Special to Kahner Sampson/Journal-World

KU senior Luke Grimm stretches after scoring against Iowa State on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, MO. — Kansas entered Saturday’s game against Iowa State knowing it faced the inevitable task of winning four straight games, including three against ranked teams, to earn a spot in the postseason.

So far, so good.

The Jayhawks scored on six consecutive field goals against one of the nation’s best defenses. Then, with the gap getting narrower as their offense faded, Mello Dotson intercepted Rocco Becht and took him back for a touchdown for the second straight year.

The result was KU’s best victory of the season so far, despite a flawed performance; The nation’s No. 17 team lost 45-36 at Arrowhead Stadium, marking the Jayhawks’ third straight win against ISU.

Head coach Lance Leipold said: “It’s kind of like an NBA basketball game, you kind of know you’re going to get close to the end and it did, but for us it was nice to find a way to make it happen and get the win. “It’s good that you can take a knee to finish the football game.

Devin Neal rushed for 116 yards and several touchdowns, becoming the Jayhawks’ all-time leading rusher. Looking back on his career arc, he called Oklahoma State in 2022 his favorite performance of his career, but added: “That was special in a way too because a lot of people discounted us, a lot of people said we didn’t do it. We didn’t stand a chance and we came here and “We showed the opposite.”

Jalon Daniels threw for 295 points, including Quentin Skinner’s career-high 135, on just 12 completions, rushing for 68 more and accounting for three total touchdowns.

“For a defensive team that prides itself on not giving up a lot of big plays and really forces you to advance down the field, we were able to find some seams and get behind some people,” Leipold said. “I thought (offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes) had a really good idea of ​​what he wanted to do, got into a nice rhythm and a lot of things were working.”

With the Cyclones playing from behind for most of the game, Becht, who was down by 25 points, amassed 383 yards. Jaylin Noel caused trouble for KU all day, catching eight passes for 167 yards and two of Becht’s three touchdowns.

In a series that bore little resemblance to the rest of the game, the Jayhawks crossed midfield on their first drive but punted on fourth-and-4. Any field position advantage they had from knocking down a punt at the 1-yard line immediately evaporated as ISU racked up gains of nine, 10 and 15 yards, plus a 15-yard pass interference penalty, before Becht found Noel for an easy touchdown. in the corner of the end zone.

KU gained instant momentum thanks to one of Daniels’ best plays of the year, a laser shot to Luke Grimm, and Grimm driving the rest of the way for a 70-yard field goal.

“It was like, ‘Oh my God,'” Leipold said of the moments before the score. “They really made progress and had a plan for us.

“Our response to that quickly calmed and neutralized the situation, I think for us, and it was a big play.”

Daniels cited Grimm as the fourth option moving forward, adding: “The pass to Luke Grimm hasn’t been a very accurate pass in this game lately, at least probably since the beginning of the fall camp.”

After a long punt by ISU, Daniels made another tough throw; for a diving grab on a 32-yard field goal to Skinner. Trevor Kardell also had a pair of catches on the drive before Neal kicked for a 13-yard score late in the first quarter.

Consecutive sacks by Dean Miller and the rarely used Ronald McGee allowed KU to get the ball back quickly. A snap face mask penalty and a 22-yard pass from Daniels to Neal put the Jayhawks back in scoring range, and despite a holding call from Logan Brown, Daniels lofted the ball to a wide-open Skinner for a 24-yard field goal. Make it 21-7.

On third-and-5 near midfield, Becht hit Dominic Overby slant for a key conversion and then broke out of a run-heavy lineup into play action heading into Christmas for 39 yards. Becht missed Stevo Klotz on a well-designed second-and-goal play, then got nothing going on third down, forcing the Cyclones to settle for a small field goal.

The Jayhawks had no such problem on third down; Daniels placed Skinner down the right sideline again for a 62-yard catch-and-run, setting up the fourth touchdown of the first half.

Tabor Allen then kicked a career 47-yard field goal to give the Jayhawks their first points all season at the two-minute warning. But ISU used a 24-yard pass from Becht to Jayden Higgins to get into scoring range and managed to add a field goal of its own despite some poor clock management.

The Cyclones got off to a promising start on the first drive of the second half, but gave up the lead to Carson Hansen on fourth-and-1. JB Brown left him behind the first strike line.

