Still Unbeaten: Kansas football tops Duke 35-27 to move to 4-0 on the season

Still Unbeaten: Kansas football tops Duke 35-27 to move to 4-0 on the season Before its first sellout swarm in quite a while, the Kansas football crew improved to 4-0 with a 35-27 win over beforehand unbeaten Duke on Saturday at David Stall Kansas Dedication Arena.

The win moved Kansas to 4-0 for the first time since 2009 and featured the Kansas offense racking up another massive day on the stat sheet.

KU quarterback Jalon Daniels was particularly impressive — once again, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for another in the win over the ACC foe.

Daniels completed 11 of his first 12 passes and finished the day 19-of-23 passing for 324 yards, with 83 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Luke Grimm, LJ Arnold, Quentin Skinner and Daniel Hishaw all got score passes for the Jayhawks, who kept on flaunting their profundity of weapons and apparently got anything they needed on most drives.

The Kansas defense also delivered a couple of huge stops during the game, none bigger than Eddie Wilson blowing up a Duke rushing play on fourth-and-short on the first drive of the second half.

Kansas led 21-13 at halftime and Duke started the third quarter with possession. Wilson’s stop allowed the Jayhawks to regain possession and extend their lead back to two scores.

Duke (3-1) shut the hole to 28-20 with a score halfway through the final quarter, yet the Jayhawks quickly answered with a lengthy drive that Daniels covered off with a 3-yard score run.

Duke cut the KU lead to eight again later in the fourth and actually got the ball back with 2:16 to play. That drive started at the Blue Devils’ 5-yard line, 95 yards away from a touchdown that would set up a potential game-tying 2-point conversion try.

Duke reached the KU 31-yard line but the Kansas defense held up on a fourth-and-seven play with 1:19 remaining to seal the victory.

KU is now 2-0 at home and 2-0 on the road this season.

Check back with KUsports.com for more on Saturday’s win.

Next up, the Jayhawks will play host to Big 12 foe Iowa State at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday at what figures to be another loud-and-proud crowd at Memorial Stadium.

How They Scored:

1st Quarter

5:25 – Trevor Kardell 6-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. Jacob Borcila kick. The Jayhawks’ most memorable scoring drive of the day shrouded 57 yards in seven plays and took 3:16 off the clock. It highlighted a 30-yard run by Daniels and a fourth-down transformation pass from Daniels to Devin Neal, who hauled a tackler past the sticks to keep the drive alive. (KU 7, Duke 0)

3:40 – Jaylen Coleman 5 run. Charlie Ham kick. Duke immediately addressed KU’s most memorable score with a four-play, 66-yard drive that took 1:39 and highlighted a 49-yard pass from Riley Leonard to Eli Pancol that set up the TD run on the following play. (KU 7, Duke 7).

2nd Quarter

12:35 – Daniel Hishaw 73 pass from Daniels. Borcila kick. Hishaw did all the damage on this drive, carrying for three yards on first down and then catching a short swing pass and taking it the distance on second down. Hishaw made four Duke defenders miss and ran through another tackle on his way to the end zone. (KU 14, Duke 7).

6:17 – Charlie Ham 22 field goal. Duke’s longest drive of the day at the time covered 12 plays, 70 yards and took 6:18 off the clock. (KU 14, Duke 10).

1:04 – Luke Grimm 19 pass from Daniels. Borcila kick. In the wake of holding the Blue Villains to a field objective on protection, Kansas answered with a 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took 5:13 and gave KU its initial two-score lead of the day. Grimm got three balls for 46 yards on the drive, remembering the score for traffic in the back corner of the end zone. (KU 21, Duke 10).

:03 – Ham 37 field objective. In the wake of surrendering the score late in the quarter, Duke drove 55 yards in nine plays and 1:01 to slice the deficiency to eight focuses at the half. (KU 21, Duke 13).

3rd Quarter

8:25 – LJ Arnold 36 pass from Daniels. Borcila kick. After a huge stop on fourth and short by the KU defense to open the second half, Daniels and company marched 62 yards in four plays to add another touchdown to the KU score. The drive featured two powerful runs by Hishaw. (KU 28, Duke 13).

4th Quarter

8:54 – Jordan Waters 3 run. Ham kick. Duke pulled to within one score with a 92-yard drive that took 10 plays and 4:44. (KU 28, Duke 20).

4:42 – Daniels 3 run. Borcila kick. Kansas answered Duke coming down on with an eight-play, 75-yard score drive that included Daniels causing more harm with his legs and representing his fifth TD of the day. (KU 35, Duke 20).

2:40 – Jalon Calhoun 27 yard pass from Riley Leonard. Ham kick. With its expectations diminishing, Duke drove down the field 70 yards in seven plays and 1:57 to pull inside a solitary score late. (KU 35, Duke 27).