-
Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Colorado‘s path to the Big 12 championship game and a potential College Football Playoff bid got much more complicated Saturday after Kansas pulled off a dominant 37-21 win over the No. 16 Buffaloes.
Kansas running back Devin Neal produced 287 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns to power an offense that proved unstoppable. The Jayhawks (5-6, 4-4) outrushed Colorado 331-42 and finished with zero punts or turnovers in a game they never trailed at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
After winning four in a row, the Buffaloes (8-3) were in prime position to reach the Big 12 title game in Arlington, Texas, if they won out. Now, they’re stuck in a three-way tie atop the conference standings with Arizona State and BYU at 6-2, with 5-2 Iowa State looking to make it a four-way tie with a win over Utah on Saturday night.
If all four teams finish tied at 7-2, the conference confirmed that Arizona State would earn the No. 1 seed and would face Iowa State, according to its tiebreaker policy.
“We started smelling ourselves a little bit,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said. “That’s what I just told our team. We got intoxicated with the success. We got intoxicated with the multitude of articles and the assumption that we’re this and the assumption that we’re that. And we did not play CU football. Therefore, we got our butts kicked. It is what it is.”
Colorado’s defense was among the most improved in FBS this season but had no answers for getting Neal, quarterback Jalon Daniels and a run-heavy Kansas offense off the field. Neal rushed for 207 yards on a career-high 37 carries and caught four passes for 80 yards. The Jayhawks had 11 third- or fourth-down conversions and controlled time of possession, 40:11 to 19:49.
“We could not stop the bleeding,” Sanders said. “We tried consistently, but we could not stop the bleeding. That’s hats off to them. They were physical. They out-physicaled us. They outplayed us. They wanted it a lot more than we did.”
Sanders said he felt first-year Buffaloes defensive coordinator Robert Livingston called a “pretty good game.” He wasn’t surprised by the Jayhawks’ offensive wrinkles as they rolled to 520 total yards. His team simply couldn’t figure out a way to execute and get stops.
“They didn’t punt one time,” Sanders said.
After a 1-5 start, the Jayhawks have rallied and become the first FBS team in history with a losing record to defeat three consecutive top-25 opponents. They can secure bowl eligibility for the third year in a row — a first in program history — with a win at Baylor on Saturday.
“I’m extremely proud of them and their resolve and resiliency of going through it,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. “There was a lot of negativity hanging around about what was wrong with this program and what should be done and things like that. We’ve talked about how close we were for a long time. They owned it, they kept working, they stuck together and you can see the results of that. I think it’s something that’s truly special.”
Heisman Trophy front-runner Travis Hunter caught eight passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and Shedeur Sanders threw for 266 yards and three scores on 23-of-29 passing, but a slow start had the Buffaloes playing from behind quickly.
Colorado going three-and-out on its opening offensive drive resulted in its defense being stuck on the field for 11 of the game’s first 12 minutes and a 10-0 deficit. The Buffaloes’ next possession ended in a fourth-down stop, with running back Dallan Hayden coming up a yard short on fourth-and-3 from the KU 41-yard line. Eight plays later, it was 17-0.
The Jayhawks leaned on a career day from Neal, their all-time leading rusher, the rest of the way. The senior from Lawrence, Kansas, surpassed 200 rushing yards for the second time in his career, this one on senior day.
“He’s truly a special back,” Leipold said, “and fittingly so, I think, for him to play his last home game — no matter where we’re playing at the moment — for him to have that type of game really puts an exclamation mark on his performance and career here.”
Colorado closes out the regular season against Oklahoma State (3-8, 0-8) on Friday and now will need plenty of help to play for a Big 12 title. Deion Sanders vowed his team will get things fixed and look “much better” in its finale.
“You’ve got to refocus your young men and let them understand this is not about turkey and dumplings and cranberry sauce and whatever you have,” he said. “It’s not about that. It’s about football, man.”