Dineen sets career high, Neal grabs first interception

By Benton Smith     Nov 21, 2015

Mike Yoder
Kansas linebacker Joe Dineen, Jr., left, pursues West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard (3) in the first-half against the Mountaineers Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, at Memorial Stadium.

Coming into the West Virginia game, Lawrence native and Free State High product Joe Dineen had twice finished with 11 tackles for Kansas University’s football team, but he easily eclipsed that number on the second-to-last weekend of his sophomore season.

The 16 solo tackles didn’t mean much to the competitive linebacker, though, considering the lopsided 49-0 loss on Saturday.

“Obviously I want to come out and play my best every game,” Dineen said, “but it wasn’t enough.”

KU coach David Beaty pointed to the second-year defensive standout as one of the few bright spots on a long, disappointing afternoon, citing Dineen’s open-field tackling.

“He had some mistakes, but he was playing his tail off the entire game,” Beaty said. “He stuck out to me.”

Dineen’s mark of 16 was the most by a KU player since Ben Heeney had 21 against Texas Tech last year.

Derrick Neal snags first pick

The KU coach also liked what he saw out of sophomore cornerback Derrick Neal in the loss. The 5-foot-10 Dallas native broke up two passes, made four total tackles and intercepted the first pass of his career late in the fourth quarter.

“I thought he, by far, played better than the corners we had playing in this game,” Beaty said. “I thought he had a really good game today.”

To get his first pick as a Jayhawk, Neal slid inside of the receiver and made the play look instinctive.

“He’s continued to develop,” Beaty said. “That’s been a good thing for us to see.”

— See what people were saying about the game during KUsports.com’s live coverage.

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