Explosive Kansas Jayhawks win Big 12 opener at West Virginia. They did it in overtime

Surrounded by a group of giddy football players eager to cheer the “Rock Chalk Chant,” Lance Leipold kept his remarks brief after Kansas’ thrilling 55-42 overtime victory over West Virginia on Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

“I wanted to say the least I could in that locker room, (to) let them go celebrate,” Leipold, KU’s second-year coach, said after his Jayhawks handed the Mountaineers their first loss in a home opener in 19 years.

Leipold understood it was a big deal that the Jayhawks improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2011 and won their first Big 12 opener since 2009 and first league road opener since 2008.

“As we know the program has struggled to get wins. Road wins are tough to begin with. The start of conference season … a lot of different things (make the win huge),” Leipold said. “This group has been bruised mentally a lot. They are starting to gain some confidence and believe in one another and have confidence in the system, how we are going about it. I’m very happy.”

KU, which trailed 14-0 early and 28-21 at halftime only to lead by 11 with 12 minutes to play, busted the 42-42 tie that ended regulation and assured itself victory in overtime thanks to big plays on offense and defense.

The Jayhawks took the ball at the WVU 25 after losing the OT coin-toss and ultimately scored on a 4-yard pass from Jalon Daniels to receiver Quentin Skinner. Daniels would finish 18 of 29 for 219 yards and three TDs; he also rushed for 85 yards on 12 carries.

Next, on West Virginia’s overtime possession, Cobee Bryant stepped in front of a JT Daniels pass intended for Bryce Ford-Wheaton and raced 86 yards for a touchdown.

Suffice it to say the Jayhawks forgave Bryant for disobeying orders from Leipold in regards to not needing to take the ball to the house. All KU had to do was down the ball to end the game.

“I told him to go down. I told ‘em (players), ‘When we get the turnover, make sure you land on the fumble and go down (on the interception).’ He listened to it well, didn’t he,” Leipold said with a big smile while speaking with reporters in the interview room in Morgantown.

Leipold, whose first KU team went 2-10 a year ago and 1-8 in the conference, said he had a good feeling entering overtime despite the fact the Mountaineers had scored with 35 seconds to play to force the extra session.

“We had a pretty emotional, exciting overtime game a year ago. When it got to that point I think the group had confidence,” Leipold said. “We were back in (a) short field game and going to make it happen.”

Leipold was referring to last year’s 57-56 OT win at Texas.

Daniels — he was outstanding throwing the ball and also running on option plays in which he’d fake handoffs to one of KU’s many backs — was pleased with an offense that gained 419 yards to WVU’s 501.

“Like I said before, I wanted us to come into the season with a bang,” Daniels said. “We went to the offseason saying we’re going to establish who we are. It doesn’t matter who we play, we’re going to go out and play Kansas football.”

Sophomore running back Devin Neal gained 42 yards on 10 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns. He also had one catch for 17 yards, a TD reception at that. Daniel Hishaw had 63 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.

“We put in a lot of work, sweat, tears in the offseason,” Neal said. “Last year we went through so much adversity. It was good to come out on top in this one.”

He said an important aspect of the win was seeing Daniels emerge as an extra running back so to speak.

“It’s going to help open us up,” Neal said. “Now after watching film they are going to have to respect Jalon’s legs. It’s really important to put all that on film.”

For KU, Luke Grimm caught six passes for 66 yards. Skinner had three catches for 50 yards. In all, eight Jayhawks caught passes.

Linebacker Rich Miller had 12 tackles and safety Kenny Logan 10 for KU, while former Ohio State linebacker Craig Young had seven tackles.

The Jayhawks, who entered the game as 13 1/2-point underdogs, won for the first time in Morgantown after six consecutive losses. KU is now 10-2 against the Mountaineers all-time.

“The resiliency (was impressive),” Logan said of KU’s team. “We pushed ourselves this offseason, raised the standard, raised the bar. We did the right things to put ourselves in position to have a great year. We stayed true to who we are (Saturday). We believed in one another, did what we do.”

The Jayhawks won despite trailing 14-0 early and 28-21 at halftime.

