Kansas Jayhawks beats Iowa State Cyclones 14-11 on back of defense
The Kansas Jayhawks are still undefeated. The Iowa State Cyclones came in to town on Saturday for a Homecoming matchup and shut down the electric Kansas offense for most of the game. But the defense stepped up to frustrate Hunter Dekkers and the Cyclone offense most of the game, and special teams mistakes allowed the Jayhawks to hold on for the victory.
The first quarter was a slow start for both teams as each team stalled out their first drive and had to punt. But Iowa State put together a good drive that ate up over 7 minutes, going from their own 16-yard line to the Kansas 17. But the first special teams mistake came on a 38-yard field goal attempt that hit the right upright.
Kansas responded immediately with a drive down the field that ended with a Daniel Hishaw 4-yard touchdown run. Another defensive stop and an Iowa State special teams penalty on the punt set Kansas up on their own 48. But the drive went nowhere and a Reis Vernon punt was downed at the Iowa State 7.
From there, Kansas had another spurt of fantastic play. Cobee Bryant had an acrobatic interception at the ISU 19 and then Jalon Daniels finished off the ensuing drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
From there, an already weird game got weirder. Iowa State got bailed out by a pass interference penalty to extend their drive. They immediately capitalized with a huge 53-yard pass to get in the red zone. Hunter Dekkers completed a 9-yard pass to Easton Dean on third down to get the only Iowa State touchdown. A bobble on the extra point led to some confusion about whether it was a fake, and Kansas allowed Blake Clark to run the ball into the corner for an unplanned 2-point conversion.
The half would still get weirder, with Kansas getting to the ISU 32 yard line with a 4th and 5 and deciding to kick a field goal. The attempt missed and it looked like Kansas gave Iowa State an opportunity to get points. The Cyclones went three-and-out, but the Kansas coaching staff let them run the clock down for a free hail mary pass attempt on 4th down. Craig Young sacked Dekkers to end the threat.
The second half was maddening, with the only points scored on a Jace Gilbert 35-yard field goal on the first Cyclone drive of the half. Instead, we got some questionable 4th down decisions by Kansas, a missed 45 yard field goal by Iowa State that hit off the right upright (again), an Iowa State muffed punt return, and a significant injury to Hishaw that also resulted in a fumble and turnover.
But the Kansas defense embodied their "bend but don't break" mentality in the final quarter. The Jayhawks got two big stops, including keeping Iowa State from scoring on their final drive that started on the Kansas 43. But they got some additional luck with a third missed field goal on a 37-yard attempt that drifted wide left and held on for the 14-11 win.
There are a lot of things to clean up in this one, but the Jayhawks remained undefeated, winning in a way that is completely foreign to Kansas fans this season. And with College Gameday coming to Lawrence for a week 6 matchup against the also undefeated TCU Horned Frogs, it will be another opportunity to show some improvement on the season.
Kickoff for TCU is scheduled for 11 am on October 8th, and College Gameday will broadcast from 8 am to 11 am.
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