TAMPA, Fla. — If faced with the same decision again, Todd Reesing would do only one thing different — throw the ball about a yard farther.

Trying to get the Jayhawks into field goal range with 41 seconds left and the score deadlocked at 34-34 with the then No. 19 South Florida, Reesing dropped back to pass and saw wide receiver Raymond Brown streak down the middle of the field. Reesing took a chance and let it fly, but the ball fell a yard short of Brown and right into the hands of a leaping Nate Allen of USF.

“We got what we wanted,” Reesing said, who passed for 373 yards and three touchdowns. “I kind of fell off my back foot a little bit and just didn’t quite get it there. If I had to do it again, I’d probably make the same decision. I just didn’t make the play.”

Allen stayed on his feet and returned the ball 38 yards to the Kansas 26 yard line. After a one yard run, freshman Maikon Bonani hit his third field goal of the game — a 43-yarder as time expired — to give South Florida a 37-34 win.

“Just a little bit more and Ray-B may walk into the end zone and we’re celebrating instead of them,” Reesing said of his final heave. “It’s a tough loss.”

Early on it didn’t look like Reesing would need any late game heroics as the Jayhawks opened up a commanding 20-3 lead midway through the second half.

But with 2:14 left in the second quarter, USF quarterback Matt Grothe ran for a 28-yard touchdown that cut the score to 20-10 and changed the complexion of the game.

After the Grothe score, Kansas went three and out on five consecutive drives — although they did get one first down as the result of a penalty on the first play.

While the Kansas offense couldn’t stay on the field for more than three plays, the Kansas defense all of the sudden couldn’t stop the Bulls. After a Bonani field goal made it 20-13, Grothe found Taurus Jackson in the back of the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown that tied the game at 20. The play was initially ruled an incomplete pass but was reviewed and overturned after the replay judge ruled that Jackson had control of the ball before he fell out of the back of the end zone.

After a Jamar Taylor 13-yard run made it 27-20 South Florida, Grothe found A.J. Love for a 38-yard score that made it 34-20 and capped a 31-0 run for the Bulls.

“It’s unexplainable,” safety Darrell Stuckey said of the turnaround.

After once holding a controlling 17-point lead, Kansas now found itself down by 14 early in the fourth quarter.

“We had control of the game in the first half,” Reesing said. “The offense just didn’t do anything in the third quarter. We fell apart.”

But Reesing and company refused to go down without a fight. The Jayhawks responded with an impressive drive, converting four third down conversions before Reesing found Jonathan Wilson for his second touchdown of the game — an 18-yard grab that cut the deficit to seven with 9:51 to play.

“We got it going in the fourth quarter but it was just a little bit too late,” said Wilson, who had 10 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Football vs. South Florida

Photo gallery of Friday night's game against South Florida in Tampa.

After the KU defense got a much needed defensive stand thanks to a James Holt 16-yard sack on third down, the KU offense went back to work. Faced with a third and 20 from the USF 45, Reesing scrambled again and found Kerry Meier — who had 11 catches for 120 yards — for a leaping grab that went for 26 yards and gave the Jayhawks a rare first down.

After a 5-yard USF penalty for having 12 men on the field, Angus Quigley took a shovel pass from Reesing 14 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 34 with 5:32 to play.

Quigley led Kansas in rushing for the third straight game but had just 22 yards on three carries. As a team, the Jayhawks continued their struggle on the ground, accumulating only 61 yards on the ground on 21 attempts.

The KU defense got another big stop following the Quigley touchdown, setting up what the Jayhawks thought was going to be the game-winning drive.

“We had all the confidence in the world that we were going to drive down and score and win the game,” Reesing said. “We had just had two big drives to tie the game and had a chance there for a big play but the ball was just a little underthrown and the safety made a hell of a play.”

Coach Mark Mangino praised Reesing after the game, saying he had no problem at all with his decision on the last play.

“You play to win the game,” Mangino said. “You’re on the road — you’re not playing for overtime. Those things happen. That’s not the issue. There are other issues that we need to deal with but one of them is not Todd.”

No longer worried about an undefeated season, Kansas will host Sam Houston State on Saturday before opening Big 12 play after a bye week at Iowa State on Oct. 4.

“It always hurts to come a long way and lose,” Quigley said. “But it’s early in the season and this doesn’t have anything to do with Big 12 standings and our goal in the North. Obviously we’re not where we thought we were, so we have to come out and go back to work.”

— — Edited by Rachel Burchfield