LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas kick returner and wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr. was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
Henderson returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a 94-yard touchdown, Kansas' first kick return touchdown since 2020. The last time Kansas took a game or half-opening kickoff back for a touchdown was Greg Heaggans on September 14, 2002, against Southwest Missouri State. He did so on the game-opening kickoff.
Henderson also had a second kickoff return of 43 yards to finish the game with 137 yards on kick returns. In addition, Henderson recorded a team-high six catches for 38 yards. He became the first Big 12 player to have a kickoff return touchdown of at least 90 yards and at least six catches in the same game since Texas Tech's Jakeem Grant had two such games during the 2015 season.
This season, Henderson leads Kansas with 214 kick return yards on six kickoff returns and 221 receiving yards on 18 receptions.