Kansas scored six touchdowns, including four on the ground by four different running backs, as the Jayhawks defeated Missouri State 48-17 in the season opener at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

Kansas quarterback Jason Bean threw for 276 yards on 22-of-28 passing and tossed two touchdowns, while running backs Devin Neal, Dylan McDuffie, Daniel Hishaw Jr., and Sevion Morrison each scored on the ground. The Jayhawks totaled 521 total yards of offense, marking the eighth time Kansas has gone over 500 yards of offense in a game in the Lance Leipold era.

Kansas answered on its next drive by going 75 yards on three plays, which ended in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bean to Luke Grimm. Kansas would add a field goal from Seth Keller before the half to make it 17-10 at the break.

Post Game Notes:
Offensive Notes
• Kansas is now 597-675-58 all-time, including 9-17 in the Lance Leipold era.
• Kansas improved to 73-54-7 all-time in season openers, including 3-0 under Lance Leipold. KU is 56-26-2 in home season openers.
Offensive Notes
• Kansas amassed 521 yards of total offense, marking the eighth time in the Lance Leipold era the Jayhawks have accumulated 500+ yards of offense.
• On his first carry of the season, junior RB Devin Neal rushed 48 yards for a touchdown, his 20th career touchdown and 18th career rushing score. This
marked the second-consecutive season in which Neal scored on his first carry. His first rush of the 2022 season was a 19-yard touchdown against
Tennessee Tech. Neal became the fourth FBS player since 2012 with a touchdown run of 15+ yards on his first carry of consecutive seasons, and the only
running back of the four.
• After finishing two receptions for 22 yards, senior TE Mason Fairchild has caught at least two passes in eight consecutive games dating back to last season.
Tonight marks the 15th game in his career he has caught at least two passes.
• With four catches tonight, junior WR Quentin Skinner tied his single-game high for receptions. Skinner caught four passes in three games last season - vs.
Texas (11-19-22), at Baylor (10-22-22) and vs. TCU (10-8-22). Skinner tied Arnold with a team-high 77 receiving yards on the night.
• Junior RB Sevion Morrison was the final Jayhawk to find the end zone on Friday night as he scored on a five-yard rush in the closing minutes. For Morrison,
he scored his second career touchdown after also scoring in last season’s opener against Tennessee Tech (9-2-22).

Defensive Notes
• A pair of Jayhawks recorded interceptions against Missouri State in cornerbacks Cobee Bryant and Kwinton Lassiter. The last time Kansas recorded two
interceptions in a season opener was Aug. 31, 2019, against Indiana State.
• For Bryant, the junior corner recorded his sixth career interception. He had three picks last season after recording two in 2021.
• Redshirt-senior defensive end Hayden Hatcher recorded a career-high seven tackles, finishing with two solo and five assist tackles on the night. Hatcher
added 2.0 tackles for loss and one quarterback hurry against MSU. His previous career-high for tackles was four at Houston last season (9-17-22).
• Junior defensive end Jerome Robinson recorded his fourth career sack as he corraled Missouri State quarterback Jacob Clark to end the Bears’ first drive.
Robinson had three sacks last season.
• Lassiter, a redshirt junior, recorded his first interception as a Jayhawk in the fourth quarter and added a pair of tackles from his cornerback position.

Special Teams Notes
• Junior Trevor Wilson’s 33-yard kick return in the first quarter was the longest of his career, surpassing a 20-yard return set in 2021 at Oklahoma State
(10/30/21). He finished the game with two returns for 61 yards after having one kick return in 2021 and two in 2022.
• Making his Kansas debut, redshirt-senior Seth Keller went 2-for-2 on field goals and hit all five of his extra point attempts. He arrived at Kansas after
playing at Texas State, where he had an 86.0% (37-for-43) success rate on field goal attempts.
• Junior kicker Tabor Allen forced eight touchbacks on nine kickoff attempts, averaging the maximum of 65.0 yards per kickoff. For the game, MSU’s average
field position was its own 27-yard line, while KU averaged its own 36-yard line.