You couldn’t write a better story for Devin Neal’s Senior Day. The kid who has given his all to Kansas for four years gave his all for the Crimson and Blue as the Jayhawks picked up a third straight ranked win, beating Colorado 37-21.
Neal carried the ball 37 times, a career-high, for 207 yards. He added 80 yards through the air and scored all four of Kansas’ touchdowns. It was a special day for a special player.
“That's why it was kind of more special for me, I guess, just because it is my last home game or whatever you want to call it,” Neal said. “But yeah, it was special all around. Honestly, you know, Sevion was going to go in that last drive and then Coach Wallace was like, ‘Do you want it?’ I'm like, sure, man, why not? Let's go out this type of way. It was just special doing that front of crowd, that type of crowd, they really showed up and that was really important for us and we loved it.”
The crowd of 56,470 showed their love to Neal on that final drive. As the clock was ticking down, Neal was seen throwing up a heart on the video board. The crowd was also heard chanting Neal’s name, which has given him a lot of support over his career.
“It was just crazy because I just remember my first snap being here, being a little baby out there, 190 pounds and honestly not really ready to play,” Neal said. “It's just there's so many people along this road that have helped me get to this position and all the fans that showed up today and they could have easily given up on us. There's a lot of people that did honestly write us off, but you know, I just felt all the love and all the support for the guys, and you know that we enjoy that.”
Neal said he was able to look over and find his mother. He called the night something he’ll never forget.
Jalon Daniels has seen firsthand the type of player and person Neal is. He said he has the best seat in the house to watch Neal work and complimented his team-first mentality.
“We've gotten the chance to be able to see Devin Neal when he was at Lawrence High School, which is literally around the corner from Kansas, so, I mean, I just think it just shows how eager he is to be able to go out there and help the team win,” Daniels said. “He's going to try to do everything he can to be able to put his body on the line, put everything on the line to be able to help the team win.”
The Lawrence native has cemented his legacy as one of the best players in program history. Neal reached another 1,000-yard rushing season and scored his 50th career touchdown on Saturday. He has a strong connection to his hometown and feels strong support in return.
“The people have always had my back, you know, they're still supporting me, still sending messages, and I get to play in front of them,” Neal said. “Like I said before, there's been so many people that's supported me through a lot in this journey and all I want to do is give back to them in any way I can. It definitely makes it more special being from Lawrence, playing for my hometown school, and just being able to do what we've done.”
Neal and the seniors honored on Saturday were major factors in reshaping Kansas’ football program. The hometown kid has been able to prove that choosing Kansas was not the wrong decision.
“I just remember when I did commit, how many people called me crazy and said I was wasting my career,” he said. “But, you know, a lot of people aren’t going to experience what I've been able to experience this time. Being able to literally get a dormant program out of the dirt, out of the mud, disrespected to this position, to sold out crowds. You know, I'm never going to forget that, and I know you guys won't either, so it means a lot to me.”
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