photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas running back Devin Neal (4) puts a hand up to his ear before a corner of Colorado fans after a touchdown during the second quarter on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas City, Mo. — Devin Neal would settle for nothing less than a victory in his final home game as a Jayhawk.

The KU senior running back posted one of the best single-game efforts of his career to will KU to its third straight victory over a ranked opponent, putting up 287 total yards and four touchdowns as the Jayhawks scored on seven consecutive drives and beat No. 16 Colorado, 37-21.

KU did little to stop CU’s star quarterback Shedeur Sanders (23-for-29, 266 yards, three touchdowns) or receiver Travis Hunter (eight catches, 125 yards, two touchdowns), other than to simply keep them off the field altogether. The Jayhawks dramatically won the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for more than two thirds of the game.

Quarterback Jalon Daniels threw for a mistake-free 189 yards and a touchdown, running for 72 more, but Neal did most of the heavy lifting throughout.

KU can now make an improbable journey to a third straight bowl game if it beats Baylor next Saturday in Waco, Texas, where the Jayhawks have never won.

After wiggling his way to a first down around midfield on a run that looked dead in the water, Neal caught a swing pass from Daniels, brushed off the Colorado defense and took it 51 yards for the game-opening score.

The Buffaloes immediately went three-and-out, and KU embarked on another methodical drive of nearly eight minutes with a healthy dose of backup running back Sevion Morrison and also featuring a 20-yard quarterback scramble on which Daniels broke a pair of tackles. CU stood up in the red zone, though, holding the Jayhawks to a chip-shot field goal by Tabor Allen.

Aided by a horse-collar tackle penalty on Jalen Todd, the Buffs crossed midfield at the end of the first quarter, but then ran up the middle for a 2-yard loss on third-and-1 followed by a 2-yard gain on fourth-and-3. After a measurement, Dallan Hayden was confirmed to be short of the marker and the Jayhawks took over.

KU threatened to score again after a pair of third-down conversions, one on a scramble by Daniels and another on a 23-yard catch-and-run from Daniels to Trevor Kardell, and then Neal strolled in for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 17-0.

Sanders scrambled for 17 yards to kick-start CU’s next possession, then found Hunter with a cluster of blockers for what turned into a long touchdown.

The Jayhawks were undaunted. Morrison ran for 15, then Neal for 47 more after bobbling a direct snap and finding a hole down the right sideline. Again, though, KU stalled inside the 10-yard line thanks to a pair of erratic throws by Daniels, and Allen hit another field goal.

Despite taking a hard, low hit from Dean Miller that left him briefly hobbled, Sanders continued to create plays out of nothing on CU’s next drive, including a 16-yard pass to Drelon Miller for an acrobatic catch along the sideline. On the first play out of the two-minute warning, Miller leapt over linebacker JB Brown for a touchdown reception that cut KU’s lead to 20-14.

Facing the sort of textbook two-minute drill in which they have rarely succeeded this season, the Jayhawks had some success on quick out-breaking routes from Daniels to Luke Grimm, then Daniels ran the ball into the red zone on 31-yard quarterback draw.

Like clockwork, KU struggled again after reaching CU’s 2-yard line, as Neal got stuffed on first down and then Daniels threw consecutive incompletions. The Jayhawks settled for their third field goal of the first half with just seconds remaining.

Isaiah Hardge returned the second-half kickoff close to midfield, and the Buffaloes advanced without incident until a tackle for loss by Cobee Bryant put them behind the chains. Sanders almost took a massive loss on second down as well, but his intentional grounding got offset by defensive holding, and he immediately beat KU’s blitz to throw a second touchdown to Hunter.

Colorado declined a holding penalty to open the Jayhawks’ next drive and immediately paid for it when a 28-yard run by Neal and 15-yard penalty got KU into its territory. Neal ran for 14 more on third-and-9 and eventually powered his way to a 1-yard touchdown.

The Jayhawks made their first stop in quite some time when Dean Miller came unblocked on a third-and-1 pass by Sanders and was able to drag him down for a sack with the help of Kenean Caldwell and a swarm of teammates.

Daniels found Grimm, Kardell and Neal for key completions on the ensuing drive as the third quarter ticked away. The Jayhawks faced fourth-and-inches on the Buffaloes’ 10-yard line and proceeded to give Neal four more carries in a row to get another touchdown.

CU reached the Jayhawks’ territory on an elaborate reverse flea-flicker screen pass to LaJohntay Wester. Facing third-and-12 on KU’s 32-yard line, he stood in against Miller and hit running back Micah Welch for 14 more yards; later, on third-and-17, Bryant knocked away what looked like a sure touchdown for Will Sheppard.

Sanders had nowhere to go on fourth-and-22 and KU took over. The Jayhawks controlled the clock from then on.

How they scored

First quarter

11:44 — Devin Neal 51-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. Tabor Allen PAT good. Six plays, 73 yards, 3:11 TOP. KU 7, CU 0.

2:39 — Allen 24-yard field goal. Thirteen plays, 61 yards, 7:46 TOP. KU 10, CU 0.

Second quarter

9:02 — Neal 9-yard run. Eight plays, 61 yards, 4:44 TOP. KU 17, CU 0.

7:18 — Travis Hunter 51-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders. Four plays, 75 yards, 1:44 TOP. KU 17, CU 7.

3:47 — Allen 23-yard field goal. Eight plays, 69 yards, 3:27 TOP. KU 20, CU 7.

1:51 — Drelon Miller 19-yard pass from Sanders. Five plays, 75 yards, 1:56 TOP. KU 20, CU 14.

0:07 — Allen 25-yard field goal. Twelve plays, 73 yards, 1:39 TOP. KU 23, CU 14.

Third quarter

11:59 — Hunter 26-yard pass from Sanders. Six plays, 51 yards, 2:53 TOP. KU 23, CU 21.

7:18 — Neal 1-yard run. Allen PAT good. Ten plays, 80 yards, 4:36 TOP. KU 30, CU 21.

Fourth quarter

11:47 — Neal 2-yard run. Allen PAT good. Fourteen plays, 70 yards, 8:07 TOP. KU 37, CU 21.

Box score