“We definitely needed that stop to get the momentum back to our end,” linebacker Cornell Wheeler said. “He filled the gap, kept digging, filled it in pretty well on the sideline. It was a great play by JB.”

KU entered the red zone with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Skinner on third-and-long before Neal completed a methodical streak with his second touchdown.

ISU needed much less time to respond with the score, as Becht immediately connected with Noel for 44 yards and Hansen punched him a few plays away.

On the final play of the third quarter, Torry Locklin came downfield for a 31-yard reception by Daniels. The Jayhawks were lucky to have a potential fumble negated as forward Daniel Hishaw Jr. was stopped from advancing — then unlucky when they decided to go for fourth-and-1 and missed Allen’s chip shot, setting up a streak of consecutive points. drags it towards the end. This was also the first time all season that KU failed to score a touchdown in the red zone.

Becht once again hit Higgins and Klotz with long completions at key moments, and this time Jaylon Jackson took the reward with a short completion before Becht made it 38-28 with a two-point conversion.

KU initially managed to kill time before Daniels fired a deep shot to Jeremiah Cooper. The Jayhawks were forced to punt in enemy territory for the second time, but Becht’s No. 6 pick got KU back on track.

“Even if I hadn’t made that interception, we still could have walked off the field and closed out the game,” Dotson said postgame. he said.

ISU punted after a sack by Caleb Taylor, but got the ball back for another quick touchdown drive and also a two-point conversion to cut the final margin to 45-36.

The Jayhawks, who still need to win three more games at 3-6 for a bowl bid, will hit the road to take on #9 BYU next Saturday at 9:15 PM Central Time.

How did they score?

first quarter

9:02 — Jaylin Noel, 27-yard pass from Rocco Becht. Kyle Konrardy PAT good. Seven plays, 99 yards, 3:38 over. ISU 7, KU 0.

8:13 — Luke Grimm, 70-yard touchdown pass from Jalon Daniels. Tabor Allen PAT is good. Two plays, 74 yards, 0:43 over. ISU 7, KU 7.

0:19 — Devin Neal 13-yard run. Allen PAT is good. Eight plays, 90 yards, 4:04 OVER. KU 14, ISU 7.

second quarter

10:32 — Quentin Skinner, 24-yard pass from Daniels. Allen PAT is good. Six plays, 73 yards, 3:01 over. KU 21, ISU 7.

7:06 — 22-yard field goal by Konrardy. Ten plays, 71 yards, 3:26 over. KU 21, ISU 10.

4:43 — 2-yard run by Daniels. Five plays, 76 yards, 2:16 over. KU 28, ISU 10.

1:01 — Allen’s 47-yard field goal. Nine plays, 32 yards, 2:46 over. KU 31, ISU 10.

0:00 — 38-yard field goal by Konrardy. Nine plays, 55 yards, 1:01 over. KU 31, ISU 13.

third quarter

6:27 — 10-yard run by Neal. Allen PAT is good. 11 plays, 59 yards, 5:39 over. KU 38, ISU 13.

4:06 — Carson Hansen 11-yard run. Konrardy PAT is good. Five plays, 75 yards, 2:21 over. KU 38, ISU 20.

fourth quarter

11:03 — Jaylon Jackson, 27-yard pass from Becht. Two point conversion is good. Six plays, 80 yards, 1:48 over. KU 38, ISU 28.

5:58 — 25-yard interception return by Mello Dotson. Allen PAT is good. KU 45, ISU 28.

2:41 — Noel’s 18-yard pass from Becht. Two point conversion is good. Three plays, 42 yards, 0:42 over. KU 45, ISU 36.

Box score

PREVIOUS PUBLICATION

Notebook: Neal becomes KU’s all-time leading rusher

NEXT POST

KU wins blowout 45-36 victory over No. 17 Iowa State

Written by: Henry Greenstein

Henry is sports editor for the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, serving as the KU beat writer while overseeing daily sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter for The Bakersfield Californian and St. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (BA, Linguistics) and Arizona State University (MA, Sports Journalism). Even though he’s a Los Angeles native, he’s often been told that he doesn’t exude a “California vibe” (whatever that means).

▼