Senior quarterback Jason Bean tossed a Big 12 bowl record six touchdown passes as the Kansas Jayhawk football team won its first bowl game since 2008 by beating Nevada-Las Vegas 49-36 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Tuesday. After allowing the game’s opening touchdown, the Jayhawks outscored UNLV 28-3 the rest of the way to lead 28-10 at the half, but the Rebels battled back with consecutive scores in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 28-24 going into the fourth. Kansas dumped another 21 points on UNLV in the final 15 minutes to secure the victory. Bean finished 19-for-28 with 448 yards through the air with six touchdowns and three interceptions. He talked about overcoming adversity in the third quarter.
Luke Grimm led the KU receiving corps with four receptions for 160 yards and three touchdowns while Lawrence Arnold added six catches for 132 yards and another three scores. Devin Neal, who announced before the game that he’ll return to the Jayhawks in 2024, ran 20 times for 71 yards and a touchdown. Cobee Bryant and Craig Young each had interceptions for the Crimson & Blue. Head coach Lance Leipold talked about what the bowl win means for the program.
The Jayhawks finish 9-4 with the program’s first winning record since finishing 8-5 in 2008 with a victory in the Insight Bowl.