West Virginia scored the first time it had the ball. Junior quarterback JT Daniels (28 of 40 for 355 yards and three TDs) connected with receiver Sam James on a deep 59-yard strike just 1 minute, 41 seconds into the game. James was wide open as it appeared KU cornerback Mello Dotson slipped in coverage. That initial drive went 75 yards in four plays.

West Virginia made it 14-0 with 5:03 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by CJ Donaldson. The score capped a 12-play, 60-yard drive.

KU sliced the deficit in half on a 10-yard pass from Daniels to tight end Mason Fairchild with 14:57 left before halftime. The pass play completed a nine-play, 79-yard drive. The big play on the drive was a 3-yard completion from Daniels to Jared Casey on a fourth-and-2 call at the WVU 32.

West Virginia immediately responded to make it 21-7. JT Daniels hit Bryce Ford-Wheaton on a short pass that Ford-Wheaton turned into a 67-yard TD reception, breezing past KU’s Lorenzo McCaskill and Logan with 13:15 left in the second quarter.

At that point in the game, junior Ford-Wheaton had five catches for 95 yards and a score. And at that point in the game, JT Daniels was 10 for 10 passing for 164 yards and two TDs.

KU sliced the gap to 21-14 with 8:26 left in the half on a 6-yard run by Neal on a second-and-goal call at the 6. The ball was snapped directly to Neal instead of QB Daniels. Neal looked right and headed left untouched into the end zone. Big play on the drive was a 19-yard run by Daniels. The drive went 75 yards in 11 plays.

West Virginia scored on its fourth straight drive to make it 28-14 with 3:11 left before halftime. JT Daniels connected with Ford-Wheaton on a 5-yard TD pass up the middle. It was defended by linebacker Eddie Wilson. WVU’s 11-play, 75-yard drive — yes the same as KU’s previous drive — was assisted by a pair of facemask calls (on Wilson and Lonnie Phelps).

KU trailed by just seven points at half thanks to a 17-yard TD pass from Daniels to RB Neal with 29 seconds left. The pass play for a score came on a third-and-5 call from the 17. It capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive.

KU had 223 yards at halftime, WVU 252.

KU needed just 3 1/2 minutes to tie the score in the third quarter as Daniel Hishaw scored from 3 yards out. A key play in the 75-yard drive was a 40-yard pass from Daniels to Skinner.

KU’s Torry Locklin recovered a fumbled punt at the WVU 24 with 7:30 left in the third quarter and the score tied at 28-28. The Jayhawks had elected to punt on a fourth-and-1 at their own 36.

KU covered the 24 yards in six plays, scoring on a 2-yard run by Neal with four minutes left in the third to give the Jayhawks a 35-28 lead. Neal had scored five touchdowns this season, including his three on Saturday.

The big play on that short drive was when Hishaw recovered his own fumble at the 2 following a short gain.

West Virginia had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Casey Legg with 12:58 left, cutting the KU lead to four, 35-31. The drive went 65 yards in 13 plays.

But KU’s defense came up big late in that drive. Jereme Robinson had a tackle of Donaldson after a 1-yard gain on a second-and-10 call at the 11. Craig Young nearly intercepted a pass on first down.

Hishaw busted free on a 30-yard TD run (his second TD of the game) to increase KU’s lead to 42-31 with 10:59 to play. The burst capped a four-play, 65-yard drive that immediately answered WVU’s field goal. KU took an 11-point lead into the final 11 minutes.

Legg then hit a 28-yard field goal with 4:08 left to cut the deficit to eight, 42-34. West Virginia had reached the 1-yard line on the drive but was pushed back with a motion penalty. Thus, with the crowd booing, the Mouintaineers settled for the field goal.

West Virginia cut the gap to two points, 42-40, on a 1-yard run by Donaldson with just 35 seconds left. The two-point conversion try for the tie and overtime was next. Ford-Wheaton caught the 2-point conversion pass to tie it at 42-42 and give the ball to the Jayhawks with just 35 seconds left.

KU would have one chance to win in regulation. After the kickoff, the Jayhawks started at their own 10-yard line with 33 seconds left. KU elected to go into victory formation, with Daniels taking a knee to send it to overtime.

KU will meet Houston at 3 p.m., next Saturday in Houston.