.

Leipold and his staff can add yet another last-minute loss to their ever-growing ugly resume. It was eerily similar to the meltdown against Cincinnati last year or even the debacle with TCU a week ago. Across the past three seasons alone, the Jayhawks have blown 12 fourth-quarter leads.

These kinds of losses can no longer be considered coincidences. They are a pattern of a coaching staff that does not do enough to prepare its players for late-game situations like the one we watched today.