Jalon Daniels passed for 169 yards, and Dylan Neal ran for two touchdowns as Kansas shocked No. 7 BYU with a 17-13 victory on Saturday night, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season.
The Jayhawks (4-6, 3-4 Big 12) achieved a historic feat by beating ranked teams in back-to-back weeks for the first time in school history, and they improved to 3-0 against BYU. Neal, who surpassed 4,000 career rushing yards, finished the game with 52 yards on the ground.
The win kept Kansas’ hopes alive for qualifying for a bowl game for a third straight season after starting the year with a 1-5 record.
“I feel like our team has always done a great job staying the course,” Daniels said. “A big part of our program is trusting the process.”
For BYU (9-1, 6-1, No. 6 College Football Playoffs), Jake Retzlaff threw for 192 yards, and LJ Martin ran for 76 yards. However, the Cougars were held to just a field goal in the second half. Despite gaining 354 total yards, BYU struggled in the red zone, converting only 2 out of 4 chances and failing to score any touchdowns on drives inside the 20-yard line.
“They had a really good game plan,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “Looking at the stats, we just didn’t make enough plays and made too many mistakes to win.”
Kansas entered the fourth quarter trailing 13-10 but regained the lead when Neal ran 3 yards for a touchdown.
In a key moment, Daniels quick-kicked on fourth-and-14 when the drive stalled at BYU’s 36-yard line. His kick deflected off Evan Johnson’s helmet, and Jakob Robinson attempted to recover it. However, the ball came loose and was picked up by Quentin Skinner at the 3-yard line, setting up the go-ahead score.
“We found a way this time,” Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said.
BYU made a late push, driving to the Kansas 15-yard line with just two minutes remaining. But the Cougars struggled after the two-minute warning, gaining only four yards on three runs and a penalty.
They turned the ball over on downs with 46 seconds left when Chase Roberts was stopped 3 yards short of a first down.
“We had all the confidence in the world in our defense to be able to go out there and make a stop,” Daniels said.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the first half. Kansas took a 7-0 lead with Neal’s 7-yard touchdown run. BYU responded with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Hinckley Ropati to go ahead 10-7 in the second quarter.
BYU had a chance to take another lead before halftime, driving 70 yards in just over a minute to reach the Kansas 5-yard line. But Mello Dotson intercepted Retzlaff’s pass in the end zone, denying the Cougars another touchdown.
“We can’t score in the red zone,” Roberts said. “I feel like we struggled a little bit in practice this week in the red zone, and it carried over. You have to lock in and be prepared when you play a good team like Kansas.”
