LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Iowa State Cyclones used a strong first quarter Saturday to get by the Kansas Jayhawks 52-22 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
The Cyclones took advantage of the 11 a.m., start and outscored the Jayhawks 13-0 in the first quarter. Iowa State got on the scoreboard with rushing touchdowns from quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Kene Nwangwu in the first quarter.
Kansas (0-6, 0-5 Big 12) answered back in the second quarter when true freshman running back Daniel Hishaw Jr., scored his first-career touchdown when he scampered in from five yards out on a direct snap out of the “Wildcat” formation.
Iowa State (4-2, 4-1) responded with a touchdown with four minutes remaining in the first half to go up 20-7. Kansas marched down the field on its final drive, but missed a field goal with one second left in the half to keep the deficit at 13 points.
The Jayhawks were led Saturday by their freshmen once again. Freshman quarterback Jalon Daniels threw for 135 yards in the first half with his favorite target being fellow true freshman Luke Grimm. Grimm had four catches for 53 yards in the first half alone.
Sophomore safety Kenny Logan Jr., provided the play of the game in the third quarter when he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to make the score 27-14 in favor of the Cyclones. It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown by the Jayhawks this season and the program’s first 100-yard kick return for a score since 2002 when Greg Heaggans did it against Missouri State.
The Jayhawks scored again in the fourth quarter when Daniels executed a quarterback run play to perfection and scored from 12 yards out for his third rushing touchdown of the season.
The 23rd-ranked Cyclones added two more scores after the Daniels rushing touchdown to make the score 52-22.
Defensively, freshman Marcus Harris picked up a tackle-for-loss to give him 6 ½ over his last three games. Fellow freshman lineman DaJon Terry also picked up his second-career sack and has one sack in each of the last two home games.
Sophomore Nick Channel led Kansas with eight tackles. Senior Ricky Thomas finished with seven, while Logan had three tackles, his first interception of the season and the 100-yard kick return. Redshirt-freshman Steven Parker had a tackle-for-loss in the defeat, while junior Jay Dineen, senior Kyron Johnson, Logan and senior Elijah Jones all had one pass breakup each.
Daniels finished 165 passing yards, completing 16-of-29 passes. He also led the team in rushing yards with 36. He had 58 rushing yards before sacks were accounted for. Kwamie Lassiter II led the team in receiving with five catches for 66 yards. Andrew Parchment had three catches for 27 yards and found Lassiter on a pass play for a two-point conversion after the Daniels touchdown.
The Jayhawks will return to action Saturday in Norman against Oklahoma. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., and will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2.
