Kansas found a way to finish this one the hard way.
After trading punches with Baylor all afternoon, the Jayhawks grabbed a one-point lead in the final minute and then survived a final Bears drive when Blake Herold blocked Rhett Armstrong’s 45-yard field goal attempt to preserve a 25-24 win Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
It was Kansas’ first victory over Baylor since 2007, snapping a 14-game skid in the series. The Jayhawks also picked up their first Big 12 win of the season and moved to 3-4 overall.
Dylan Edwards carried the offense with a career-high 30 carries for 156 yards, while Isaiah Marshall shook off a costly third-quarter interception and finished the job with the game-winning touchdown run. Tight end Carson Bruhn gave KU a major lift too, catching five passes for 63 yards and his first career score.
The game started with plenty of volatility. Marshall opened with a 33-yard completion to Nahzae Cox to quickly move Kansas into Baylor territory, but a fourth-and-5 attempt from the Bears’ 32 ended with an interception by Micah Gifford.
Baylor answered with a mistake of its own when DJ Lagway and Louis Brown IV weren’t on the same page and the pass sailed straight out of bounds on fourth-and-2 at KU’s 34.
Kansas then struck first on its next drive. Edwards had a touchdown run wiped out by a holding call on Bruhn, but he followed with a 15-yard run on third-and-10, and Marshall found Bruhn wide open up the seam for a 22-yard touchdown.
Baylor responded with a 51-yard kickoff return from Jayden McGowan and eventually got on the board when Dawson Pendergrass punched in a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal after the Bears stalled at the KU 6. Blake Herold blocked the extra point, but it still went through to make it 7-7.
From there, both teams had stretches of frustration. KU began to lean on Edwards and Chase Belcher before Marshall hit Nik McMillan on a 32-yard throw, but Martin Connington missed a 49-yard field goal. Baylor had a chance to answer after Lagway powered through pressure and picked up key completions, but the Bears went for back-to-back passes on third-and-2 and came up empty, turning the ball over on downs.
Kansas had its own missed opportunities in a first half that featured plenty of fourth-down drama. Marshall overthrew Cox on what could have been a touchdown, then later found Bruhn on a fourth-down conversion.
McMillan dropped another potential score, and Marshall couldn’t connect with Leyton Cure after buying time under pressure. Baylor still had one more shot before halftime, but Matt Gill’s 66-yard punt kept the Bears from doing anything with the ball.
The game flipped quickly after the break. Kansas got a stop to open the second half, but Marshall threw an interception on the Jayhawks’ first offensive snap, and Devon Jordan returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. Even there, KU found a way to limit the damage as another blocked extra point went through the uprights, leaving Baylor up 14-7.
Marshall steadied himself after that. He hit Bruhn and drew a pass-interference flag on a throw to Cox, but a sack that lost 14 yards forced Kansas into a field goal from Connington.
Baylor then produced its biggest scoring drive of the day. Lagway uncorked a 38-yard pass to Gavin Freeman, and after a personal foul on Trey Brown, the Bears moved to the edge of the red zone. A sack by Dak Brinkley was erased by an illegal-substitution penalty on review, Baylor converted again with Tony Livingston, and McGowan finished it with a diving touchdown catch to push the Bears ahead 21-10.
Kansas answered late in the third and early in the fourth. On a fourth-and-3 to start the final quarter, the Jayhawks lined up in a strange look with no linemen blocking for Marshall, yet he rolled out and found McMillan for a touchdown. The two-point try failed, but KU wasn’t done.
A quick stop and favorable field position from fair-catch interference and defensive holding set up the next push. Marshall added a quarterback sneak for a key first down, and Connington drilled a 42-yard field goal to pull Kansas within 21-19.
The Jayhawks then grabbed another turnover when Trey Lathan came up with KU’s second interception of the season after a pair of deflections. But Kansas couldn’t capitalize, going nowhere on four straight runs by Edwards and turning it over on downs. Baylor answered with an Armstrong field goal to make it 24-19 and force KU to chase a touchdown.
That final drive was all Kansas needed. A pass-interference penalty on Jordan moved the Jayhawks across midfield, Edwards broke off a 16-yard run, and Marshall finished it himself from 15 yards out with 1:13 left. The two-point conversion failed again, leaving Baylor one last chance.
The Bears got a 34-yard catch from Freeman between three Kansas defenders after an initial holding penalty, but Armstrong’s final kick never had a chance. Herold got a hand on it, and the Jayhawks escaped with the one-point win.
Kansas will play TCU next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas. The Horned Frogs fell to West Virginia, 24-20, at home on Saturday.
How they scored
First quarter
6:03 - Carson Bruhn 22-yard pass from Isaiah Marshall. Martin Connington PAT good.
Eleven plays, 66 yards, 5:01 TOP. KU 7, BU 0.
3:29 - Dawson Pendergrass 1-yard run. Rhett Armstrong PAT good.
Six plays, 39 yards, 2:24 TOP. KU 7, BU 7.
Third quarter
13:29 - Devon Jordan 42-yard interception return. Armstrong PAT good. BU 14, KU 7.
10:30 - Connington 40-yard field goal good. Six plays, 50 yards, 2:52 TOP. BU 14, KU 10.
6:47 - Jayden McGowan 8-yard pass from DJ Lagway. Seven plays, 72 yards, 3:49 TOP. BU 21, KU 10.
Fourth quarter
14:53 - Nik McMillan 34-yard pass from Marshall. Two-point conversion failed (Edwards rush).
Twelve plays, 75 yards, 6:48 TOP. BU 21, KU 16.
9:45 - Connington 42-yard field goal good. Ten plays, 42 yards, 3:36 TOP. BU 21, KU 19.
2:40 - Armstrong 42-yard field goal good. Six plays, 15 yards, 2:18 TOP. BU 24, KU 19.
1:13 - Marshall 15-yard run. Two-point conversion failed (Marshall pass).
Six plays, 71 yards, 1:20 TOP. KU 25, BU 24.
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