Kansas Jayhawks performed well across the board
Another game, another fantastic performance for the Kansas Jayhawks. But while Kansas got up fairly early in this one and seemed to control most of the game, the box score tells something different. The Duke Blue Devils did enough, especially late, to tighten up the final margin, in both the score and the final stat sheet.
Offense
The Jayhawks lead in essentially every category here, but the overall yardage is not significantly in the favor of Kansas (528-463). In fact, Duke led the turnover margin (1-0) and had less penalties/yardage, with 5 penalties for 34 yards vs 7 penalties for 83 yards for Kansas.
But the Jayhawks excelled at third down conversions, gaining a first down on 6 of 10 attempts (and 1 of 2 on 4th down attempts). Duke only managed 5 conversions on 15 attempts (and 2 of 4 on 4th down attempts).
Passing
Kansas dazzled in the passing game, not only with big chunk plays, but fantastic running after the catch and excellent throws into tight windows all game long.
Jalon Daniels was 19-23 for 324 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Lawrence Arnold hauled in 4 receptions on just 4 targets, tallying 84 yards and 1 touchdown..
Luke Grimm caught 5 passes on 6 targets, tallying 63 yards and 1 touchdown.
Trevor Kardell caught his first career touchdown pass to start the Kansas scoring. He totaled 44 yards and 1 touchdown on 3 receptions.
Daniel Hishaw had the highlight of the game, catching a pass in the flat from Daniels and weaving his way through multiple defenders and breaking multiple tackles for a 73-yard touchdown reception that was his only catch of the day.
Rushing
The Jayhawks were prolific on the ground once again, outgaining the Blue Devils 204-139. The Kansas attack has solidified behind 3 main rushers.
Daniels led all rushers with 83 yards and 1 touchdowns on 11 carries.
Devin Neal had 54 yards on 9 carries.
Daniel Hishaw had 61 yards on 10 carries.
Defense
Duke had quite a bit of success in this game, and that showed in the box score. But once again a large number of players contributed across the defense. And once again, a different player stepped up to star defensively in this game.
Mello Dotson had 9 tackles on the day, including one tackle for loss. He was also credited with 2 pass breakups. He was called for a pass interference penalty on a play that looked like he timed his jump perfectly to try and pick off the pass over the receiver.
Lonnie Phelps had 6 tackles, including a sack.
Gavin Potter and Malcolm Lee combined to record a tackle for loss. Potter was called for a late hit out of bounds where it appeared that the quarterback still had both feet in bounds, but he finished with 3 tackles. Lee ended the day with 2 tackles.
Craig Young had 5 tackles and was also credited with a QB Hurry.
Marvin Grant had 4 tackles, including a huge hit that fired up the crowd, was reviewed for targeting and ruled to be completely legal.
Special Teams
Once again, the special teams were a small part of the game. But at this point, I think we are just going to have to get used to that and evaluate them on the successes and failures they have.
Kansas punted twice in the game, pinning Duke inside their 10-yard line each time. One was a pooch punt by Daniels and the other was a perfect punt by Reis Vernon where the Duke returner called for a fair catch at the 5.
OJ Burroughs returned punts for the Jayhawks in this game, with no notable results
The kicking game was mixed. Tabor Allen had 3 of his kickoffs returned with an average of 25 yards. Jacob Borcila did not attempt a field goal, but was a perfect 5/5 on extra point attempts.
Once again, the Jayhawks turned in a very successful outing. They continue their homestand with a Homecoming visit from the Iowa State Cyclones. Kickoff is 2:30 PM this Saturday, October 1st.
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