KU running back Devin Neal does it all in Jayhawks’ 37-16 victory over Oklahoma State
.JPG "Kansas running back Devin Neal, right, was a game-wrecker against Oklahoma State on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., running for 224 yards on 32 carries and catching six passes for another 110 yards as the Jayhawks beat up on the Cowboys, 37-16")
Seated comfortably on the Kansas football team’s bus, holding his cell phone while heading to Booth Memorial Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday against Oklahoma State, Lance Leipold stumbled across a tweet recalling former KU running back Tony Sands’ 58-carry, 396-yard effort against Missouri during the 1993 season.
Leipold forwarded that tweet via text to Jayhawks sophomore running back Devin Neal.
“(The message was) kind of like, ‘This might be one of those days. I don’t know if you’ll carry 58 times,’ but I knew he was going to be counted on a lot of ways today,” Leipold, KU’s second-year coach, said after Neal turned in one of the finest performances by a running back in KU history.
Neal, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound sophomore out of Lawrence High, rushed for 224 yards on 32 carries and one touchdown — and caught six passes for 110 yards — in the Jayhawks’ 37-16 victory over No. 18 ranked Oklahoma State at Booth Memorial Stadium.
He became the first back in KU history to rush for 200 yards and pile up 100 receiving yards on a day the Jayhawks improved to 6-3 (3-3 in the Big 12) and became bowl eligible in the process. Six victories qualifies KU for bowl eligibility for the first time since 2008, when the Jayhawks went to the Insight Bowl.
“We were on the bus together. Coach sent me that; I kind of understood what he meant by that — trusting me,” Neal said. “I considered it good luck.”
Leipold said it was only fitting that Neal had such a big game on a day the program assured itself of postseason play for the first time in so many years.
“I think it’s kind of ironic and special a hometown guy from Lawrence put us into bowl eligibility,” Leipold said.
Neal had a long run of 42 yards and a long reception of 53. His TD, a 31-yard dash with 11 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first quarter, opened the scoring.
KU also scored touchdowns on a 73-yard run by quarterback Jason Bean, an 8-yard pass from Bean to Lawrence Arnold and a 2-yard pass from Bean to Jared Casey. Jacob Borcila kicked three field goals.
“It means the world to me to be able to do that for the city I’m from,” Neal said. “None of that happens without the big fellas up front, the receivers downfield blocking.
“The O-line … I’m so proud of the effort all the way around. The way those lanes opened up because of blocking … I’ve got to give kudos. They made it all happen.”
Bean completed 18 of 23 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He rushed for 93 yards on four carries.
Bean scored on a 73-yard highlight reel run to give KU a 17-7 lead in the second quarter. KU led the Cowboys (6-3, 3-3) 24-7 at halftime.
Bean accepted the snap in the shotgun, broke a tackle on a burst up the middle, then hit the left sideline. He outran Oklahoma State’s Jabbar Muhammad the last 30 yards and also navigated the sideline without stepping out of bounds.
“It was all my teammates. I just happened to be the one with the ball. There was a lot of great blocking out there,” Bean said of the longest rushing TD by a KU quarterback since Bill Whittemore went 74 yards for a score on Sept. 28. 2002 at Tulsa.
“Obviously it was a good call by Coach K (offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki),” Bean said. “I executed it to the best of my ability.”
Bean said he was “proud” of Neal, who had the most yards rushing in a game by a KU back since Pooka Williams went for 252 on Nov. 17, 2018 at Oklahoma.
“I definitely knew he had it in him. He’s that type of player,” Bean said of Neal. “Devin played his (butt) off. I’m thankful the way he played and gutted it out today. It was very exceptional by him. It goes to show the work the offensive line has put in. I’m very proud of Devin.”
Asked if it was the best performance he’d seen in his career by a running back, Leipold said: “I try to not ever get in a comparison game. I’ll leave somebody out. I know it is right up there.”
And, perhaps, a performance the coach had somewhat expected after seeing that early-afternoon tweet about Sands.
“The performance of Devin Neal was outstanding. We had talked about we were gonna need him to have one of those games. He answered that,” Leipold said.
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 8:29 PM.
