KANSAS CITY – Kansas Football opened their 2024 campaign on Thursday against the Lindenwood Lions from Saint Charles, Missouri. After an offseason of predictions and analysis of a program that has seen immense improvement, the season finally kicked off. Children’s Mercy Park played host to the matchup, serving alongside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium as the home for Kansas Football in 2024.
Lindenwood won the opening coin flip and elected to begin their season on offense. The first showing of the newly revamped Kansas defense was a solid one, with the squad that lost guys like Kenny Logan, Rich Miller, and Austin Booker, forcing a quick three-and-out.
Following the punt, the offense marched out onto the field led by Jalon Daniels who proceeded to take his first game snap in almost a year. Daniels, who has struggled with injuries throughout his career, said at Kansas Media Day just over a week previous, that he is “staying prepared and doing everything to stay healthy as possible”. A healthy Daniels was just what Kansas fans wanted to see following a drought of over eight months without football and he delivered. The Kansas offense drove down the field sixty-five yards, splitting the yardage almost perfectly between the pass and run game (33/32), with the cherry on top being a 5-yard Devin Neal run for the first score of the season.
Overall, the Kansas offense performed well throughout the first half with the lone exception being a Jalon Daniels errant pass that Lindenwood’s Tre Bell picked off. The turnover seemed to be an obvious miscommunication between Daniels and his receiver. A mistake that will undoubtedly be addressed as Kansas prepares during the week for Big Ten foe Illinois.
Daniels made up for his mistake during the following drive, orchestrating a drive that lasted just under three and a half minutes completed by yet another Devin Neal rushing touchdown. Neal’s second score of the night gave Kansas all they needed for a two-score lead.
With all the fireworks on the offensive side, it was only appropriate for the defense to get some of the spotlight. On only the third snap of the Lion’s drive, Lindenwood Quarterback Nate Glantz left a little too much off his pass, a decision he regrets immensely now because he didn’t see #3 lurking in the shadows until it was too late. Mello Dotson added his name to the box score by sneaking in to steal the pass but also took it all the way to the freshly painted end zone for Kansas’ third score of the evening. Following the scores, the waving wheat celebration was canceled as Tabor Allen doinked the ball off the right post, holding the score at an even twenty.
Kansas didn’t take their foot off the gas after forcing another three-and-out as the offense took the field once again. An incompletion and an 8-yard run from Daniel Hishaw Jr. gave the Lions hope as the field markers signaled a third-down, but those daydreams were quickly dashed. After receiving the snap, Jalon Daniels reeled back and fired the ball to Luke Grimm who took it the rest of the fifty-eight yards, carrying the ball into the end zone for the fourth Kansas score of the first half.
Another forced punt by the defense, who pitched a shutout in the opening half, and it set up a Daniel Hishaw Jr. run that ended in a ‘Superman’ dive into the end zone. The play was initially called dead by the officials, but upon review the replay system determined Hishaw had in fact crossed the goal line before his knee touched grass, giving him his first touchdown of the 24’ campaign. The score and a one-point kick later and Kansas dominated their way to a 34-0 lead at halftime.
The Kansas offense steamrolled the Lindenwood defense, racking up over 350 yards in just the first half. On the defensive side, combined with a score of their own, the defense only allowed 107 from the Lions’ offense.
Following halftime, Lance Leipold pulled Jalon Daniels from the starting role for the purpose of health. An easy assumption can be made that the move was not performance-based due to Daniel’s 148 yards in the air during the first half of play. Presumptive backup Cole Ballard came in and showed off his legs rushing the ball down the field for fourteen yards. Ballard and the offense pushed the ball all the way to a yard off the white-painted goal line, setting up Sevion Morrison who barreled himself into the end zone making him the third Kansas back to score on the evening. The touchdown was the lone points for KU in the third quarter, which was surprising considering the opening two quarters, and brought their lead to forty-one as the clock shifted to the final fourth.
The fourth rolled around and with it came another great Cole Ballard drive completed by a pass on 4th down that went to Kansas receiver Doug Emilien. The touchdown was the seventh of the night for KU, tying the seven-touchdown performance from Jason Bean in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
With just over six minutes remaining on the clock, Lindenwood made sure that ‘shoutout’ would not be uttered by any Kansas fans as Lions’ kicker Logan Seibert sailed a third-four-yard field goal through the posts to finally get Lindenwood on the board.
That is where the scoring ended with Kansas winning the first of their 2024 matchups with a score of 48-3 over the Lindenwood Lions. The Jayhawks offense scored six touchdowns and totaled over five hundred yards, including over three hundred rushing yards. The Jayhawks defense allowed only three points and also contributed to the scoreboard by adding some points of their own on a pick-six.
The Lions now shift their eyes to their next opponent – the Bears of Central Arkansas. They will play that game at home on Saturday, September 7th. On the other sideline, Kansas travels to play the fighting Illini the same day. The matchup with Illinois marks the second time the teams will play each other in the Lance Leipold era, after a 34-23 win for the Jayhawks in September of last year.
