For a third consecutive week, the Kansas Jayhawks not only chose chaos, but caused it. And because of that, the jumbled-up Big 12 Conference is as tangled as ever heading into the final week of the regular season.
Inside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the Jayhawks became the first team in college football history with a losing record to beat three consecutive Top 25 teams by knocking off Deion Sanders’ 16th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes 37-21.
Behind a dominant performance by senior running back Devin Neal, the Jayhawks (5-6, 4-4 Big 12) were relentless on the ground, rushing 331 yards on a Buffaloes (8-3, 6-2) defense that had found its footing in recent weeks. In his final home game, the local kid ensured the fans in crimson and blue would have something to rave about. Neal accounted for 287 total yards and four touchdowns in the upset of the Buffaloes.
For the first time since 1968, Kansas achieved a three-game winning streak over ranked opponents. The Jayhawks’ late-season romp — which has also included wins over Iowa State and BYU — has sent the Big 12 further into chaos. Colorado’s four-game winning streak is done and the Buffaloes no longer control their own destiny in getting to the conference title game.
Colorado must now beat Oklahoma State at home next Friday and scoreboard watch hoping for the right mix of results from BYU, Arizona State and Iowa State.
After the game, Sanders said Kansas wanted it more.
“We were smelling ourselves,” Sanders said. “That’s on me.”
Sanders later added: “They can’t stop reading the stuff about who we are. That’s tough. So you try to humble everything around you including yourself.”
But it was Kansas that humbled the Buffaloes on Saturday.
Even in the loss, Travis Hunter’s Heisman campaign received a boost. The most dynamic player in college football evvel again struck the Heisman pose in the back of an end zone. It’s becoming commonplace for Colorado’s superstar two-way player, who hauled in 125 yards receiving and two touchdowns on eight receptions. Hunter eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for a sixth time this season, tying a single-season school record. On defense, Hunter finished with seven total tackles and had two pass breakups that were near-interceptions.
In a conference call with media members earlier this week, Hunter confirmed that he will declare for the NFL Draft after this season and intends to play both ways in the NFL. Hunter has been the frontrunner on most Heisman Trophy watch lists throughout the year and has only added to that with his standout play in recent weeks.
