Trevor Wilson delivers first punt return touchdown for Kansas since Clint Bowen days

As has been customary with Kansas football over the past two seasons, history continued to be made in Saturday’s 51-22 victory over UCF.

This time, it was all thanks to the special teams in the second quarter.

Forced to punt after an unsuccessful third-and-12 attempt from quarterback Timmy McClain, Knights sophomore punter Mitch McCarthy sailed a 40-yard punt that seemed to fall right into the hands of Kansas wide receiver Trevor Wilson.

And it was off to the races.

Wilson took it to the house for an 82-yard punt return score to put the Jayhawks up 24-0 with 3:26 left in the first half.

“Just looking up at the ball ... and seeing a lot of green grass to my right,” Wilson said. “I know I had a UCF guy running at me, even though I had a blocker. So just putting my trust in my teammates and catching that ball and making that happen.”

Before Saturday’s second-quarter play, Kansas hadn’t seen a punt return touchdown since the beginning of the eight-game Clint Bowen era.

In Bowen’s first game at the helm of the Jayhawks following Charlie Weis’ firing in 2014, wide receiver Nick Harwell returned a Nick O’Toole punt for 76 yards with just over two minutes in the fourth quarter against West Virginia.

As was the story for Kansas during that time, one play wasn’t enough to save the Jayhawks, as they fell 33-14 in Morgantown.

Additionally, though more recent, it was the first punt or kick return touchdown since 2020, a season that saw both Pooka Williams and Kenny Logan Jr. return a kick for a score.

“I got back to the sidelines and everyone was in my ear, everyone’s excited for me,” Wilson said. “(Ar’maj Reed-Adams), he came up to me and was like, ‘Bro ... that hasn’t been done since Pooka.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re right, you’re right. ... Let’s do it.’”

For head coach Lance Leipold, the play was even more of a rarity.

The last Leipold team to have a punt-return score came in 2015 — in Buffalo’s season opener against Albany. It came from wide receiver Jacob Martinez.

“I’d have to think in my 17 years as a head coach, I don’t know if I’ve had a punt return, to be honest,” Leipold said on Saturday. “So it’s a pretty play. I was kind of from my angle, I was like, ‘He’s not fair catching this.’ But he made a lot happen.”

Wilson’s punt return was one of the several factors that helped the Jayhawks finish off their 29-point victory, a win that comes as a much-needed boost following a 26-point defeat against Texas. Notably, quarterback Jalon Daniels did not play in either game.

Indeed, special teams played a role in keeping the Jayhawks rolling, Wilson said.

“I pride myself in special teams,” Wilson said. “That really changed the momentum of the game. So it was just having a big return — or even a block, or whatever it is — special teams-wise that is a huge momentum booster.”