Neal believes he’s league’s best back, even without all-conference honors

By Henry Greenstein Jul 12, 2024

Kansas running back Devin Neal answers questions from the media during Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Las Vegas, Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

Las Vegas — Kansas’ Devin Neal believes he’s the best running back in the Big 12.

Unfortunately for his resume of honors and awards, media members and league coaches have rarely agreed.

Neal was left off the 10-man list of Doak Walker Award semifinalists last November, a list that included four fellow Big 12 backs. Then both the postseason all-conference first team (picked by coaches) and preseason all-league team (picked by media) omitted him in favor of Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II and Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks.

“I’ve always felt like at certain points I’ve been doubted,” Neal said on Wednesday. “I don’t take personal (offense) to it. I don’t take it over the edge, but obviously it’s motivation. I feel like I’m one of the best, if not the best running back in the country, and that’s just personal thoughts. But if random voters don’t feel that way, it’s OK, but I still view it as motivation for the next season for sure.”

Neal said he and the other Big 12 running backs get along well and have good relationships off the field: “It’s always love, it’s always support, until we play each other, of course, right?” After Brooks had a big game — not at all uncommon for a man with eight 100-yard outings last year — Neal followed him and sent him a direct message on social media: “Crazy game. I love the player you are.”

“Me and Devin are real cool,” Brooks said on Tuesday. “(And) a lot more — I just met Ollie today, he seemed like a cool guy. But it’s really a deep conference of running backs, and we’re all coming to play, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the fall.”

Neal, a Lawrence native, said he’s grateful to be a part of the latest generation of strong Big 12 backs after growing up watching past standouts as a KU fan. Gordon said the top tier of running backs (which also includes UCF’s RJ Harvey) takes center stage because of the league’s offensive play styles.

“The Big 12 is a conference of ground-and-pounding the ball, running the ball, who’s going to stop the run,” he said. “That’s how you win games in the Big 12.”

Gordon, a breakout star, received Heisman votes last year as he ran for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns. Brooks wasn’t far behind with 1,541, though he had just 10 scores.

Neal ran for 1,280, low in comparison, but added 16 touchdowns and — critically — did so while splitting carries with backfield mate Daniel Hishaw Jr. For much of the season Neal outdid Brooks in yards per carry and yards per contact while serving as more of a big-play threat.

It just hasn’t quite resulted in widespread recognition, even though Neal feels quite confident in his own place on a national scale.

“That’s just my nature, and that’s just who I am,” he said. “It’s always respect to those guys too because they have their own styles, and I always respect game, and I always pay attention to what makes guys different. I’ve watched plenty of film on Ollie, on Tahj, on RJ, you can go down the line. I like all their (games). Me as a confident man in this league, I think I’m one of the best, not only in our conference but in the country.”

Neal does have the chance to etch his name in history this year without having to rely on polling. He only needs 765 yards next season to overtake June Henley as KU’s top rusher and nine touchdowns to pass Henley for the all-time lead in rushing scores.

Kansas running back Devin Neal scores a touchdown against Cincinnati during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Cincinnati.

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II (0) runs past BYU safety Crew Wakley (38) for a touchdown in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II answers questions from the media during the Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 9, 2024.

Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks (28) runs for a first down against California during the second half half of the Independence Bowl NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Shreveport, La. Texas Tech won 34-14.

Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks answers questions from the media during the Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 9, 2024.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.