KU’s Devin Neal had a 60-yard TD run vs. Tech. His pass, though, fell incomplete

Kansas Jayhawks running back Devin Neal gained 137 yards on 19 carries and had a 60-yard dash for a touchdown, passing Hall of Famers John Riggins and Gale Sayers — as well as Clark Green — to move into fifth place on KU’s all-time rushing list during Saturday’s 16-13 loss to Texas Tech at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The 5-foot-11, 215-pound Lawrence High graduate also attempted a pass — a first in his college career. It fell incomplete on a third-and-goal from the Tech 3-yard line with 33 seconds left, KU down 13-10.

The incompletion led to KU electing to kick a game-tying field goal with 26 seconds to play. Texas Tech quickly advanced the ball into scoring position and won the game on a 30-yard field goal with 3 seconds to go.

“We worked on it all week. We have a (full) complement of plays. That’s what we do,” Neal said after a game that dropped KU’s record to 7-3 (4-3 Big 12). “We called it. They just played good defense on it. They read it. That was that.”

Neal accepted a direct snap and, after rolling out, passed to tight end Jared Casey, who was covered by a pair of Red Raiders (5-5, 4-3).

“Torry (Locklin) was out in the flat, too,” Neal said. “They played good defense and covered it well. ...

“We played around with trick plays in high school, too,” said Neal, who now has 2,762 rushing yards in his career.

Neal has had 10 career 100-yard rushing games, four this season. He has 27 rushing touchdowns, fourth most in program history.

KU coach Lance Leipold was asked about the decision to have Neal throw the ball on third down from the 3.

“We wanted to be aggressive and go win the game. That was the whole mindset,” he said. “We’re going to find a way.

“Obviously when they don’t work we can always talk about 10 other options we could have had. We could have run the ball, run the clock down. Our thing was we we’re going to get a touchdown. It didn’t work.”

Instead, he said, it was “kick a field goal and on to the kickoff and us trying to get a stop.”

KU converted the field goal, and Texas Tech called a fair catch on the kickoff at the Tech 23 with just 26 seconds left. The Red Raiders advanced to the KU 12 in three plays, leading to Gino Garcia’s successful field goal for the win.

“As frustrated as I am now,” Neal said, “there are things we can continue to improve. The sky is the limit for us. We’re going to go in the film room tomorrow, look at what we need to correct and get back out there this week.”

Of his advancing into fifth on the all-time rushing list at KU, Neal said it felt good.

“It’d feel a lot better after a win, of course,” he said. “Like I’ve always done, I give my credit to my people who block for me. It’s been a great journey for me so far in my career. I’m super-blessed to be in this position, for sure.”

Neal also credited freshman KU quarterback Cole Ballard, who played three quarters in relief of injured starter Jason Bean. Ballard completed nine of 20 passes for 124 yards. He had a 31-yard completion to Lawrence Arnold and rushed for 20 yards on 10 carries.

“That was extremely impressive,” Neal said. “The weird thing about it is we all expected it from him.

“That’s kind of our standard as a team. It doesn’t matter who goes out there. He was super-calm. He was cold as ice out there. I’m super-proud to see what he was able to do.”