Iowa State keeps KU Jayhawks football team winless by rolling to victory in Lawrence
Kansas entered Saturday’s football game against No. 23-ranked Iowa State as an 0-5 football team — the five losses by an average of 30 points per contest.
The trajectory toward a possible winless season continued on Halloween as the Cyclones (4-2, 4-1) downed the Jayhawks 52-22 in a Big 12 game at Booth Memorial Stadium.
KU (0-6, 0-5), which trailed 20-7 at halftime — it would have been 20-10 had Jacob Borcila converted a 33-yard field-goal try instead of missing, albeit against a strong wind, with 1 second left in the first half — entered as four-touchdown underdogs.
“I told them, ‘Hey listen, I want to put this team together. I want your help, but I think it gets done. I think it gets done this year,’’’ KU coach Les Miles said after the game, referring to his postgame talk to his players.
He was encouraged by the fact the Jayhawks trailed by just 13 points at halftime and the fact the Jayhawks were down 16 points with the ball in the fourth quarter after an interception by Kenny Logan, who also had an 100-yard kickoff return.
“I think we can do it. I still do,” Miles said.
His Jayhawks were competitive for a good portion of the game despite a lot of adversity. KU played without several key players, including five offensive linemen who may have been out because of COVID-19 contact tracing rather than injury.
Starters Adagio Lopeti and Api Mane were two of the offensive linemen on the inactive list. Also starting center Chris Hughes was shaken up in the first half and missed a good portion of the game.
Also out were linebackers Dru Prox and Denzel Feaster, safety Davon Ferguson and punter Kyle Thompson. Prox and Thompson have suffered from nagging injuries in recent weeks. Yet it wasn’t injury that kept Prox out; he opted out for the rest of the season on Wednesday or Thursday, Miles revealed after the game.
Late in the game, QB Jalon Daniels (16 of 29 passing for 165 yards, one fumble, one interception; 36 rushing yards on 16 carries, one 12-yard TD) suffered an ankle injury, the severity of which wasn’t revealed after the game. He missed the West Virginia game because of an ankle injury.
“I feel like the players we missed certainly was a number and group of good players you’d like to have had with us,” Miles said “You can really name five or six off the top of your head. I’m not going to worry so much about the guys we didn’t have but the guys we did. We’re not perfect certainly, but doggone it we can still put this team together.”
Miles said Prox, a junior from Kaufman, Texas, had opted out for “a very significant personal reason.” Miles said he did not know if Prox would be back next season.
“I’d love to have him, I can tell you that. But he’s got some work he’s got to do. Not for me, but his family,” Miles said, adding, “I know this. He’s a fine linebacker and a guy that can significantly play. We will go on. I like the linebackers that were here today.”
That group includes Nick Channel, a Wichita native who had a team-leading eight tackles, four solo.
Of KU’s Daniels, Miles said: “It looked like from where I was standing another tweak of an ankle. I don’t know. (We’ll) have to figure it out.”
Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy completed 23 of 34 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns (with one interception), while Wichita native Breece Hall gained 185 yards on 21 carries and scored two TDs for Iowa State, which won its sixth straight game and 10th in the last 11 tries versus Kansas.
The Jayhawks lost despite scoring on the most electric play of the game — a 100-yard third-quarter kickoff return for a score by sophomore Logan.
“It was exciting. I want to thank all my blockers who made it possible for me to get to the end zone,” said Logan, a sophomore cornerback from St. Augustine, Florida. “I felt we needed a play,” added Logan, who said he never considered downing the ball 2 yards deep in the end zone rather than running it out. “I felt that was the one that needed to be made.”
The Cyclones rolled to an early 13-0 lead, first scoring on an 18-yard run by Kene Nwangwu just 4 minutes, 18 seconds into the contest.
Purdy scored on a 1-yard run with 8:07 left in the first quarter, but Connor Assalley missed the extra point, kicking against a strong wind.
Nwangwu’s run capped a six-play, 80-yard drive that started after a 40-yard punt out of bounds by backup punter Reis Vernon. QB Daniels lost a fumble at the KU 35 on a running play, giving the Cyclones the ball with 9 minutes left in the first quarter.
It took Iowa State just three plays to cover the 35 yards, Purdy carrying from the 1. Highlight of that short drive was a 31-yard run by Hall.
KU had a big stop, holding Iowa State to 3 yards on a fourth-and-4 call at the KU 41 with 12:12 left in the half and Iowa State still up, 13-0. Hall caught a pass from Purdy for just 3 yards, turning it over to KU.
The Jayhawks made it a game, scoring on a 5-yard run by Daniel Hishaw. He took a direct snap from center on a second-and-goal call from the 5 and broke a couple tackles after heading right. The scoring drive went 59 yards in seven plays, and after an extra point by Borcila against the wind, KU trailed 13-7 with 9:01 left in the half.
The Cyclones made it 20-7 on a 3-yard pass from Purdy to a wide-open tight end Charlie Kolar. That capped a 13-play, 64-yard drive and Iowa State led 20-7 with 4 minutes left in the half. The Jayhawks’ Borcila missed a 33-yard field-goal try against the win with :01 left.
Iowa State opened the second half by scoring on a 36-yard TD pass from Purdy to Xavier Hutchinson on a fourth-and-1 call at the KU 36. Hutchinson shed a Kenny Logan tackle at the 15 and stormed into the end zone to make it 27-7 at 7:27.
Logan made up for his mistake immediately by returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown with 7:12 left in the third quarter, making the score 27-14. Logan actually took the ball 2 yards deep in the end zone, headed up the middle, then at midfield made a move that forced two Cyclones to collide. He hit the sidelines and scored on the return.
Iowa State traveled 77 yards in 7 plays after that KU TD, scoring on a 7-yard run by Hall. The Cyclones converted a two-point conversion on a pass from Purdy to Kolar to make it 35-14 at 3:14 left in the third. An Iowa State field goal against the wind made it 38-14 with 11 minutes to play.
Daniels carried for 12 yards and a TD that cut the gap to 38-22 with 7:34 to play. A pass from receiver Andrew Parchment to receiver Kwamie Lassiter accounted for a two-point conversion that put KU within 16 points.
Logan intercepted a Purdy pass that gave KU the ball at its own 30 with 6:49 to play. KU went three and out, however, punting to Iowa State. Iowa State’s Hall rolled for 58 yards on the first play from scrimmage, giving the Cyclones a 45-22 lead.
KU is set to will meet Oklahoma at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in Norman, Oklahoma.
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 2:47 PM.
