Missouri State Bears at Kansas Jayhawks Statistical Recap: Still a 2nd Half Team
The Kansas Jayhawks started slow, but ultimately put on the type of show that you would expect in their season-opening win over the Missouri State Bears. It wasn't always pretty, but it's hard to be anything but happy with the outcome. So let's run through the box score and highlight the performers that stood out the most.
Offense
With huge explosions of offense at the beginning and end of the game and a total of 521 yards, it's easy to say that this was a successful outing. And that was made even more impressive when you consider that they had multiple long drives in both halves where it seemed like they could do no wrong.
Passing
It's nearly impossible to find fault with the passing game, as not only did the Jayhawks tally 276 yards, they were nearly perfect on throws to a specific target. Of the 24 passes that weren't throwaways, only two of them fell incomplete. Jalon Daniels did not appear in the game, despite being announced as the starter in the pregame introductions, but it didn't really matter.
Jason Bean completed 22 of his 28 pass attempts for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns, recording a third-best in the Big 12 QBR of 82.7. He completed passes to 8 different Jayhawks, with no player tallying more than 4 catches.
Quentin Skinner led the Jayhawks in targets and receiving yards, with 77 yards on 4 catches (6 targets). His longest catch was 47 yards.
Lawrence Arnold had the longest play of the day, a 52-yard reception that set up a touchdown late in the 2nd quarter. He ended with 4 catches on 4 targets and 77 yards.
Luke Grimm caught all four passes thrown his way, totaling 33 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown came right after the Arnold catch mentioned above, and helped build some momentum going into half.
Devin Neal caught 3 passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. Trevor Kardell (22 yards), Mason Fairchild (21 yards) and Trevor Wilson (17 yards) each had 2 receptions, while Torry Locklin had a single reception for 4 yards.
Rushing
The running game started hot, dipped in the middle quarters, and then took off in the second half. But while the overall 245 yards was pretty impressive in its own right, five players splitting the load with four of them getting into the end zone makes it even better.
Devin Neal led all rushers. He had 19 yards on 13 carries, getting into the end zone on a 48 yard run off the right side of the line.
Dylan McDuffie scored on his first carry as a Jayhawk and ended the day with 40 yards on 6 carries.
Sevion Morrison had 8 carries for 41 yards and a score, while Daniel Hishaw had 4 carries with a touchdown but one fumble.
Jason Bean ran 5 times for 41 yards.
Defense
The defense had a great night, despite a stretch where they struggled to stop the Bears. Overall, they only game up 217 total yards and 10 first downs, including one on a penalty where Austin Booker slipped and tackled the quarterback low.
Rich Miller and Hayden Hatcher led the way with 7 tackles each. Miller had 6 solo tackles while Hatcher had 2 tackles for loss (TFL) and one hit on the quarterback.
Cobee Bryant had 2 tackles, 1 TFL and an interception thanks to a tip from JB Brown. Brown ended the game with 2 tackles and 0.5 TFL to go with that pass breakup.
Kwinton Lassiter also had an interception to go along with his 2 tackles and 0.5 TFL. He also forced a fumble.
Marvin Grant tallied four tackles, including 2 TFL, Taiwan Berryhill had 3 tackles, 0.5 TFL and 1 quarterback hit. Everyone else had 2 or less tackles with no other significant stat worth calling out.
Special Teams
The special teams were called on sparingly and were not in any way awful in this game.
Reis Vernon wasn't called on to punt the entire day.
Tabor Allen had 9 kickoffs, with only one of them being returned. That return was stopped at the Missouri State 18 yard line.
Seth Keller was a perfect 2-2 on field goals and 5-5 on extra points, with Owen Piepergerdes also hit the only extra point he attempted.
Trevor Wilson handled kick return duties, bringing two out of the end zone for a total of 61 yards in returns.
Up next for the Jayhawks is a home date with the Illinois Fighting Illini. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30pm Central time on ESPN2.
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