Razorbacks escape, beat Kansas in 3 OTs at Liberty Bowl

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson (right) stiff arms Kansas defensive back Kenny Logan during the Liberty Bowl game Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, in Memphis, Tenn.
Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson (right) stiff arms Kansas defensive back Kenny Logan during the Liberty Bowl game Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, in Memphis, Tenn.

MEMPHIS — Arkansas’ football team narrowly avoided its biggest single-game collapse ever Wednesday at the Liberty Bowl. 

The Razorbacks defeated Kansas 55-53 in three overtimes to win the highest-scoring game in bowl history — a game that included a 25-point comeback by the Jayhawks in the second half. Arkansas finished the season with a 7-6 record. 

"We did what we had to do at the end of the game, but we should have put it away with three minutes to go in the game," Arkansas coach Sam Pittman told ESPN after the game. 

"Give Kansas a lot of credit. They fought their tails off."

Quarterback KJ Jefferson successfully completed a two-point conversion pass to Rashod Dubinion on Arkansas’ try to begin the third overtime. 

Lined up as a receiver, Kansas back-up quarterback Jason Bean threw high and incomplete on Kansas’ two-point try to seal the Razorbacks’ victory in the first meeting between the programs since 1906.

"We struggled running the ball all day," Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. "It was a play we’ve used before....I really couldn’t see everything Jason saw, whether he had the opportunity to run or not — tried to make a throw and incomplete.

"When you go for a couple two-point plays earlier and then you get into situations where you have to keep using two-point plays, you’re going to go to different plays. You just don’t have a chart of like six of them, 10 of them on your play-call sheet."

It appeared Arkansas had won in the second overtime when Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels was tackled short of the goal line, but cornerback Quincey McAdoo was called for targeting to give the Jayhawks a second chance to tie the game 53-53. They did when Daniels threw complete to Jared Casey.

Jefferson ran for a 20-yard touchdown after the Razorbacks received possession to begin the second overtime. Jefferson converted the two-point conversion with a pass to Jaedon Wilson. 

Daniels answered with a 2-yard touchdown run following a third-down conversion pass. He finished with a bowl-record 544 passing yards and 5 touchdowns, and also rushed for a score.

Playing about an hour drive from his hometown of Sardis, Miss., Jefferson accounted for 417 yards. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rushed 14 times for a team-high 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

He became the first Arkansas quarterback since Brandon Allen in 2014-15 to start multiple bowl victories. Jefferson led the Razorbacks to a 24-10 win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl last season. 

Arkansas won despite playing with only 54 scholarship players after a high number of opt-outs and transfers following the end of the regular season, including seven primary starters. The Razorbacks traveled 82 players to the bowl game.

The team was also without two assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who was hired as head coach at UNLV on Dec. 6. 

"It ain't about who we don't have here," Pittman said, "it's about who we had."

"We're AutoZone Liberty Bowl champs and I'm damn proud of our football team."

Kansas (6-7) scored two touchdowns in the final 1:05 of regulation to force overtime. 

Daniels threw a 10-yard touchdown to Douglas Emilien with 1:05 remaining to pull the Jayhawks within 38-30. 

Kansas recovered the onside kick and Daniels converted third-and-15 with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Luke Grimm with 41 seconds left. Daniels threw complete to Lawrence Arnold on the two-point try to tie the game at 38-38.

The Razorbacks carried a 31-13 lead into halftime behind a 24-point first quarter. The 24 points were the most scored by any team in any quarter in Liberty Bowl history, and the most scored by Arkansas in a quarter at a bowl game.

They were also the Razorbacks’ most points in a single quarter against a Power 5 team since scoring 28 against Kentucky in 2012. 

Kansas committed three turnovers prior to halftime. In addition to the fumble on the kickoff return, Arkansas cornerbacks Dwight McGlothern and McAdoo picked off Daniels.

Arkansas scored on its first possession of the second half after the defense forced a Kansas punt. The Razorbacks went 80 yards in 10 plays and took 3:16 off the clock. Dubinion capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Razorbacks ahead 38-13.

Dubinion, a freshman from Georgia, ran for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries. He had 181 rushing yards during the regular season.

The Jayhawks began to make things interesting late in the third quarter. Ky Thomas scored a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:15 to play in the third, then Owen Piepergerdes tacked on a 36-yard field goal to pull within 38-23 with 14:07 to play.

Arkansas linebacker Jackson Woodard appeared to seal the win with 3:52 remaining when he tipped a Daniels pass on fourth-and-6 at the Razorbacks’ 12. 

Kansas was forced to call its final timeout with three minutes remaining after Arkansas converted a first down. Needing only to run out the clock, receiver Matt Landers fumbled at the Kansas 15.

Cornerback Cobee Bryant recovered the fumble by Landers and returned it 37 yards to the Arkansas 48 with with 2:43 to play, setting up the wild finish. 

It appeared Landers was down on the play, but it was ruled a fumble on the field and was upheld upon video review — the first of two crucial reviews by the Pac-12 officiating crew that went against Arkansas in the game's final minutes. 

The Razorbacks opened the game with a 10-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in a 37-yard field goal by kicker Cam Little to give Arkansas a 3-0 lead.

The Jayhawks quickly answered with a 29-yard touchdown pass by Daniels, but the Razorbacks mostly controlled things the remainder of the half.

Arkansas reeled off 28 consecutive points with four touchdowns on its next six possessions. Jefferson threw a pair of touchdowns in that span and rushed for another.

Running back AJ Green, who along with Dubinion received more carries due to starting tailback Raheim “Rocket” Sanders leaving early with an ankle injury, capped the scoring spree with a 20-yard rushing score that put the Razorbacks ahead 31-7 in the second quarter.

Jefferson’s first touchdown pass went for 59 yards to Landers, who blew by a Kansas defensive back after a double move. The second went to true freshman tight end Ty Washington from 17 yards out to put Arkansas ahead 17-7.

Washington’s score came on the first offensive snap after receiver Harper Cole recovered a Kansas fumble on a kickoff return. It was the first reception of Washington’s career.

The teams combined for 1,284 yards of offense. The Razorbacks' 681 yards were a season high and the fourth-highest total in program history.


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