Credit: Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
Jason Bean was 14 of 23 for 287 yards as No. 21 Kansas hung on to defeat Iowa State 28-21 Saturday night in Ames, Iowa. Bean found Lawrence Arnold for an 80-yard score midway through the fourth quarter to ice the victory.
The Jayhawks (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) moved into a five-way tie for second place in the Big 12.
Rocco Becht was 20-for-26 with a key interception for Iowa State (5-4, 4-2).
Devin Neal scored a 1-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the second half to give Kansas a 21-3 lead, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive.
Eli Sanders finally scored the Cyclones’ first touchdown with 3:26 left in the third quarter. He ran around the right corner from 6 yards out. He then ran almost the identical play for a 2-point conversion, trimming the deficit to 21-11.
Iowa State forced Kansas to punt and then went 90 yards in 12 plays. Becht ran it in from the KU 2-yard line with 8:09 remaining.
But on the first play of the ensuing drive, Bean found Arnold behind the ISU secondary for an 80-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 28-18.
Chase Contreraz trimmed it to 28-21 with a 29-yard field goal with 4:53 left, but Kansas did not give up the ball again.
After forcing a three-and-out on Iowa State’s first possession, Kansas marched 87 yards on nine plays to take a 7-0 lead. Bean found Arnold for a first down on fourth-and-10 to keep the drive alive. Neal punched it in from the 6-yard line for the score.
In the second quarter, Ra’Mello Dotson picked off Becht at the 50 and raced untouched to the end zone. It was Dotson’s second pick-6 in as many games, and it gave Kansas a 14-0 lead.
Contreraz hit a 35-yard field goal for Iowa State with three seconds left in the half to prevent the Cyclones from going scoreless in the first half.
–Field Level Media