Top 5 Plays of the 2022 Season – 73 Days Until Kansas Football
Last week, I went through the exercise of ranking the top five games of the 2022 Kansas football season, which was fun since there were plenty of performances worth talking about.
But that was easy compared to this: ranking the top five plays of the Jayhawks’ 2022 season. Right off the bat, it’s important to mention that this is subjective. I tried to factor in the difficulty level and the “wow factor” of the play along with the context in which it happened. A great play that tied the game or kept the season alive is weighed differently than one when Kansas was up 28 against a worse opponent.
I went back and watched about an hour worth of highlights and started with a list of about 25 plays that made the initial cut. A lot of really strong performances hit the cutting-room floor, so before we get to the top five, I wanted to call out a few honorable mentions.
Honorable Mention
Jalon Daniels to Luke Grimm against Duke
Jereme Robinson’s forced fumble and recovery against Baylor
All of the Devin Neal runs against Oklahoma State
Mason Fairchild’s over-the-shoulder catch against TCU
OJ Burroughs’ interception in the end zone against Arkansas
Now let’s get into the best of the best.
No. 5 – Kenny Logan’s Onside Kick Recovery Against Arkansas
Yes, we’re leading this off with a special teams play that is often overlooked in the conversation about the Liberty Bowl. But this is why I said that context is included along with the wow factor.
The chance of a successful onside kick recovery by the kicking team is minimal, so the odds are against KU there. Then there’s the fact that this happens with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter and Kansas is trailing by eight. Everything had to go right, and that started with the onside kick. If Kenny Logan doesn’t get that ball, the game is over and the ride that was the Liberty Bowl is over much sooner. The timing was perfect, the kick was spot on. It was a great play in the biggest of moments.
No. 4 – Quentin Skinner’s Knee-Tap TD Against TCU
Skinner also had another fantastic deep touchdown reception in this game, but this has to be the selection. Not only was it an incredible play to get the knee down mere centimeters from the line at the back of the end zone (I’m still not sure how he did), but the context of when it happened was huge. Kansas was down seven with 4:30 to go against a ranked team. The Jayhawks ended up falling but the fight shown without Daniels was impressive.
No. 3 – Jason Bean’s 73-Yard Run Against Oklahoma State
This play embodies why Jason Bean will have a role on this team even when Daniels is healthy, and why KU could remain competitive with him at QB. The Jayhawks already had a dangerous running game, and then Bean was able to leverage speed that few have at this level.
With the score 10-7 in a game Kansas needed to become bowl eligible, Bean was elusive, broke tackles, and then turned on the jets and had the balance to stay in bounds until he reached the pylon.
No. 2 – Cobee Bryant’s Pick-Six Against West Virginia
The pick that started it all. This one is already being used in commercials for season ticket packages and will be part of highlight reels for the foreseeable future. West Virginia was 20 yards away from tying the game in overtime when Bryant jumped the route beautifully and ignored his coach’s wishes to go down, instead taking it back 85 yards to the house.
Bryant waving goodbye to the crowd once we reached the end zone only added to the elation Kansas fans were feeling watching the game at home.
No. 1 – Daniel Hishaw’s 73-Yard Reception Against Duke
What is it about Kansas and 73-yard highlights? There will be a lot of back and forth on the rest of this list, but I’m not sure Hishaw at No. 1 can be argued. Hishaw catches it just beyond the line of scrimmage, so he had to work for every single yard he got. The speed and juke at the 45 was sick, three Blue Devils tried and failed to bring him down at midfield, he slipped out of another tackle at the 40, and then he just outran everyone into the end zone.
I could watch this video 500 times.
