Moments That Popped: KU at Arizona State

The Kansas offense put up 31 points and quarterback Jalon Daniels played what appeared to be his best game of the 2024 season to date.

But neither was enough to stop the Jayhawks’ losing skid and Kansas fell to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in Big 12 play with a 35-31 loss at Arizona State on Saturday night.

The Sun Devils (4-1, 2-1) scored inside the final minute of the game to take the victory, which became official when Daniels’ hail mary pass to the end zone fell incomplete on the game’s final play.

“We’re close, as you can keep seeing,” KU coach Lance Leipold told reporters after the loss. “But that’s a tiring, old story.”

KU is off next week and will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 19 to take on Houston at Arrowhead Stadium.

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

LIKES

• JD6’s swagger returns – After his initial score, a 22-yard rushing TD in the first quarter, and his second TD pass of the night — 34 yards to a diving Quentin Skinner that gave KU the lead with 2:04 to play in the game — Daniels flashed some of the confidence and good vibes and energy that we remember seeing from him during what can now only be referred to as the good ol’ days. The KU QB who has struggled with ball security for much of the season, finished 18-for-31 for 260 yards and 2 TDs on Saturday night, with another score on the ground. He did not throw an interception, which was a huge step in the right direction, but also was not super-clean with every throw he made. Still, Daniels was not the reason KU lost this one.

• Welcome back, Q – After being nearly non-existent, except for a couple of fumbles in the first five games of the season, KU wideout Quentin Skinner returned in a big way on Saturday night, catching 6 balls on 10 targets for 130 yards and 2 TDs in the loss. The second touchdown, which gave Kansas a 31-28 lead with 2:04 to play, was the result of an all-out diving effort in the end zone behind the ASU defense. Initially ruled a TD on the field, the call was upheld after replay review. It came in a losing effort, but the big night was a significant step forward from last week’s 2-catch-on-10-targets showing against TCU.

• Silver linings – KU running back Devin Neal moved into third place on the school’s all-time rushing list on his first carry of the game. Neal, who is well within reach of the all-time record, finished the game with 71 yards on 14 carries and now has 3,661 career rushing yards, leaving him 181 yards shy of June Henley’s mark of 3,841. Neal, who scored on a 31-yard TD run in the second half, also hauled in 3 receptions for 37 yards, moving him into fifth place on KU’s all-time list of receptions by a running back. There are still six games to play and the Jayhawks are going to keep fighting, but, at this point, it seems entirely possible that the most significant thing to come from this season could be Neal’s race to the top of the rushing charts.

DISLIKES

• Late-half implosions – An issue that has plagued the Jayhawks throughout the 2024 season continued to be a major issue again on Saturday, with the Jayhawks giving up a score late in the first half, which allowed ASU to tie the game and the game-winning TD in the final minute to give the Sun Devils the victory. KU now has surrendered 62 points in the final 2 minutes of the first half (38) or fourth quarter (24) so far this season. One of the biggest issues about that is the fact that the reason for falling short has seemed to be something different just about every time.

• Cobee Bryant injury – KU cornerback Cobee Bryant was helped off the field after making a tackle in the second half when he suffered what appeared to be some kind of lower leg injury. Bryant was barely able to put weight on his leg after being helped off and KU coach Lance Leipold said after the loss that he had no update on Bryant’s injury.

• QB run again – Add Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt to the list of opposing quarterbacks who has found success on the ground against the Jayhawks. Leavitt, who entered the game with 180 net rushing yards on 39 carries so far this season, hit KU for 77 yards on 10 carries, good for 7.7 yards per pop. Some of it was off of option looks and some was direct QB run game, with Leavitt picking up three or four chunk plays — and one or two more that didn’t stand because of penalties — with his legs in Saturday’s ASU win.

WHAT THE?

• Two targeting calls on ASU – Two Arizona State defenders were ejected after targeting calls during Saturday’s ASU win over the Jayhawks. The first came early in the second half, when Quentin Skinner was hit in the head in the end zone on a third down play. Skinner could not haul the pass in, but the penalty kept the drive alive and the Jayhawks went ahead 17-14 on a Tabor Allen field goal. Later in the second half, Daniels was blasted after an offsides penalty on ASU slowed the play down but Daniels kept rolling out and even threw the ball downfield because he was unsure whether the whistle had blown. After getting rocked by an ASU defender, KU coach Lance Leipold exploded onto the field asking for the penalty to be called. Leipold, who is not shy about voicing his displeasure with officials or calls, stayed hot and had to be corralled back toward the sideline while he screamed at the refs about the penalty. KU benefited from both calls but could not capitalize on enough ASU mistakes to make it lead to victory.