Kansas running back Leshon Williams turned in a career-day with three rushing touchdowns to highlight a second-half comeback and the Jayhawks used a historic defensive effort to hold off UCF in a 27-20 Big 12 victory on a wet Acrisure Bounce House in Orlando.
Williams’ three-touchdown game set a career-high as Kansas rallied from first-half deficits of 14-0 and 17-7 to improve to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
“Shout out to my O-line, tight ends, receivers, all the coaches trust me to get the one or two yards,” Williams said.
His first-half touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards brought the Jayhawks within 20-14 at halftime. That’s when the defense took over, and Williams’ final score, a 2-yard run late in the third quarter stood up as the margin of victory.
That’s because the Jayhawks’ defense flipped the script on the Knights (3-2, 0-2), who scored on all four first-half possessions, but were shut out over the final two quarters, including a goal-line stand in the final two minutes of the game. It secured Kansas’ first road win of the season, its first win in the state of Florida since the 2008 Orange Bowl in Miami, and also the first time the Jayhawks have not allowed a point to a conference opponent on the road in the second half in Big 12 history.
“I’m really proud, this group didn’t flinch and kept battling,” Kansas Head Coach Lance Leipold said. “We found a way. It wasn’t the cleanest but I’m really proud of their perseverance in the second half. It says a lot about the resiliency of this team.”
Conversely, October remains a frightening time for UCF, which hasn’t won a game in the month that ends with Halloween since 2022.
UCF finished the third quarter with -1 total yards.
UCF defense stacks up a Kansas runner. The game turned into a defensive battle in the second half. Photo by Debra Edgar.
“We cleaned it up in the third quarter and momentum shifted our way,” Leipold said. “We found a way to make some stops. Found a way to win a close game.”
While during that time, Kansas senior safety Jalen Dye recorded his first career sack, causing a fumble that was recovered by teammate Trey Lathan. A junior linebacker, Lathan led the Jayhawks with nine tackles (seven solo) and 1.5 TFLs. He has led the team in tackles in four of the six games this season.
“We came out flat,” Lathan said of the slow start. “We told each other we had to pick up the energy. We just had to put our cleats in the ground and get grounded into the game.”
The Knights had things going their way early at home. Touchdown runs of 29 and 3 yards by Myles Montgomery gave them the early 14-0 lead. Montgomery led all rushers with 110 yards on 22 carries. But after that the Jayhawks’ defense relegated the home team to just a pair of 38-yard field goals by Noe Ruelas.
Kansas kicker Laith Marjan equaled that output with second-half field goals of 33 and 41 yards to stay perfect for the season (9-for-9).
Though it was the first game this season that Kansas has not recorded a touchdown pass, Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels marched his team up and down the field with 235 yards passing on 18 of 26 attempts, and added 25 yards rushing on 10 carries.
“Jalen will do whatever it takes to win football games, and I thought he had another really nice night tonight,” Leipold said.
Cam Picket led all receivers with five catches for 64 yards.
