Kansas football crushes Lindenwood in 2024 season opener. Here are three takeaways
After a sluggish offensive start, there wasn’t much to complain about with Kansas football’s play against Lindenwood on Thursday night. KU walked out of Children’s Mercy Park with a dominant 48-3 season-opening victory.
It was precisely the kind of start to the season the Jayhawks hoped for as they begin their quest for a Big 12 championship.
And the kind of win that will keep the most die-hard fans’ concerns at ease in one of the most anticipated seasons in program history.
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels finally returned to action after playing in only three games last season due to a back injury. He finished 9-of-15 passing for 148 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“It felt great to be back out there, making plays with the guys all over again, and we got to watch playmakers make plays in space,” Daniels said.
KU running back Devin Neal added two touchdowns while running for 112 yards.
The Jayhawks didn’t take long to get on the board, as Neal had a 5-yard touchdown run with 9:46 left in the first quarter. After a brief lull in scoring, the Jayhawks scored 27 unanswered points to go into the half with a 34-0 lead.
Kansas would play backups the rest of the way, adding two more second-half touchdowns with Cole Ballard quarterbacking the offense.
Up next: KU heads to Champaign, Illinois, next Saturday for a Week 2 meeting against Illinois. Until then, here are some takeaways from Thursday’s action against Lindenwood:
After a sloppy start, KU’s offense finds rhythm.
The start of the game provided Kansas coach Lance Leipold with plenty of mistakes to nitpick in the team’s next film session.
After the Jayhawks took a 7-0 lead, they didn’t score the rest of the quarter. Kansas had two bad turnovers — a fumble by wide receiver Quentin Skinner on a long run and an interception on the next drive by Daniels.
It was the exact opposite of the tone Leipold wanted to set for the season.
Luckily, the Jayhawks recovered nicely in the second quarter. Neal and Daniel Hishaw led a seven-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Neal.
Less than two minutes of game time later, KU added another seven points with Mello Dotson’s pick-six. At 7:07 in the quarter, Daniels finally connected on a deep ball to receiver Luke Grimm for a 58-yard passing touchdown.
Kansas ended the half with 358 yards of offense.
“For a first game, its about what I had hoped for,” Leipold said. “Little miscommunication there between JD and Luke on the throw, but hey, he got that one out of the way. I thought Jalon played really well.”
KU’s defense plays well … even if it was Lindenwood
Look, Lindenwood isn’t exactly the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Lions can’t do much to change that.
Still, the Jayhawks’ defense did its job and looked sharp.
Kansas forced one turnover and limited the Lions to 202 total yards. KU’s defense also forced three pressures and had two sacks.
The highlight play for KU’s defense was the pick-six by Dotson. He set a new KU football career record with his third interception returned for a touchdown. Dean Miller and Jereme Robinson were credited with KU’s sacks, and the only points allowed by the defense came deep into the fourth quarter.
Devin Neal ready for a big year
There’s no denying the talent of KU’s running backs, and it was on full display Thursday night.
KU finished with 331 rushing yards and had four touchdowns on the ground. Kansas’ starting duo of Neal and Hishaw led the way.
Neal, who only played in the first half, finished with 112 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns. Hishaw added another 66 yards and one touchdown.
The Jayhawks had three different running backs score a touchdown (Neal, Hishaw and Sevion Morrison). Quarterbacks Daniels and Ballard can also be weapons in the ground game.
“I thought Devin and Daniel ran the ball hard,” Leipold said. “I thought all our running backs ran hard tonight, and that’s good to see because we are going to need them.”
This story was originally published August 29, 2024 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Kansas football crushes Lindenwood in 2024 season opener. Here are three takeaways."
