Daniels, Neal, Phelps among leaders in Kansas victory
The Kansas Jayhawks won their first game of the season over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 56-10 on Friday inside a packed David Booth Memorial Stadium. From the opening kickoff, the Jayhawks showed they were the more dominant team. A quick look at the stats from the game hammers that point home.
Offense
The Kansas Jayhawks didn't hold back with their offense as they put on a display. On the day, they gained 502 total yards, with 205 through the air and 297 on the ground.
Passing
The passing game was not the focal of the offense, but they did contribute some big plays in important spots.
Jalon Daniels was 15-18 for 189 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
Lawrence Arnold hauled in 4 receptions for 56 yards, but also just missed on a tough fade to the corner that would have been a touchdown.
Mason Fairchild caught 2 passes, including the only Kansas touchdown reception of the game on a two-yard toss from Jalon Daniels at the end of the half.
Quentin Skinner got all of his yards at once with a 56-yard reception on the second offensive drive.
Rushing
The Jayhawks flexed their rushing depth early, lining up three running backs on their first play from scrimmage. In 30 rushing attempts, Kansas averaged 9.9 yards per carry. Kansas scored on the ground 6 times, with 5 different Jayhawks running in for a score, including both Jalon Daniels and backup quarterback Jason Bean.
Devin Neal led all rushers with 108 yards on 4 carries and 2 touchdowns, including an 80 yard touchdown run immediately after a Tennessee Tech missed field goal.
Sevion Morrison had 70 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries.
Daniel Hishaw had 56 yards and a touchdown on 5 carries
Ky Thomas was the only runner that had more than 1 carry and didn't get in the endzone. He ended with 15 yards on 7 carries.
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Defense
The defense was something many people anticipated seeing after the coaching staff addressed a lot of key positions by utilizing the transfer portal. This paid off in a big way as the defense only allowed 190 total yards and a total of 10 points.
Lonnie Phelps had 7 tackles, including 3 sacks and 4 total tackles for a loss. It was the best single game sack performance since 2016.
Rich Miller came second in total tackles with 6.
Eriq Gilyard had 5 total tackles, including a tackle for loss. He also snagged the only interception of the game for the Jayhawks.
Kenny Logan had 4 tackles, all solo tackles. He also was credited for one QB hurry.
Hayden Hatcher, Caleb Sampson, Jereme Robinson and Caleb Taylor were all credited with 0.5 sacks.
Special Teams
The special teams were a mixed bag, but with so few opportunities to shine, it is difficult to really evaluate how they did.
Despite all the defensive stops, Kansas only had one kick return and one punt return, as the rest were fair catches. Luke Grimm muffed a punt midway through the second quarter, giving the ball back to Tennessee Tech.
The kicking game was mixed. Tabor Allen only allowed one of his kickoffs to be returned. The Jayhawks did not punt. Jacob Borcila was a perfect 8/8 on extra points, but missed his only field goal attempt, a 40-yard try coming out of the half.
After the dust settled and many had time to reflect upon this game and the stats we would come to realize this was a great first game for the Jayhawks. They set the tone and gave fans a reason to be hopeful in the season. The Jayhawks will head to West Virginia on Saturday, September 17th to take on the Mountaineers in their first home game of the season. Kickoff is expected to be at 5:00 PM.
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