For a third consecutive week, the Kansas Jayhawks not only chose chaos, but caused it. And because of that, the jumbled-up Big 12 Conference is as tangled as ever heading into the final week of the regular season.
Inside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the Jayhawks became the first team in college football history with a losing record to beat three consecutive Top 25 teams by knocking off Deion Sanders’ 16th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes 37-21.
Behind a dominant performance by senior running back Devin Neal, the Jayhawks (5-6, 4-4 Big 12) were relentless on the ground, rushing 331 yards on a Buffaloes (8-3, 6-2) defense that had found its footing in recent weeks. In his final home game, the local kid ensured the fans in crimson and blue would have something to rave about. Neal accounted for 287 total yards and four touchdowns in the upset of the Buffaloes.
For the first time since 1968, Kansas achieved a three-game winning streak over ranked opponents. The Jayhawks’ late-season romp — which has also included wins over Iowa State and BYU — has sent the Big 12 further into chaos. Colorado’s four-game winning streak is done and the Buffaloes no longer control their own destiny in getting to the conference title game.
Colorado must now beat Oklahoma State at home next Friday and scoreboard watch hoping for the right mix of results from BYU, Arizona State and Iowa State.
After the game, Sanders said Kansas wanted it more.
“We were smelling ourselves,” Sanders said. “That’s on me.”
Sanders later added: “They can’t stop reading the stuff about who we are. That’s tough. So you try to humble everything around you including yourself.”
But it was Kansas that humbled the Buffaloes on Saturday.
Even in the loss, Travis Hunter’s Heisman campaign received a boost. The most dynamic player in college football once again struck the Heisman pose in the back of an end zone. It’s becoming commonplace for Colorado’s superstar two-way player, who hauled in 125 yards receiving and two touchdowns on eight receptions. Hunter eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for a sixth time this season, tying a single-season school record. On defense, Hunter finished with seven total tackles and had two pass breakups that were near-interceptions.
In a conference call with media members earlier this week, Hunter confirmed that he will declare for the NFL Draft after this season and intends to play both ways in the NFL. Hunter has been the frontrunner on most Heisman Trophy watch lists throughout the year and has only added to that with his standout play in recent weeks.
Devin Neal with his FOURTH touchdown of the night 💥
No FBS team with a losing record has ever won three consecutive games versus ranked opponents, and Kansas is knocking at the door.
🎥 @CFBONFOX pic.twitter.com/ijrFRqyc2j
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 23, 2024
Devin Neal and Kansas couldn’t stop scoring
The Jayhawks scored on their first seven possessions of Saturday’s win over Colorado. Four of those were Neal touchdowns — three rushing, one receiving — and put KU in position to once again play spoiler and send the Big 12 title race spinning.
Only one other team this season scored on their first seven possessions in a conference game, per TruMedia: NC State in a 59-24 win against Stanford on Nov. 2.
Kansas was a trendy pick to be a factor in the Big 12 race but face-planted out of the starting blocks. After a frustrating start that featured a five-game losing streak, Kansas has roared back, and on Saturday, looked a lot like the dynamic offense powered by two of the Big 12’s biggest stars of last season.
GO DEEPER
Five NFL Draft prospects rising into the top-100 mix, others to watch this weekend
Run defense run down
Colorado ranked outside the top 100 in rush defense a year ago but, following the arrival of defensive coordinator Rob Livingston and an influx of defensive line talent from the transfer portal, moved into the top 40 this season.
It wasn’t pretty against a resurgent Kansas offense.
The Jayhawks ran for 331 yards and Neal was frequently in the second and third levels of the Buffaloes defense with runs of 31, 28 and 47 yards and a 51-yard catch on the Jayhawks’ opening touchdown drive. It was out of character for the Buffs, who earlier this season held the nation’s No. 2 rushing offense, UCF, to 177 yards on the Knights’ home field. The Buffs hadn’t given up more than 185 yards in a game this season, either. But with a Big 12 title and a berth in the College Football Playoff well within their grasp, the much-improved Colorado defense faltered.
“Rushing (defense) was alarming,” Sanders said. “You can’t win when a team is rushing for 330 yards on you.”
Sanders said Livingston called a good game, but the Buffaloes “gotta do what he called.”
What does this mean for the Big 12 and the Playoff?
The Big 12 was already behind the 8-ball in the chase for one of the Playoff’s top four seeds — Oregon, Texas, Miami and Boise State would claim them based on the selection committee’s current rankings — and Colorado’s loss will only further damage the Big 12’s chances of getting a first-round bye.
Could it lead to the Big 12 missing the Playoff completely? Only the top five ranked conference champions make it in. Colorado is likely to fall multiple spots in the rankings after its loss. And No. 14 BYU lost its second consecutive game, 28-23, to No. 21 Arizona State on Saturday, which will send the Cougars tumbling as well.
No. 19 Army’s loss to No. 6 Notre Dame could knock the Black Knights down a few spots, but No. 20 Tulane — which is tied with Army for the American Athletic Conference lead — looms. Arizona State’s win could lead to the Sun Devils jumping both of those team’s in next week’s Playoff rankings, which would keep the Big 12 in position to get the Playoff’s fifth automatic bid.
Following Week 13, there’s a four-way tie atop the Big 12 standings. Arizona State, BYU, Colorado and Iowa State are all tied at 6-2 in conference play. Because all four play different opponents, the league could wind up with a four-way tie atop the standings at season’s end. If all four win next week and are tied at 7-2, according to the Big 12, Arizona State and Iowa State would play for the Big 12 title.
(Top photo: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
