Throughout each season, there are interesting notes and nuggets of information that come out of every game, win or lose.
Here’s a quick look at some of the more interesting and noteworthy facts and stats from KU’s 51-22, bounce-back beatdown of UCF on Saturday afternoon.
The Jayhawks will return to the road next week to take on Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. on FS1.
Team Notes
• Kansas is now 602-676-58 all-time, including 13-18 in the Lance Leipold era.
• Kansas is now unbeaten in its last eight games when leading at halftime. The eight-game streak began on Sept. 2, 2022 vs. Tennessee Tech.
• Kansas’ 51 points were its most in a Big 12 home game since Nov. 6, 2010 vs. Colorado (52 points).
• Kansas scored at least 50 points for the first time this season and the first time since the AutoZone Liberty Bowl last season.
• Kansas has scored 171 points through its first four home games. That is the most points at home through the first four games since 2007 (214 points).
Offensive Notes
• With 154 rushing yards, Devin Neal moved to 9th in career rushing yards at Kansas, passing Jake Sharp, Jon Cornish, L.T. Levine and Pooka Williams, Jr., during the contest. Neal scored the 23rd rushing touchdown of his career with a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half, which is the second longest rush this season in the Big 12. With 23 career touchdowns, Neal is tied for fourth in school history with Jake Sharp, Brandon McAnderson and Chip Hilleary. Neal currently sits at 9th in Kansas football history with 2,390 career rushing yards.
• Neal’s 154 yards is a season-high and the third-highest single game rushing total of his career. It was the eighth 100-yard game of his career and his most rushing yards since he went for 190 yards at Texas Tech last season.
• Daniel Hishaw Jr. set a new career-high with 134 rushing yards on 19 attempts and two touchdowns. He surpassed 300 yards on the season and 800 for his career while scoring his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season, giving him 14 for his career.
• Both Neal and Hishaw rushed for better than 100 yards in the game, marking the first time two Kansas players have ran for over 100 yards since Pooka Williams and Khalil Herbert against Boston College in 2019. The last time this happened in a conference game was by Corey Avery and Tony Pierson against Iowa State in 2014.
• Dylan McDuffie carried the ball 13 times for 91 yards and two touchdowns, finding the end zone for the first time since KU’s season opener against Missouri State. His 91 rushing yards is a new personal best for his time at Kansas.
• The UCF game marks the second time this season that three running backs scored a rushing touchdown for Kansas. Neal, Hishaw and McDuffie each also scored in the Jayhawks season-opening victory against Missouri State.
• Luke Grimm moved to 11th in Kansas football history for career receptions after finishing with 2 catches for 41 yards vs. UCF. Grimm passed Harrison Hill for 11th place and now has 109 receptions in his career at KU.
• Jason Bean finished 8-for-12 for 91 yards and 1 touchdown. He is now tied for eighth in career touchdown passes with 24, which matches Kelly Donohoe and Mike Norseth. He also surpassed 3,000 passing yards during his time at Kansas, and he’s 12th in school history with 3,035 yards passing.
• Lawrence Arnold hauled in his first touchdown pass of the season and eighth of his career with a 5-yard score from Jason Bean early in the second quarter.
• Mason Fairchild had a team-high three receptions for 19 yards. He is now tied 5th in school history for career receptions by a tight end with 68.
• KU’s 13-play field goal drive in the first quarter matched the longest drive of the season for the Jayhawks. Kansas also scored on 13-play drives against Illinois and at Nevada.
Defensive Notes
• Kansas held UCF scoreless in the first half, marking the first time KU shut out its opponent in the first half since October 23, 2021 against Oklahoma. The Jayhawks held a 24-0 advantage at the break, its largest halftime lead in a conference game since leading Kansas State 31-0 on Nov. 1, 2008.
• Austin Booker totaled four solo tackles in the game, including 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. Booker also recorded a forced fumble in the game. He now has 8.0 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks for the season, both of which lead the team.
• Mello Dotson finished with three tackles in the game, going over 20 tackles for the and 100 for his career during the first half.
• On Booker’s forced fumble, defensive tackle DJ Withers recovered and returned it for six yards, marking the first career fumble recovery for Withers.
• Taiwan Berryhill led the Jayhawks with a new career-high eight tackles, including seven solo. He also recorded an eight-yard sack in the fourth quarter, his first of the season.
• Cobee Bryant also set a new season-high with 7 tackles, which was matched by Kenny Logan Jr, who now has 329 career tackles.
• UCF entered the game third in FBS football with 40 offensive plays of 20+ yards this season. Kansas limited the Knights to 3 such plays on Saturday.
• Jayson Gilliom totaled two tackles in the game, including his first career sack.
• The Jayhawks fourth and final sack of the night came courtesy of Patrick Joyner Jr. on UCF’s final drive. The sack, which was Joyner’s second of the season, covered 13 yards.
Special Teams Notes
• Trevor Wilson returned a UCF punt 82 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter. It’s the second straight week that Wilson has scored a touchdown, his third career scoring play and the first on special teams. The 82-yard return is tied for the fifth-longest in Kansas football history and the first punt return touchdown by a Jayhawk since Nick Harwell had a 76-yard punt return for a score against West Virginia in 2014. This also marks the first special teams touchdown scored by Kansas since Cobee Bryant’s 61-yard return on a blocked field goal attempt in last year’s season opener against Tennessee Tech. The 82-yard punt return is the longest by a Big 12 player in a conference game this season.
• Seth Keller’s 25-yard field goal capped off KU’s first drive of the game, but he later misfired on a 32-yard attempt for his first miss of the season. Keller is now 7-for-8 on field goal attempts and 24-for-24 on extra point attempts this season.
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