Ryan Willis finishes as top freshman passer in program history

Kansas freshman quarterback Ryan Willis pulls the ball down to run after being flushed out of the pocket by the Kansas State defense during the Sunflower Showdown game Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

With the conclusion of the Kansas football season — a 45-14 home loss to rival Kansas State — Chapter 1 of the Ryan Willis era is now complete, and the true freshman quarterback who played in 10 games and started the final eight finished his first season with the Jayhawks as the program’s all-time leading freshman passer.

Willis, who finished Saturday’s loss to K-State 19-of-35 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns, finished 2015 first all-time among freshman passers with 1,719 yards on 164-of-305 passing.

Willis entered the game already in possession of the top freshman passing season in school history.

He finished ahead of Mario Kinsey (1,215 yards in 2001), Kerry Meier (1,193 in 2006) and Jordan Webb (1,195 in 2010).

Willis added nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions and finished with career-highs of 330 yards on 35 of 50 passing, all in a 30-20 loss against Texas Tech.

Willis’ final act of 2015 featured a 53-yard completion to fellow-freshman Steven Sims Jr., the longest play from scrimmage for the Jayhawks this season.

— See what people were saying about the Sunflower Showdown during KUsports.com’s live coverage