Devin Neal rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns, setting Kansas’ records for career rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a 45-36 victory over No. 17 Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.
Neal broke June Henley’s record with a 14-yard run on his first carry, giving him 3,951 rushing yards. His touchdown runs of 13 and 10 yards brought his total to 43, surpassing Henley’s record of 41.
Kansas coach Lance Leipold praised Neal for his achievements, saying, “I’m very happy for Devin and all of his teammates who have been part of this all the way through. It’s because of the type of player he’s been and the person he’s been. He’s humble and hard-working. I’m so happy he did it in front of our home fans in our home away from home this year.”
Leipold continued, “He’s done so much for us on and off the field. He’s done so much for us this season. He had another outstanding game today.”
Jalon Daniels completed 12 of 24 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. His most important pass was a 70-yard touchdown to Luke Grimm on the second play after Iowa State took a 7-0 lead with a 99-yard drive.
Leipold said, “That was a really good drive, an impressive drive for them to go 99 yards. It was like, ‘Oh, boy, they really found their stride.’ For us to answer that quickly really kind of settled it back down and got it back to neutral. That was a big play.”
Daniels also said, “That pass is not one we’ve hit a lot recently. They took away my 1-, 2- and 3-progression and I saw Luke running across the middle. Sometimes the most wide-open throws are the hardest throws to make.”
Iowa State’s Rocco Becht threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns, but the Cyclones (7-2, 4-2 Big 12, No. 17 CFP) fell short after losing their second consecutive game following a 7-0 start.
Neal’s second touchdown, a 10-yard run, put Kansas up 38-13 in the third quarter. Iowa State answered with a 13-yard touchdown run from Carson Hansen, cutting the lead to 38-20.
Becht later found Jaylon Jackson for a 27-yard touchdown and ran in the 2-point conversion to bring Iowa State within 38-28. However, Kansas’ Mello Dotson returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to make it 45-28 with 5:58 left.
Becht then threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Noel, but the Jayhawks ran out the clock to secure the win.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said, “We got an early lead and we just weren’t able to sustain it. Our offense has to help out our defense at times. We’ve got to find a way. There’s no excuse. The reality is that nobody is going to feel sorry for us.”
Becht led Iowa State with a seven-play, 99-yard drive to open the scoring, finishing it with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Noel. After Daniels’ 70-yard pass to Grimm, Neal scored a 13-yard touchdown to give Kansas a lead it would not give up.
Neal said, “The best part was getting [the records] in a win. That’s a real good team over there. I was proud to be part of this team.”
Daniels also connected with Quentin Skinner for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Jayhawks ahead 21-7.
