LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Jayhawks, winners of three straight games, will close out their regular season this Saturday when they travel to Waco, Texas to take on the Baylor Bears at 11 a.m., on ESPN2 with Clay Matvick (Play-by-Play), Steve Addazio (Analyst) and Tori Petry (Analyst) on the call.
The Jayhawks became the first team in FBS history to beat three straight ranked teams with a losing record. Kansas first beat No. 17 Iowa State, 45-36 on Nov. 9, before a 17-14 win at No. 6 BYU on Nov. 16. The Jayhawks capped it off with a 37-21 win over No. 16 Colorado on Nov. 23. The Jayhawks had never beaten two ranked teams in back-to-back weeks before the wins over the Cyclones and Cougars, and then made it three in a row against the Buffaloes.
Kansas now sits at 5-6 on the season and 4-4 in Big 12 Conference play after its recent hot stretch. Baylor is also enjoying recent success and has won five straight games and now sit at 7-4 on the season and 5-3 in the league. The Bears began their winning streak with a win at Texas Tech and then continued with victories over Oklahoma State, TCU, at West Virginia and at Houston.
The Jayhawks started fast against Colorado last weekend, jumping out to a 17-0 lead and never trailed in the win. Senior running back Devin Neal, who became the school’s all-time leading rusher against Iowa State, had one of the finest games of his Jayhawk career in the win over Colorado. Neal rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries. He also added four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown to give him 287 total yards of offense and four total touchdowns.
Quarterback Jalon Daniels also had a strong game against the Buffaloes, throwing for 189 yards and a touchdown, and adding 72 rushing yards on just six attempts. The redshirt junior didn’t commit a turnover in the win. Defensively, Kansas held Colorado to just 42 rushing yards and totaled six tackles-for-loss and four pass breakups in the win. Cobee Bryant led the way with a pair of pass breakups and 1.5 tackles-for-loss, while Dean Miller also added 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
Last week’s Cheez-It National Team of the Week, Kansas became the first team since 1980 who has defeated three-straight AP Top-25 opponents while unranked. Kansas joins 2006 Georgia and 2023 Arizona as the only three schools to accomplish such a feat. Needing one more win for bowl eligibility, Kansas has defeated three-straight Big 12 Conference opponents for the first time since the 2007 season. Head Coach Lance Leipold now has five wins over ranked opponents while at Kansas (vs. No. 16 Colorado, 2024; at No. 7 BYU, 2024; vs. No. 17 Iowa State, 2024; vs. No. 6 Oklahoma, 2023; vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State,
2022) joining Bud Moore (1975-78) as the only Kansas coach with five or more wins over ranked opponents.