Moments That Popped: KU 17, No. 6 BYU 13

A Kansas football season marked by KU’s inability to close games and make plays late in the fourth quarter was kept alive by the Jayhawks’ ability to do just that on Saturday night in Provo, Utah.

Leading unbeaten BYU by four (17-13) in the final 5 minutes of the game, KU’s defense bent but did not break, coming up with a huge stop on the Cougars’ final series of the night to pick up KU’s fourth win of the season.

The Jayhawks got two touchdown runs from Devin Neal, who became the first KU player in school history to go over 4,000 yards rushing for his career on the night, and a strong effort from its defense throughout the game.

Mello Dotson picked up his 5th interception of the season, Dean Miller played tough on the edge up front and Kansas got a couple of fourth-quarter stops when they had to have them.

Kansas (4-6 overall, 3-4 Big 12) now has knocked off ranked teams in back-to-back weeks to keep alive its hopes of reaching a bowl game for a school record third consecutive season.

BYU, meanwhile falls to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Big 12 play and is now tied atop the Big 12 standings with Colorado.

Next up, KU will head back to Arrowhead Stadium one more time next week against No. 17-and-climbing Colorado, which rolled over Utah on Saturday to move to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in Big 12 play.

The Buffs and head coach Deion Sanders are right in the thick of the Big 12 title race, tied with BYU at the top of the conference.

The game will mark the Jayhawks’ fourth consecutive contest against a Top-20 team.

Kickoff for KU-CU is slated for 2:30 p.m. central time on FOX.

Here’s a look back at some of Saturday night’s action.

LIKES

• Massive "special teams" play – After a costly sack of Jalon Daniels early in the 4th quarter dropped KU back 5 yards and turned a potential 49-yard field goal try by Tabor Allen to tie the game into a quick-kick punt by Daniels, the Jayhawks received a huge break when the punt hit a BYU player and slipped through the hands of another BYU player, leaving Quentin Skinner there to recover it inside the BYU 5-yard line. On the very next snap, Neal plowed into the end zone from 3 yards out to give Kansas a 17-13 lead with 13 minutes to play.

• Opening drive mojo – The Jayhawks got the ball first in this one and made the game’s first possession count, marching 84 yards in 10 plays and 5:49 to take a 7-0 lead. The drive, in addition to being very efficient, had a little bit of everything. Tough runs by Devin Neal — including the touchdown — solid throws by Jalon Daniels, including a 29-yard pass to Quentin Skinner that moved Kansas into BYU territory, and a little QB run game. It was a heck of a tone setter and certainly added even more belief to the Kansas camp about their chances of winning the game.

• Grit on display – KU was out-gained by 112 yards and only had 242 on the night. The Jayhawks also ran just 52 plays and were 4-of-12 on third down. All of that put every snap under a greater microscope for Kansas to execute and deliver and, for the most part, they did just that. It was a mixture of players, a variety of plays and came at crucial moments. Jalon Daniels completed just 12 passes all night and Devin Neal got just 14 carries. But that was enough for the Jayhawks to grind out the victory and you saw what that meant to them by the way they celebrated on the field after the final horn sounded.

• Taylor Davis brings the noise – The safety from Houston picked up another start on Saturday and he played a pretty mean brand of football, too. Davis was in on several stops in the first half and he had a huge hit along the sideline that forced BYU to go for a fourth-down conversion on its first drive of the second half. The Cougars converted the fourth-down try, but Davis’ hit was noteworthy. He flew around all night and laid some serious hits whenever the moment called for it. Davis finished the night with 8 tackles — 6 solo — and one of KU’s five tackles for loss.

DISLIKES

• Early pass coverage – Throughout much of the first half, the Jayhawks struggled to keep BYU’s pass catchers in front of them. Mello Dotson was beat a couple of times on throws that did not connect. And then linebacker Taiwan Berryhill Jr., was beat on a 30-yard pass for a touchdown that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 10-7 midway through the second quarter. Mello made up for some of this in a big way just before halftime, when he picked off a pass in the end zone to keep the game tied at 10 going into the locker room at the break. Had BYU been able to score there, it would’ve added to KU’s season-long woes that have plagued the Jayhawks in the final few minutes of the first half.

• JD6 INT – Give the Kansas defense credit for quickly getting the ball back to the KU offense, but the 4th-quarter interception thrown by Daniels looked like it could be a costly one when it happened. On third-and-long, Daniels threw to the sideline and the first-down marker while Luke Grimm kept his route going up the field. The interception reminded me a lot of the miscommunication between these two in the season-opener against Lindenwood.

• Lawrence Arnold injured – After being involved with an incompletion on third and long midway through the first half, Arnold landed awkwardly on his back and stayed down on the ground, rolling around in pain. He limped off the field with help, slowly, and later was ruled out for the rest of the game. With just two regular season games remaining after Saturday night, you can only hope that Arnold’s able to get back to action next week so he can play out his final season as a Jayhawk.

WHAT THE?

• What could’ve been – These types of wins — dominating Iowa State and on the road at unbeaten BYU — remind you exactly of why people thought this Kansas team had Big 12 title contender written all over it when the season began. We all know what happened in KU limping out to that 1-5 start, but these efforts and results that the Jayhawks have had during the past couple of weeks certainly give you that heartache of what could’ve been if the K-State 51-yard field goal missed or the 11-point lead with 5 minutes to play at West Virginia held up or the lead with 2 minutes to play at Arizona State had held up, as well. There’s nothing they can do now to change the past, so they’re hyper-focused on taking care of the present to save the season, and they’ve started to look pretty darn good in doing just that. The crazy season continues, with the craziness suddenly starting to turn in the Jayhawks’ favor instead of working against them.