Post last updated at 1:35 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27:
The Kansas Jayhawks are bowl winners, going 9-4 on the season. The Jayhawks faced the UNLV Rebels Tuesday night in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, winning 49-36.
It was the Jayhawks’ second bowl game in as many seasons, closing out football coach Lance Leipold’s third season at the helm.
Senior quarterback Jason Bean was named offensive MVP of the game for his final college football game; senior safety Kenny Logan Jr. was named defensive MVP.
Junior wide receivers Luke Grimm and Lawrence Arnold each scored three touchdowns for the Jayhawks. Junior running back Devin Neal, of Lawrence, also scored. ESPN reported earlier Tuesday that Neal has decided to return to KU for his senior season.
The Jayhawks under Leipold improved from a 2-10 record in the 2021 season to 6-7 in 2022 — the most wins the program had seen since 2008. The season ended with a 55-53 triple-overtime thriller loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Liberty Bowl. That was the team’s first bowl game appearance since 2008, when they beat Minnesota 42-21 to win the Insight Bowl — now called the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Prior to the bowl game, the Jayhawks were 8-4 — their first eight-win regular season since 2007. This bowl game marked only the second time in school history that the Jayhawks have played in bowl games in back-to-back seasons.
Leipold said in a postgame press conference that he would not have anticipated the team being in this position this soon.
UNLV had gone 9-4 on the season prior to the game, and made their first bowl appearance since 2014.
Photos courtesy of Guaranteed Rate Bowl
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
