Memphis, Tenn. — The lasting image of the Kansas football team’s first bowl appearance in 14 years will be back-up quarterback Jason Bean sailing a pass out of the back of the end zone on a two-point conversion try that gave Arkansas a wild and crazy 55-53 triple-overtime victory.
But for those who battled, the Jayhawks who erased a 24-point deficit and found a way to believe they weren’t dead in the water when the rest of the world not only thought they were but knew it, the lasting image will be the scene in the locker room after the loss.
Tears were present. Emotions ran hot. And words of encouragement and heartache became synonymous. No one in there cared about Jalon Daniels’ seven Liberty Bowl records or the 24 Liberty Bowl records that Kansas and Arkansas combined to set or tie in the wild game at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
“It was definitely a fun game to play,” said Daniels, who also set KU’s single-game passing record with 544 passing yards and five touchdowns. “To be able to go into that many overtimes means that it’s a hell of a game. I’m sure right after that first half a lot of people counted us out. So, to be able to come back the way we did shows that we have a lot of grit on our team. But we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”
It was close. And you can be sure that the Razorbacks (7-6) walked about feeling pretty fortunate that they escaped with the win.
Trailing still by 15 points with as few as four minutes to play and Arkansas in possession of the ball, the Jayhawks improbably rallied to tie the game in regulation and send it to overtime.
All of this after Arkansas’ 24-point first quarter started the game out with a Liberty Bowl record for most points in a single quarter.
Cobee Bryant recovered a fumble and returned it into Arkansas territory to set up Doug Emilien’s touchdown with 1:05 to play. The extra point pulled Kansas within eight.
Then, on the ensuing kickoff, KU safety Kenny Logan Jr., scooped up a perfectly executed kick by Tabor Allen to give the Jayhawks (6-7) even more hope. Four plays later, after a 21-yard touchdown pass to Luke Grimm (10 catches for 167 yards and a touchdown) and a 2-point conversion pass to Lawrence Arnold (8 for 119), the Jayhawks had tied the game.
“When the overtime hit, there was a sense of confidence about this group, especially with Jalon,” KU coach Lance Leipold said.
Even then, as the fans on the Kansas side of the stadium exploded like it was Mass Street after a national championship win in basketball, Daniels remained calm. No jumping up and down. No chest bumps with teammates. Just a single fist in the air and a slow and steady walk toward the sideline that reminded everyone who saw it that there was still work to be done.
“The whole second half I played calm,” Daniels said. “I felt like in the first half there were a few times where I played outside of myself.”
Added KU coach Lance Leipold: “Jalon had a really nice first series and then after he kind of bobbled that snap he tried to press a little bit. … We’ve battled back early in some games this year, but nothing like this in the second half.”
The teams matched scores in the first OT, with KU actually taking a lead on a familiar connection. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Daniels hit Jared Casey all alone in the end zone to put Kansas ahead 45-38 after the extra point. Like Daniels throughout Wednesday’s game and the entire season, Casey stayed cool, too, smoothly tucking the ball away after he caught it following the reception.
In the second OT, the two quarterbacks canceled each other out with rushing touchdowns and 2-point conversion passes, with KU’s also coming from Daniels to Casey.
From there, the teams moved to the third overtime, where college rules dictate that it’s nothing but 2-point conversions the rest of the way.
Arkansas converted theirs on a 2-yard pass from KJ Jefferson to Rashod Dubinion, and that set up Kansas with a chance to go for the tie. KU ran a version of the famed “Phily Special,” which the Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl with in 2018.
But rather than converting, Bean, who filled in admirably for Daniels during the games he missed with a shoulder injury, ran hard to the right and fired a pass out of the back of the end zone.
Game over.
As soon as the ball landed, Bean walked directly toward the locker room. A couple of teammates ran him down and made sure he didn’t walk away feeling like Wednesday’s loss was on him.
“Jason feels terrible,” Leipold said. “Everybody always looks at the last play, but there’s going to be plenty of plays that we could’ve performed better on that maybe didn’t even put us to that point.”
Added linebacker Rich Miller when asked if he had talked to Bean since the game ended: “Yeah. He’s good.”
The reason there was a sense of pride among the heartache that was most prevalent was the same for everyone in the Kansas locker room. From Daniels and Leipold to Athletic Director Travis Goff and every single member of KU’s support staff, this was a game they were proud to be a part of. And it’s because this team believes it showed a national audience what Kansas football, in this new era, is all about. Toughness. Fight. Fire. Finesse. And most of all togetherness.
After getting manhandled for a while by a bigger, faster, stronger team from the mighty SEC, the Jayhawks stood tall and nearly completed an improbable comeback for the ages.
The best illustration of how they nearly pulled it off came during the second overtime, when Logan walked over to Miller for a quick conversation. Their words then were a reminder of a similar conversation they had earlier, when it looked as if Arkansas might run Kansas out of the stadium.
“I’m never done until the game’s over,” Miller said. “I don’t care if we’re down by 100. He came over and said, ‘We said we were going to give our all until the game’s over.’ And I said, ‘And it still ain’t over. We’ve got more to give.’ And we tried to go out there and give our best.”
It’s that mindset and approach, win or lose, that has turned this Kansas program from a laughingstock to a bowl contender that believes it can compete with anybody, anywhere.
While Leipold has said dozens of times how proud he is of this group, he’s not about to let anyone get too comfortable.
