Completed Event: Football at Missouri on September 6, 2025 , Loss , 31, to, 42
Football
31
at Missouri
42
Kansas Upset of No. 14 Utah Falls Short
11/28/2025 2:34:00 PM | Football
LAWRENCE, Kan. – In a game that had five different lead changes, No. 14 Utah outlasted Kansas, 31-21, on Senior Day at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Friday.
Behind a pair of 100-yard rushing games from Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams, Kansas outgained Utah 477-414 in total offense. Hishaw posted 107 yards on a career-high-tying 22 carries with one touchdown, while Williams ran for 104 yards on a season-high 15 rushes.
Utah (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) took advantage of two KU turnovers to outscore the Jayhawks 21-7 in the fourth quarter. Kansas concludes the 2025 season with a 5-7 record, including 3-6 in Big 12 play.
Kansas received the opening kickoff and the Jayhawks drove down to the Utah 25-yard line, highlighted by three completions from Jalon Daniels to Cam Pickett. The drive would stall with a Utah interception.
On the ensuing drive, Utah took a 3-0 lead after moving the ball down to the KU 11-yard line, with Dillon Curtis connecting on a 39-yard field goal with 8:39 to play in the first quarter.
Kansas' second drive started with 10 consecutive rushing plays as the Jayhawks moved the ball all the way down to the Utah 13-yard line before a missed field goal.
Kansas would then force a Utah three-and-out and once again use its rushing attack to take a 7-3 lead with 12:03 to go before halftime. KU rushed the ball eight times, going 73 yards in a span of 3:57. Daniel Hishaw Jr. would cap the drive with a seven-yard touchdown rush over the right side. It was Hishaw's fifth touchdown of the season and 23rd of his career.
Utah retook the lead on the next drive to go up 10-7 with 9:24 before intermission. Utah's JJ Buchanan capped a six-play drive with a 58-yard touchdown reception from Devon Dampier.
Following a KU punt, Utah would drive to the Kansas 29-yard line where the Jayhawks would stop the Utes on a fourth down with 45 seconds before half. Utah took a 10-7 lead into halftime.
To open the second half, Utah drove to the KU 33 yard-line and once again, the Jayhawks would hold the Utes on a fourth down when KU's Leroy Harris III would break up his third pass of the contest.
Kansas would then drive 67 yards in eight plays and Daniels would score a touchdown on a one-yard quarterback sneak to take a 14-10 lead with 8:15 to play in the third quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 34-yard pass from Daniels to Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and a Daniels 16-yard rush to the Utah six-yard line. For Daniels, it was his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and the 23rd of his career.
On Utah's first play of the ensuing drive, KU's Trey Lathan forced and recovered a Byrd Ficklin fumble giving the Jayhawks a first-and-10 on the Utah 43-yard line. It was Lathan's first forced fumble of the season, the third of his career and his second fumble recovery of 2025.
Kansas turned the ball over on downs but then forced a three-and-out and a punt to get the ball back. The Jayhawks took the ball down the field and into the redzone, but an interception gave the ball back to Utah.
Utah would retake the lead for good at 17-14 with 12:26 to play on a Larry Simmons 28-yard reception from Devon Dampier. The four-play scoring drive for Utah came after an interception in its own end zone as KU was threatening to extend its lead.
Kansas once again threatened, driving the ball to the Utah five-yard line when Utah's Elijah Davis returned an interception 97 yards for a pick six to give the Utes a 24-14 lead with 7:52 play.
Kansas would cut the score to 24-21 on a Leyton Cure 21-yard touchdown reception from Daniels with 5:32 to play. Cure's touchdown catch capped off an eight-play 93-yard drive highlighted by a 54-yard reception from Daniels to Henderson down the left sideline.
Utah would go up 31-21 when Larry Simmons caught a 48-yard touchdown pass with 2:14 remaining.
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