Kansas knocked off Iowa State 45-36 following an impressive performance from the offense and the defense making plays late to secure the win. Head coach Lance Leipold met with the media postgame, discussing Devin Neal’s record-breaking day, what he saw from the offense, and how they can use this win to fuel a strong end to the season.
Happy for Devin Neal on his record-breaking day
Neal broke the Kansas all-time rushing record on the first play from scrimmage on Saturday afternoon. Leipold said he was happy for Neal and again complimented his character.
“We've talked many times about the kind of player he's been, the kind of person he's been, how humble and how hardworking he's been throughout this,” Leipold said.
He also said he was glad Neal had the chance to break the record in front of the home fans and experience the moment with them. Neal has been a pillar of the program throughout his Kansas career, and Leipold mentioned how he’s been able to still improve after experiencing a lot of success.
“I think this year what's really stood out to me is ability out of the backfield,” Leipold said. “I think he continues to challenge himself as a pass protector and he's willing and wanting and things like that. But I think the one that this year has probably been the plays he's made out of the backfield and with receptions that's probably stuck out more than the previous years.”
Offense puts up big numbers against challenging defense
Kansas tallied 532 total yards against one of the better defenses in the country. Iowa State held the best scoring defense in the Big 12 and prided itself on being able to contain explosive plays. The Jayhawks were able to dial up a number of big gains and kept Iowa State off-balanced.
“For a team, for a defense that, you know is one of the top 15 defenses in the country and one that prides itself on not giving up a lot of big plays and really forces you to drive the field, we were able to find some and get behind some people,” Leipold said. “I thought Jeff [Grimes] had a really good feel for what he wanted to do and got a nice rhythm and a lot of things were working. And again, the ability to balance that with a run game and some of the things really got us off to the start that we needed.”
Jalon Daniels also put together a complete performance. While he only completed 50% of his passes, he threw for a season-high 295 yards. Daniels' confidence has continued to grow after shaking off a sloppy start to the season, going another game without a turnover.
“It's one of those things where you can see him kind of feeling that he's feeling good about what he's seeing,” Leipold said. “He's feeling that he's prepared, the game plan fits what he wants to do and what he can execute. So when you see him feeling good about that on the sidelines, that even if a series doesn't go our way, he's confident enough that we can come back and make a drive after that.”
Kansas scored pretty much at will in the first half, but things tightened up in the fourth quarter. The Jayhawks didn’t score an offensive touchdown in the fourth quarter but held on for the win.
“We've been waiting for something like this,” Leipold said. “At times we felt we had the potential to be that type of offensive team. And I think we've strung some games together now where we've played pretty well. But to be able to put that many points up early was great to see.”
Kansas remains confident through tough start, motivated to finish well
You’ve seen throughout the season that the Jayhawks have not given up. Despite falling short of what the preseason expectations were, the team stuck together and was motivated to improve.
“I really credit our leaders and our upperclassmen all the way through this, our strength coach Matt Gildersleeve, all our coaches, because the things that we've talked about really from day one in this program is about a process of continually getting better, being coachable, working hard, control what you can,” Leipold said. “They didn't make excuses, and they owned it. And they could see, though, if we can get these things better and corrected, we're going to win some football games.”
The win improved Kansas’ record to 3-6, needing to win its next three games to reach bowl eligibility. Leipold said it’s still a goal of the team to reach that point, and he’s proud of the way his players have handled this season.
“It's an understanding that I think our players have come to understand what it takes to get those opportunities and to own what we haven't done well enough to win football games,” Leipold said. “And no matter how this plays out the next three, I'll always be proud of this group for handling it the way they have.”
Leipold said Kansas still has a chance to play meaningful football down the stretch. The Jayhawks have two more games against teams that are currently ranked and have an opportunity to finish on a high note.
Defense makes two momentum-shifting plays
The defense contained Iowa State’s offense for a majority of the first half, but in the second half, the Cyclones started to figure some things out. On the first drive, Iowa State was driving until JB Brown made a huge fourth-down stop.
“I thought we played hard and we strapped up there to put pressure especially I thought the second quarter we were able to be very disruptive and you know, and that and the fourth down stop by JB Brown on the sideline, that was a huge play,” Leipold said.
Iowa State trimmed the deficit to 10 after back-to-back touchdown drives following the turnover on downs. When it mattered most, Kansas’ defense made a big play, with Mello Dotson taking an interception to the house to ice the game.
“You could feel the momentum, it kind of shifted there and we're going to need something,” Leipold said. “It's one of those times, though, you kind of think about it, you're kind of just waiting for one of those two corners to make that type of play for us because they've stepped up at big opportunities.”
