KU’s Cobee Bryant joins elite company by grabbing 3 interceptions in win over Houston

Considered “highly questionable” earlier in the week after sustaining a leg injury against Arizona State on Oct. 5, Kansas senior cornerback Cobee Bryant not only played in Saturday’s 42-14 victory over Houston, but actually had one of the best games of his, or any KU defensive back’s, career.

Bryant intercepted three passes as the Jayhawks (2-5) picked up their first win in Big 12 Conference play (against three losses) at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

“I never did that before. I tried to beat my high school record — four,” Bryant, a 6-foot, 175-pound graduate of Hillcrest High School in Evergreen, Alabama, said in the interview room after the game.

“One of the last plays he kind of held me,” he added with a smile, referring to an unnamed Houston player possibly preventing a fourth interception late. “It was a crazy day.”

His three interceptions tied for most in a game in KU history. Bill Crank had three interceptions against Tulane on Oct. 25, 1958, while Duane Morris had three versus Oklahoma State on Nov. 16, 1957 and John Konek three vs. OSU on Nov. 17, 1951.

Several Jayhawks have had two in a game through the years, the last player being Hasan Defense, who plucked two versus West Virginia on Oct. 6, 2018.

“Feels great,” said Bryant, who also had three tackles, one for loss. “The first one, he threw it, I caught it. My coach said, ‘Next play, next play, lock in the rest of the game.’’’

As far as being able to play at all, Bryant, who has 13 career interceptions, said he was confident that he’d respond to treatment during KU’s bye week.

“We worked hard to get back on the field,” Bryant said. “I am a dog, so I knew what was going on. I was in the training room rehabbing hard.”

The defense, which had 12 tackles for loss, responded after the Jayhawks’ 35-31 loss at Arizona State two weeks ago.

“Energy. We brought a lot of energy today,” Bryant said of the difference in KU’s play on defense, which included stellar play from O.J. Burroughs (seven tackles, six solo), JB Brown (six tackles, two sacks), Marvin Grant (five tackles, one sack), Cornell Wheeler (four tackles, two for loss) and DJ Withers (two sacks), among others.

“Two weeks off with a bye week, we watched film every day: Our defense, cornerbacks, safeties, linebackers, we’d all meet up and work on communication on the field. That was the big thing during the bye week, communicate what we need to do right here and what’s going to work in the game.

“Everybody’s dancing, back to old times,” Bryant continued of a celebration in the locker room after KU snapped a five-game losing streak.

Brown, a senior linebacker from Hughes, Arkansas, lauded Bryant after the game.

“Amazing day. It was something I’ve never seen before,” Brown said. “He’s one of the great guys I can tell my kids later in life I played with.”

Running back Devin Neal, who gained 108 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns (he also caught three passes for 26 yards), said Bryant’s performance was “pretty cool. That helps us a lot. It was an all-around game for us. We honed in on all the details I talked about earlier in the week. Being better in all phases of the game was really important.”

Neal had his own record-breaking day, tying Tony Sands for most 100-yard rushing games in a KU career (17) and June Henley for for most career touchdowns (43). Neal needs 73 yards to break Henley’s record for all-time rushing yards at KU (3,841).

KU coach Lance Leipold was pleased with his team’s all-around effort. He was asked about Bryant’s day.

“We didn’t know (if he could play earlier in week). Cobee didn’t start practicing team reps until Tuesday after getting injured against Arizona State,” Leipold said. “One thing about him, he is a highly competitive young man. He never wants to miss (time). To play as well as he did was great to see. The game is awfully important to him. He played extremely physical and aggressive and made plays for us.”