PROVO, Utah — Jalon Daniels threw for 169 yards, Devin Neal ran for two touchdowns, and Kansas upset No. 6 BYU 17-13 on Saturday night to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season.
The Jayhawks (4-6, 3-4 Big 12) beat ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks for the first time in school history and improved to 3-0 against the Cougars. Neal surpassed 4,000 yards rushing in his career after finishing with 52 yards on the ground.
The victory over BYU kept alive hopes of Kansas qualifying for a bowl game for a third consecutive season following a 1-5 start.
“I feel like our team has always done a great job being able to stay the course,” Daniels said. “I feel like a big staple within our program is being able to trust the process.”
Jake Retzlaff threw for 192 yards for BYU (9-1, 6-1). LJ Martin ran for 76 yards for the Cougars, who were held to a field goal in the second half.
BYU totaled 354 yards but went 2-for-4 in the red zone and came away with no touchdowns on all four drives inside the 20.
“They had a really good game plan,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “Looking at the stats, we just didn’t make enough plays and [made] way too many mistakes to come out with the victory. “
Trailing 13-10 entering the fourth quarter, Kansas went ahead on Neal’s 3-yard run.
Daniels quick-kicked on fourth-and-14 when the drive stalled at the BYU 36. His kick deflected off Evan Johnson‘s helmet, and when Jakob Robinson dove to secure it, the ball squirted out of his arms. Quentin Skinner pounced on the loose ball at the 3 to set up the go-ahead score.
“We found a way this time,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said.
BYU drove to the Kansas 15 but stalled on offense coming out of the two-minute timeout. They gained four total yards on three straight runs, and a false start penalty backed them up to the 16. BYU turned it over on downs with 46 seconds left when Chase Roberts was tackled 3 yards short of a first down.
“We had all the confidence in the world in our defense to be able to go out there and make a stop,” Daniels said.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the first half. Kansas took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive following Neal’s 8-yard burst up the middle. BYU went ahead 10-7 in the second quarter on a 30-yard strike along the sideline from Retzlaff to Hinckley Ropati.
The Cougars had a chance at another go-ahead score before halftime when they drove 70 yards over a minute to the Kansas 5. Mello Dotson intercepted Retzlaff in the end zone on a fade route to keep BYU from putting another touchdown on the board.
“We can’t score in the red zone,” Roberts said. “I feel like we struggled a little bit in practice this week in the red zone, and it carries over. You got to lock in. You got to be prepared when you come out and play a good team like Kansas.”
BYU opened the third quarter with a 17-play drive that covered 66 yards and took 10:26 off the clock. The drive culminated in a 35-yard field goal from Will Ferrin that ended up being the Cougars’ only second-half points.
“It didn’t seem like it was going to ever end,” Leipold said. “That might be one of the longest drives I’ve seen in my career, 17 plays. But to hold them to that field goal was huge.”