Safety O.J. Burroughs explained exactly why.
“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” he said. “But I’m proud of all my brothers. We fought back.”
Added Leipold: “That whole group battled and I think people got their money’s worth today. … I’ll never be satisfied. Even if we were on the right side of the score tonight, there’d be plenty I’d want us to get better at, and I think anyone who’s competitive and wants to build a program for sustainable success would feel the same way.”
1st Quarter
11:12 – 37-yard field goal by Cam Little. After taking the opening kickoff to start the game, the Razorbacks drove 56 yards in 10 plays, taking 3:48 off the clock, to crack the scoreboard first. Three of the 10 plays on the drive were runs of more than 10 yards and Arkansas used a no-huddle, hurry-up pace to keep Kansas on its heels defensively to open the game. (Arkansas 3, KU 0).
8:40 – Ky Thomas 29-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. (Owen Piepergerdes kick). KU marched 75 yards in six plays to score the game’s first touchdown, which capped a 2:32 drive for the Jayhawks. The pass featured some misdirection up front and, after quietly creeping past the line of scrimmage, Thomas found himself wide open. Daniels took a shot as he threw the ball but he got it off just in time for the walk-in score. (KU 7, Arkansas 3).
6:05 – Matt Landers 59-yard pass from KJ Jefferson. (Little kick). The Razorbacks answered KU’s long touchdown with an even longer one of their own. Landers was wide open after KU cornerback Mello Dotson slipped in coverage and Jefferson hit him perfectly in stride. The pass capped a two-play, 68-yard drive that took just 30 seconds. (Arkansas 10, KU 7).
5:57 – Ty Washington 17-yard pass from Jefferson. (Little kick). KU return man Sevion Morrison’s muffed kickoff set up the Razorbacks’ for their second touchdown of the night and Arkansas didn’t need long to make them pay, scoring in five seconds on the first play from scrimmage after the turnover. (Arkansas 17, KU 7).
:23 – KJ Jefferson 3 run. (Little kick). An interception deep in Arkansas territory by Quincey McAdoo set up the Razorbacks’ fourth scoring drive of the night, which featured Jefferson shaking free of KU’s Lonnie Phelps Jr. in the backfield on third-and-three to get into the end zone for the third time in the quarter. The drive covered 73 yards in 11 plays and 4:11. (Arkansas 24, KU 7).
2nd Quarter
5:02 – AJ Green 20-yard run. (Little kick). After their explosive first quarter, the Razorbacks drew first blood in the second quarter with their longest drive of the game to that point. Green took it in with a dead sprint around the right corner and that capped an eight-play, 78-yard drive that took eight plays but still just 2:35. (Arkansas 31, KU 7).
1:18 – Mason Fairchild 24-yard pass from Daniels. Two-point conversion try failed. Kansas showed a little life late in the first half with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that cut into the Razorbacks’ lead. KU tried to go for two to cut the deficit to two scores, but Daniels’ pass attempt in the direction of Fairchild in the end zone was broken up before it reached him. (Arkansas 31, KU 13).
3rd Quarter
8:43 – Rashod Dubinion 2-yard run. (Little kick). After stopping the Jayhawks on the opening drive of the second half, the Razorbacks marched 80 yards in 10 plays and 3:16 to add to their lead with another tough inside run. (Arkansas 38, KU 13).
3:15 – Ky Thomas 2-yard run. (Owen Piepergerdes kick). KU showed a little life with a five-play, 86-yard scoring drive that took just 2:26 and featured a long pass from Daniels to Luke Grimm to set up Thomas’ second touchdown of the day. (Arkansas 38, KU 20).
4th Quarter
14:07 – Owen Piepergerdes 37-yard field goal. The Jayhawks drove 44 yards in eight plays and 2:47 to tack on another score that pulled them within two touchdowns. After watching their field goal team be an issue all season, Piepergerdes stepped in and drilled a moderate-range kick when Kansas needed it. (Arkansas 38, KU 23).
1:05 – Doug Emilien 10-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. (Owen Piepergerdes kick). After recovering an Arkansas fumble as the Razorbacks were looking to salt the game away, Kansas drove 48 yards in seven plays and 1:38 to pull within one score. (Arkansas 38, KU 30).
:41 – Luke Grimm 21-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. LJ Arnold 2-point conversion pass from Daniels. The Jayhawks recovered an onside kick to give them hope on their last drive of regulation and Daniels quickly drove his team 50 yards in just 24 seconds to set up the game-tying 2-point conversion. (Arkansas 38, KU 38).
Overtime
:00 – Jared Casey 2-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. (Owen Piepergerdes kick). Daniels fired a strike to Grimm for 17 yards on first down and the Jayhawks ran it three times in a row after that, setting up the fourth-down play that ended with Daniels finding Casey alone in the end zone to give the Jayhawks their first lead since 7-3. (KU 45, Arkansas 38).
:00 – Rashod Dubinion 6-yard run. (Little kick). Arkansas scored just as quickly as Kansas, doing most of its damage on the ground to tie the game.
Double Overtime
:00 – KJ Jefferson 20-yard run. J. Wilson 2-point pass from Jefferson. (Arkansas 53, KU 45).
:00 – Jalon Daniels 2-yard run. Jared Casey 2-point pass from Daniels. (Arkansas 53, KU 53).
Triple Overtime
:00 – Rashod Dubinion 2-yard pass from Jefferson. (Arkansas 55, KU 53).