How it happened
The Bearcats would strike first following a 12 play, 44-yard drive resulting in a 49-yard field goal from Carter Brown to give the Bearcats a 3-0 lead with 8:12 remaining in the first quarter. The Bearcats were looking to establish the run early on the opening drive as Corey Kiner had five carries for 20 yards to start as the Bearcats would look to get the junior to that 1,000 mark for the first time in his career.
The Bearcats would take an early 3-0 lead after the first quarter after the Bearcats defense would force three straight punts to start the game for Kansas. Bean, and the Jayhawks just couldn’t find any rhythm on the offensive side of the ball to start. Dontay Corleone had a huge, forced fumble that the Jayhawks were thankful to recover and extend the drive but in the end the defense stood tall after Threats and Gillison combined for the tackle for loss.
The Jayhawks defense would get the stop they needed after Brady Lichtenberg’s first pass of the night was intercepted intended for Xzavier Henderson down the left sideline. Cobee Bryant made a miraculous one-handed interception to flip the field and give the Jayhawks some light. Bean would the connect with Luke Grimm for a huge 40 yard splash play to set the Jayhawks up deep in Bearcat territory. The Jayhawks would quickly capitalize following the Lichtenberg interception as Devin Neal’s 13-yard touchdown run would cap off a 5 play, 77-yard touchdown drive to give the Jayhawks a 7-3 lead with 8:55 remaining in the second quarter.
The Jayhawks certainly flipped the momentum following the score after forcing a quick three-and-out for the Bearcats. The Jayhawks would then quickly make this a 14-3 game after Jason Bean hung in the pocket despite a huge hit from Tyler Gillison and connect with Jared Casey for the 15-yard touchdown. The Jayhawks five play, 66-yard drive was set up by a huge 38-yard gain from Devin Neal.
The Bearcats needed to find some momentum quick or this one could quickly be on the verge of danger zone following 14 unanswered by the Jayhawks. The Bearcats would do just that as Emory Jones would lead a 13-play, 75 yard drive resulting in a 11-yard screen pass for Ryan Montgomery as the senior walked into the end-zone making this a 14-10 game with :26 seconds left in the first half.
The Jayhawks would take advantage of the short kick off and quickly march down the field and score to punch the Bearcats in the mouth before the half. The Bearcats allowed a huge 30 yard gain to Lance Arnold on the first play setting them up deep in Bearcat territory. Bean, would then throw a strike to Mason Fairchild as the tight end was wide open across the middle of the field for the easy touchdown.
The Jayhawks would take a 21-10 lead to the break and was set to get the ball back to open the second half. The Bearcats simply couldn’t stop Jason Bean, as the senior started this one 10 for 10 eclipsing 190 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. junior running back Devin Neal also racked up 68 yards on just six carries for the Jayhawks.
Corey Kiner became the 13th Bearcat to ever rush for 1,000 yards in a season following his huge 18-yard run to end the first half. The junior running back led the Bearcats with 72 yards on twelve carries. For the Bearcats they just couldn’t get anything going offensively in the passing game as only 40 of their 192 yards came in the air.
The Jayhawks would pick right up where they left off in the first half after an eight play. 75 yard drive was capped off after Devin Neal rattled off a huge 30-yard run to score his second touchdown of the game to extend the Jayhawks lead to 18 as they led the Bearcats 28-10 with 11:53 remaining in the third quarter.
The Jayhawks would now have scored touchdowns on four straight possessions as they were just slicing the Bearcats defense apart it seemed. The Bearcats would respond with a 13 play, 50-yard drive, but came away empty handed as Carter Brown’s 42-yard field goal attempt was wide right.
The Bearcats would get their first stop since the first quarter on defense and man was it a big one. That stop sparked a 12 play, 65-yard drive capped off by a 7-yard flea flicker from Ryan Montgomery to Dee Wiggins. The Bearcats would quickly make this a 28-18 game after Emory Jones escapes the Jayhawks pressure and laid out full extension for the pile on to convert the two-point conversion. However, it was quickly overturned via replay that Jones lost possession of the ball before hitting the pile-on, which meant no conversion.
The Jayhawks would respond like they have all night after another quick three play drive that was capped off by a 43-yard touchdown run by Jason Bean down the right sideline. The Jayhawks would now lead the Bearcats 35-16 with 11:39 remaining in the 4th quarter as they looked to slam the door of this one here at Nippert Stadium.
The Jayhawks would continue to pour it on the Bearcats as Jason Bean escaped for another 50 yard touchdown run to extend the Jayhawks lead to 42-16 with 9:52 remaining. The Jayhawks third possession resulting in a touchdown in under ninety seconds as they have just dominated the Bearcats here on senior night. The Jayhawks would make this a 49-16 game after Dylan McDuffie would extend the Jayhawks lead after a touchdown with just 45 seconds left in the game.
Final record
The Bearcats finish their first season (3-9, 1-8 Big 12) after a seven-game losing skid halted the Bearcats momentum for nearly two months of the season. However, there is a lot of positive things to look forward to for The Bearcats as many people expected, this season wasn’t going to go as planned as the Bearcats were projected to finish with just four wins heading into the season.
However, for the Bearcats they played some of their best ball as of late throughout the back half of the season and there is a lot of positive things to look forward to heading into next year.
