 Neal with Kansas in 2022 | |
| Kansas Jayhawks–No. 4 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Running back |
| Class | Senior |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | August 12, 2003 |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Lawrence (KS) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Devin Neal (born August 12, 2003) [1] is an American college football running back at the University of Kansas.
Neal grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and attended Lawrence High School. [2] As a senior, he rushed for 1,327 yards and 20 touchdowns and was named first team Class 6A All-State. [3] Neal was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play both football and baseball at the University of Kansas over football offers from Iowa, Kansas State, Nebraska and Oklahoma State. [4] [5]
Neal played in all 12 of Kansas's games during his freshman season and rushed for 707 yards and eight touchdowns on 158 carries. [6] He became the first freshman in school history to be named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week after rushing 24 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns and also catching two passes for 26 yards and one touchdown. [7] Neal finished his freshman year with 158 carries for 707 yards and 8 touchdowns rushing, along with 7 catches for 57 yards and 1 touchdown. He also played in seven games for Kansas's baseball team as a freshman. [8]
Neal was named the Jayhawks' starting running back entering his sophomore season. [9] [10] He was named the Doak Walker Award national running back of the week and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after gaining 224 yards and scoring a touchdown on 32 carries and 110 yards on six receptions in a 37-16 over Oklahoma State. [11] [12] Neal was the first player to have at least 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game and the win made the Jayhawks bowl-eligible for the first time since 2008. [13] Neal played in all 13 of the Jayhawks' games in 2022, rushing 180 times for 1,090 yards and 9 touchdowns while adding 21 catches for 183 yards and 1 touchdown.
Neal played every game for the Jayhawks during his junior season. In a game against Nevada, Neal rushed for 89 yards and scored three touchdowns and also had a career-high 59-yard reception. Against Central Florida, Neal ran the ball 12 times for 154 yards, averaging 12.8 yards per carry with one touchdown. In the game against Oklahoma, Neal had 25 rushes for a total of 112 yards and a touchdown. Against Texas, he rushed for 137 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns. He rushed 18 times against Kansas State for 138 yards and tied his career-high with three touchdowns. Neal had 10 carries against Cincinnati for 108 yards, averaging 10.8 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns in a road victory. In total, Neal rushed 203 times for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns, as well as 1 receiving touchdown. [14]
Neal started every game for the Jayhawks during his senior season. In their game against #17 Iowa State, Neal passed June Henley to become Kansas' all-time leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, finishing the game with 116 yards and two touchdowns [15] In his final home game, Neal had one of the defining games of his career, finishing with 287 total yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns against #16 ranked Colorado. [16] Neal finished his career with 4,343 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns, both school records. [17]
| Kansas Jayhawks | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||
| GP | GS | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | |||||
| 2021 | 11 | 8 | 158 | 707 | 4.5 | 8 | 7 | 57 | 8.1 | 1 | ||||
| 2022 | 13 | 12 | 180 | 1,090 | 6.1 | 9 | 21 | 183 | 8.7 | 1 | ||||
| 2023 | 13 | 11 | 203 | 1,280 | 6.3 | 16 | 25 | 217 | 8.7 | 1 | ||||
| 2024 | 12 | 12 | 219 | 1,266 | 5.8 | 16 | 24 | 254 | 10.6 | 1 | ||||
| Career [18] | 49 | 43 | 760 | 4,343 | 5.7 | 49 | 77 | 711 | 9.2 | 4 | ||||
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