Kansas City, Missouri — The Kansas football team won for the first time since Aug. 29 on Saturday, knocking off Houston, 42-14, at Arrowhead Stadium.
The win moved the Jayhawks to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play and ended a five-game losing streak.
More from Saturday...
• HOW LIKELY IS IT FOR DEVIN NEAL TO GET THE RECORD NEXT WEEK?
It was also the Jayhawks’ most impressive all-around game of the season by a long shot, with the offense and defense teaming up to clobber Houston from start to finish for the most part.
KU’s offense outgained Houston 467-335 and the defense harassed both Houston quarterbacks who played all afternoon.
This is no small feat. The Cougars entered the day ranked 11th nationally in passing yards allowed and 18th nationally in total yards allowed. KU smashed both marks by a significant margin.
Let's not overlook the Devin Neal element of Saturday's game. After a mostly quiet day, Neal ripped off a 54-yard run in the fourth quarter to move himself over the 100-yard mark and, a few plays later, added his second touchdown of the day.
He now owns the KU record for most 100-yard rushing games (tied with Tony Sands at 17) and also is tied with June Henley for the most career touchdowns (43). He'll head into next week's showdown with Kansas State just 73 yards shy of owning the school's all-time rushing record, currently held by Henley at 3,841.
Saturday's win came on the back end of a KU bye week and comes at a great time for the program.
Presumably with a little confidence and swagger, KU now will head to Kansas State next week before its second of two byes this season the following week. Game time for the Sunflower Showdown will be released later tonight.
Here’s a look back at some of Saturday’s action.
LIKES
• Have a day, Cobee! – Not only was he in the starting lineup after being listed as highly questionable earlier in the week, but KU cornerback Cobee Bryant showed no ill effects of the ankle injury he suffered late in the loss at Arizona State that put his status in jeopardy. Not only did Bryant run and tackle well, he also picked off two passes, giving him 4 interceptions on the season and 13 for his career. The career mark ties him with Aqib Talib for second place on KU’s all-time interceptions list. Ray Evans is first with 17. Bryant’s three picks are the most by a Jayhawk in a single game since Bill Crank did it in 1958 against Tulane. Two other Jayhawks also have had three picks in a game — John Konek in 1951 and Duane Morris in 1957.
• D-Line play – The KU front seven on defense absolutely dominated portions of this game, with the D-Line — most notably junior tackle DJ Withers — overwhelming the Houston front on several snaps, including a whole bunch of pass plays. Dean Miller also had a busy and productive day up front, picking up a sack and deflecting a pass that led to an interception by Cornell Wheeler in the fourth quarter.
• The talk about Jalon Daniels’ demise was greatly exaggerated – There’s no getting back his early-season struggles, but the KU quarterback suddenly has put together three pretty solid, mistake-free games. None better than the one he played on Saturday, with both his arm and his legs. The KU QB lit up Houston for 305 total yards (247 passing and 58 rushing) and 4 touchdowns – 3 passing and another on the ground. That’s now two games in a row in which Daniels has avoided turning the ball over.
• Tight end involvement – Not only did KU senior Jared Casey catch a couple of touchdown passes, but the Kansas offense also got Trevor Kardell involved in the passing game, albeit in a smaller manner. Either way, it was an important step forward for that position, which had been mostly quiet throughout the first half of the season. Casey and Kardell entered the game with 119 receiving yards on 11 receptions, with 0 touchdowns, in the season’s first six games. On Saturday, they finished with 44 yards on 5 receptions and 2 touchdowns.
DISLIKES
• Hishaw exits with injury – You hate to hear this for one of KU’s top offensive weapons, but running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. was injured early in this one and did not return. Wideout Lawrence Arnold also was temporarily injured in the first half and linebacker JB Brown, who had another great game in what’s been a solid season, also walked off slowly late in the game. There was no immediate update on the status of any of the players, but Arnold and Brown both returned to action.
• Wheeler’s return not quite right – After missing the last two games — and three weeks with the bye — because of an injury, starting middle linebacker Cornell Wheeler was back on the field during Saturday’s game. While his return was a good sign in general, it was clear on one of Houston’s touchdowns that Wheeler still isn’t quite up to speed, literally. Wheeler got beat across the middle in coverage and then could not run to close the gap on Houston’s Mekhi Mews, who is notably faster than Wheeler to begin with but also ran horizontal for much of the route before turning it upfield. All in all, though, getting Wheeler back on the field is good news for the Jayhawks.
• Tabor Allen’s first miss – It’s nitpicking a little here, but KU place kicker Tabor Allen’s 47-yard field goal try that sailed wide left was his first field goal miss of the season. No piling on here. Allen’s been solid all season. This was merely a small hiccup on an otherwise great day for the Jayhawks.
WHAT THE?
• How was that not picked? – Give KU wideout Quentin Skinner for leaping and making a heck of a catch — taking the ball basically right off the helmet of the Houston defensive back — but cornerback Jeremiah Wilson was in perfect position to make the play and just didn’t make it. More on that in a separate article. But it was wild to watch the play unfold from the press box. As soon as Daniels threw it, it looked as if the ball was destined to be intercepted. But it wasn’t. Skinner made the better play and Kansas went up 14-0, never looking back from there. What made the play even better was the fact that it was the first offensive snap after a Houston turnover, the first of three picks by cornerback Cobee Bryant. You gotta love when offenses go for the kill shot immediately after the defense gets a turnover. That kind of day for the Jayhawks, who desperately needed it.
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