Yahoo Movies Duke football loses for first time under Mike Elko. Blue Devils fall 35-27 to Kansas
Coverage from game
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Two titans on the hardwood, both Final Four participants last April who have nine NCAA basketball tournament championships between them, Kansas and Duke play an intriguing early season football game on Saturday.
Duke has won five games, combined, over the last two seasons. Kansas hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 2009.
Yet they are both 3-0 as second-year Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold and first-year Blue Devils coach Mike Elko have their teams playing well thus far.
Favored by a touchdown, Kansas is playing at home before a sold-out crowd for just the second in 13 years.
The News & Observer’s Steve Wiseman is on location at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and will post live updates from all the action.
Duke within score but onside kick fails
Riley Leonard’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Jalon Calhoun cut the Kansas lead to 35-27 with 2:40 to play.
But Charlie Ham’s onside kick attempt went out of bounds giving Kansas possession at the 50 with a chance to run out the clock.
Daniels hurts Duke again
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, having already thrown four touchdown passes, added a 3-yard touchdown run with 4:42 to play giving the Jayhawks a 35-20 lead over Duke.
Daniels’ play closed an 8-play, 75-yard drive as the Jayhawks emphatically answered the Duke touchdown that had cut their lead to eight points.
Waters TD draws Duke closer
Jordan Waters’ 3-yard touchdown run with 8:54 left in the game sliced Kansas’ lead to 28-20.Waters run came just after Riley Leonard completed a 38-yard pass to Jontavis Robertston to the Kansas 3. Leonard completed a pair of third-down passes earlier on the 92-yard, 10-play drive to keep Duke marching.
Kansas stops Duke, adds TD
After halting Duke’s opening drive of the second half with a fourth-down stop at the Jayhawks 37, Kansas quickly increased its lead on Jalon Daniels’ fourth touchdown pass of the game.
Daniels completed a 36-yard pass to a wide-open Lawrence Arnold with 8:25 left in the third quarter giving Kansas a 28-13 lead over the Blue Devils. That score came on the fourth play of a 62-yard touchdown drive.
Kansas took possession after it stopped Duke running back Jordan Waters for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Jayhawks 37 withy 9:27 to play.
Halftime report
Kansas high-powered offense did just as it’s done in the season’s first three games by moving the ball and getting touchdowns in the first half.
The Jayhawks lead Duke 21-13 at halftime after gaining 329 yards over the first two quarters.
Averaging 53 points per game this season, Kansas reached Duke territory on its first five drives. Duke stopped the Jayhawks at the 1 with a goal-line stand in the first quarter and Jaylen Stinson recovered a Kansas fumble to stop another at the Duke 21.
Quarterback Jalon Daniels completed 11 of 12 passes in the first half for 200 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed seven times for 62 yards as the Jayhawks gained 129 yards on the ground, averaging 5.6 yards per attempt.
Duke’s Riley Leonard completed 9 of 13 first-half passes for 140 yards. Jaylen Coleman scored Duke’s lone touchdown and Charlie Ham kicked field goals from 22 and 37 yards.
Duke drives for field goal
Knowing they would be getting the ball to start the second half, the Blue Devils aggressively threw the ball after taking over with 1:04 to play until halftime.
Riley Leonard completed passes covering 15 yards to Jalon Calhoun and 26 to Jaylen Coleman to move into Kansas territory.
Charlie Ham kicked a 37-yard field goal with three seconds left until halftime, leaving Kansas with a 21-13 lead.
Kansas burns Duke for TD
A 75-yard drive that saw Kansas convert three third-down plays resulted in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jalon Daniels to Luke Grimm that gave the Jayhawks a 21-10 lead with 1:04 left until halftime.
The Blue Devils had three chances to stop the Kansas drive. But Daniels completed passes covering 19, 8 and 16 yards on consecutive third-down plays to keep possession.
Ham field goal cuts Kansas lead
Mixing short passes with running plays, Duke put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive that resulted in a 22-yard field goal by Charlie Ham leaving Kansas with a 14-10 lead with 6:17 to play in the first half.
The Blue Devils had a first and goal at the Kansas 7 but a false start penalty pushed them back to the 12, causing the drive to stall.
Defense fails Duke as Kansas scores
Jalon Daniels and Daniel Hishaw combined on a 73-yard touchdown pass to give Kansas a 14-7 lead over Duke at 12:35 of the second quarter.
Daniels passed the ball in the flat to a wide-open Hishaw as he was left wide open. Duke had multiple opportunities to stop Hishaw near the 50 and the 40 but the missed tackles allowed him to reach the end zone.
Duke strikes back
After trailing for the first time this season, the Blue Devils reacted appropriately, needing just four plays to tie the score.
Jaylen Coleman’s 5-yard touchdown run with 3:40 to play in the first quarter tied the Duke-Kansas game at 7.
The touchdown came on the first play after Duke quarterback Riley Leonard completed a 49-yard pass to wide receiver Eli Pancol, who outmuscled a Kansas defender to haul in the pass at the Kansas 5.
Kansas gives Duke first deficit
The Blue Devils never trailed while winning the first three games of the season. That changed with 5:25 to play in the first quarter Saturday when Kansas scored first.
Jalon Daniels’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Kardell put the Jayhawks up 7-0.
The play completed a seven-play. 57-yard scoring drive on Kansas’ second possession.
On their first possession, the Jayhawks marched to the Duke 10 where they had first and goal. Daniels ran the ball to the Duke 1 on third down. Instead of kicking a field goal, Kansas ran on fourth-and-1 but Duke linebacker Dorian Mausi stopped Devin Neal short of the end zone.
Pregame update
Duke will have a key defensive player available again for Kansas.
Starting linebacker Dorian Mausi did not play in Duke’s 49-20 win over N.C. A&T last Saturday night due to a lower body injury.
But Mausi practiced this week and went through pregame warmups with the Blue Devils at Kansas.
Cam Dillon, a graduate transfer from Columbia, started against N.C. A&T and recorded one tackle.
The 6-2, 225-pound Mausi had 15 tackles (eight solo) over the season’s first two games prior to his injury.
Pregame reading
Could Mike Elko take Duke football to bowl game this season? Here’s what path looks like
Duke vs Kansas odds, players to watch in unlikely battle of college football unbeatens
Duke rolls to win over NC A&T to stay unbeaten. What we’ve learned about Blue Devils
Humble beginnings to head coach: Mike Elko’s journey to leading Duke football program
It’s ‘critically important’ Duke football improves in changing college sports landscape
