Via Kansas Athletics
AMES, Iowa – The Kansas Jayhawks fell 38-14 to Iowa State on Saturday afternoon at Jack Trice Stadium.
Kansas (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) finished with 323 yards of offense, including 191 passing yards and 132 yards on the ground. Leshon Williams and Boden Groen each scored touchdowns for the Jayhawks.
Jalon Daniels ended the day 13-of-23 passing for 154 yards with one interception. Cole Ballard was 3-of-6 in the air for 37 yards and a touchdown pass to Groen. Daniel Hishaw Jr. ran for 50 yards on eight carries and Williams had 42 yards rushing on four rushing attempts and a touchdown.
Iowa State (7-4, 4-4 Big 12) received the opening kickoff and started the game with a drive that covered 75 yards on 12 plays, culminating with a nine-yard touchdown pass as the Cyclones took an early 7-0 lead. Kansas managed one first down on its opening drive before punting, and ISU used another long drive to get back into the red zone as the first quarter ended. Iowa State capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, taking a 14-0 lead with 14:56 to play in the half.
KU responded with its best drive of the first half, but the Jayhawks stalled out after covering 52 yards in 10 plays. Kansas settled for a 41-yard field goal attempt, but Laith Marjan’s kick came up short. Iowa State added a 55-yard field goal on their next drive, pushing the lead to 17-0 at the 6:43 mark of the second quarter. Kansas and ISU both punted on their final drives of the half, which kept the Cyclones ahead 17-0 at halftime.
Kansas quickly reversed its fortunes in the third quarter. Following a kickoff out of bounds, the Jayhawks drove 65 yards in four plays to get on the scoreboard. Daniel Hishaw Jr. had runs of nine and 22 yards to open the drive, before Daniels found Levi Wentz for a gain of 30 yards, down to the four-yard line. Leshon Williams carried it into the end zone on the next play, making it 17-7 with 13:06 to play in the third quarter.
Iowa State answered with an eight-play scoring drive, as the Cyclones converted a 4th and 1 into a 20-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 24-7 at the 8:52 mark. KU’s offense continued clicking, scoring on another four-play drive. Boden Groen was targeted three times on the drive, hauling in a 34-yard pass from Daniels on the opening play before catching a 21-yard touchdown from Cole Ballard, which cut the deficit back to 10 points at 24-14 with 7:38 remaining in the quarter. ISU again answered, scoring another fourth-down touchdown on a 12-yard pass that put the Cyclones up 31-14, which is where the score stood as the game entered the fourth quarter.
Kansas’s offense was stopped on downs to open the fourth quarter. The defense then came up with a stop of its own as Justice Finkley sacked ISU quarterback Rocco Becht on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Jayhawks with 10:05 to play. Kansas drove the ball into the Iowa State red zone, but an interception halted the scoring opportunity.
The Cyclones converted that turnover into an 84-yard scoring drive that ended with a touchdown to stretch the lead to the final score of 38-14.
The Kansas Jayhawks return home to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28 to take on the Utah Utes, in a game that will serve as senior day and the regular season finale for the Jayhawks. The meeting between Kansas and Utah will be the fifth in the series history, with the series tied at 2-2. Kansas won the first two meetings in 1950 and 1951, while Utah has won the last two in 1993 and 1996. Friday’s game will be the first between the two teams as members of the Big 12 Conference.
