During much of Saturday’s game against TCU, the Kansas defense schemed ways to contain multi-dimensional Horned Frogs quarterback Kenny Hill.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior completed a season-low 53.1 percent of his passes (17 of 32) against the Jayhawks, threw three interceptions (Hill only had 5 in his first 224 throws this season) and felt the brunt of KU’s pressure in the form of four sacks.
But all anyone who watched TCU’s 24-23 victory will remember about Hill’s performance is how he produced one of the crazier plays we’re likely to see this college football season.
In the opening minute of the fourth quarter, with Kansas leading 23-14, Hill looked doomed on a third-and-12 pass play. First, KU defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. came at the QB from his right. Then Hill had to maneuver away from a diving Isi Holani. Finally, Hill found enough time to gather on the left side of the field, but that’s when Josh Ehambe charged at him and began the process of bringing the quarterback to the turf. Linebacker Keith Loneker Jr. flew in to finish that final part of the process.
Or so it seemed.
A flag came out as Loneker tackled Hill roughly 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, because Ehambe had grabbed Hill’s facemask (as captured by our photographer Nick Krug, at top). The ball also ended up on the turf thanks to Ehambe’s pressure.
The thing was, nobody seemed to notice the ball except Hill, who casually walked over to pick it up. Then he just ran before the Jayhawks knew what to do.
It took a while for anybody but Loneker to realize what was going on and Hill rushed 34 yards for a first down to extend the drive.
> “I mean, that play that Kenny made —
> what a good play, man,” Kansas coach
> David Beaty said after his team fell
> to 1-4 on the season and 0-2 in
> conference play. “I mean, what a
> heads-up play by that kid. I don’t
> think I’ve ever seen that. I’m not
> sure anybody in here has ever seen
> that, either. I asked the officials
> out there. I said, ‘I don’t really
> know what to say, because I’ve never
> seen that.’ And they said, ‘Coach, we
> don’t really, either.’ It was crazy.
> It was a crazy play, because we
> grabbed Kenny by his facemask, and the
> tendency there was to kind of hold up,
> and the ball came out and there were
> so many crazy things, but that was a
> big play in the game. He made a big
> run out of that.”
Of course, the Frogs (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big 12) would have picked up 15 yards and a first down due to the Ehambe facemask penalty, even if the Jayhawks had pounced on the loose ball themselves, let alone stopped Hill before he picked up any steam with his recovery and scramble.
Still, by reacting quickly the QB got TCU much closer to the end zone. Riding that momentum, two plays later Hill threw to Jaelan Austin for a 25-yard touchdown, giving the Frogs a critical quick-scoring drive (1:35) in a tight game, and cutting KU’s lead to two.
> “You know, he made a lot of mistakes
> today that really kept us in the game
> at times,” Beaty said of the
> quarterback he successfully recruited
> to Texas A & M back before both the
> coach and player moved on, “but, man,
> when they needed him, he scored a
> touchdown (on a second-quarter run),
> he scrambled to go get that ball down
> there and get it, and they scored a
> touchdown off of that. That’s what
> real players do, man. He’s a real
> player.”
It was weird, for sure, but also as crucial a play that happened in the game. For a rebuilding program like Kansas, it’s the kind of thing fans must almost grow to expect. Even on a day when the Jayhawks performed better than almost anyone anticipated, the opponent found ways to sneak out of Lawrence with a win.
The Hill recovery and run didn’t decide the game, of course, but it was one of many examples of Kansas mistakes proving costly in what would’ve been a massive upset — and Beaty’s first victory against a Big 12 or FBS program.
