KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Devin Neal ran for 116 yards and two scores and became Kansas' all-time leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a 45-36 win over No. 17 Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.
Neal broke June Henley's rushing record with a 14-yard run on his first carry and now has 3,951. Neal's touchdown runs of 13 and 10 yards gave him 43, breaking Henley's mark of 41.
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“I'm very happy for Devin and all of his teammates who have been part of this all the way through,” said Kansas coach Lance Leipold, wearing a T-shirt that read “REAL DE4L” representing Neal's No. 4 jersey. “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.
"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 finished 12 of 24 for 295 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas (3-6, 2-4 Big 12). None was bigger than a 70-yard strike to Luke Grimm on the second play after Iowa State drove 99 yards to take a 7-0 lead.
“That was a really good drive, an impressive drive for them to go 99 yards,” Leipold said. “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 was just glad he didn't miss Grimm.
“That pass is not one we've hit a lot recently,” he said. “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.”
Rocco Becht was 24 of 37 for 383 yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (7-2, 4-2, No. 17 CFP), which has lost two straight after a 7-0 start.
Neal's second touchdown of the game put Kansas up 38-13 in the third quarter.
Carson Hansen scored a 13-yard touchdown for Iowa State to cut it to 38-20. Becht then found Jaylon Jackson for a 27-yard touchdown and Becht ran in the 2-point conversion to cut it to 38-28. Mello Dotson's 25-yard interception return for a touchdown for Kansas made it a 17-point game with 5:58 left.
The Jayhawks ran out the clock after Becht found Jaylin Noel for an 18-yard touchdown.
“We got an early lead and we just weren’t able to sustain it,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “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 engineered a seven-play, 99-yard drive to open the scoring. Becht hit Noel on a 27-yard strike to finish it.
After Daniels' 70-yard pass to Grimm, Neal added a 13-yard touchdown run to give Kansas a lead it never relinquished.
“The best part was getting (the records) in a win,” Neal said. “That's a real good team over there. I was proud to be part of this team.”
Daniels found Quentin Skinner for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Jayhawks up 21-7.
The takeaway
Iowa State: The Cyclones still have a chance to play for the Big 12 title, but their margin for error is all but gone and they will need some help.
Kansas: The Jayhawks can go to a third straight bowl for the first time in program history if they win out. They still have to play BYU and Colorado, the two teams at the top of the standings.
Up next
Iowa State: host Cincinnati next Saturday.
Kansas: at BYU next Saturday.
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