2022 in Review: Spectacular Kansas Jayhawk Football Moments
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The year 2022 ended up being one of the most eventful calendar years for Kansas Athletics that we have seen in a very long time. From a resurgence in the women's basketball program and a national championship in basketball to the accelerated return of the football program to respectability, there were plenty of individual moments along the way that are worth remembering.
Over the next week, we will be looking at various aspects of the athletic department and our coverage of everything Kansas to share with you some of our favorite moments. First, we looked at our favorite basketball moments. Up next is football.
Kyle Davis
Man, there are a lot to choose from (when was the last time we could say that?). I’m going all the way back to week two and picking Cobee Bryant’s pick-six to seal the win in overtime against West Virginia. Fans were cautiously optimistic after the Tennessee Tech win, but this was the moment where we first felt like maybe we had something. The AP ranking, College GameDay, etc. might not happen if not for this early season road Big 12 win secured by Bryant.
Derek Noll
The game that bowl eligibility was secured against Oklahoma State. Kansas had fought hard against TCU, Oklahoma, and Baylor in the previous three games and came up just short on all three tries, but the OSU game was different. Kansas came out in dominant fashion and set the tone for the contest. An explosive run for a TD from Devin Neal and then perhaps the moment of Jason Bean’s career, a 73 yard run for a TD to put Kansas up 10. Lawrence Arnold made a super catch to add to the highlight reel and Kansas was going bowling. Add in Bean’s emotional release at the end and you get (minus Jalon Daniels) a great encapsulation of 2022 Kansas football.
Lucas Murphy
My favorite football moment this season revolves around history and that was when ESPN’s College GameDay came to Lawrence, Kansas for the first time. The Jayhawks were on the rise starting the season 5-0 and we’re making a statement in college football by getting ranked. They would be taking on a very worthy opponent the TCU Horned Frogs who fast forward to the current day are in the college football playoff. I also would like to parlay the events of that day with how the game transpired. Even though it did not go in the favor of the Jayhawks with an injury to Jalon Daniels, Jason Bean would enter the game and go 16-out-of-24 for 262 yards and four touchdowns through the air. The Booth was packed and the support for a program on the rise was incredible to see. For Jayhawk fans, this day should be memorable.
Brendan Dzwierzynski
Everybody has already listed great picks from across the season, so I’ll take the easy way out and go right to the Liberty Bowl. That sounds insane to a degree considering Kansas lost, but that performance embodied so much of what this Jayhawks team is about now. No, not the part about getting into a big hole early (although that was also the case for much of the year). To be more specific, the fight that KU showed in the face of a better team, a more athletic team, with a massive deficit is a stark departure from some of the dreadful crimson and blue groups we’ve seen in the past. It was thrilling, it was dramatic and it was very much Lance Leipold’s Kansas in terms of effort and heart. Plus, it proved to anyone out there who still doubted the facts that Jalon Daniels truly is that dude. He’s a special one, and KU is lucky to have him. It was a hard loss to swallow given the momentous comeback, but it was a performance that Jayhawks fans can and should be proud of, one that shows how much heart this current iteration of the program has.
Andy Mitts
There are three things that really jumped out to me about this football season. If I’m going hyper-specific on a single play then the Daniel Hishaw 73-yard touchdown catch against Duke was one of the most impressive athletic displays I’ve had the privilege to see in person. For singular moment it has to be when Kansas officially qualified for a bowl game as the clock counted down to zeroes against Oklahoma State and the team celebrated the accomplishment with Jason Bean. But in the interest of being a bit different, when Bean entered the game against the TCU Horned Frogs and nearly outdueled Max Duggan in a shootout, that was when I knew that the team had a chance to be special and that the offense would be ok without their star in Jalon Daniels.
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