The moment in the fourth game of the 2022 Kansas football season when running back Daniel Hishaw broke the first tackle against Duke in his monumental 73 yard catch and run might’ve been the moment you thought, whoa.
When he spun away from a sea of Duke defenders and broke free for the end zone, many among us thought Kansas had all the pieces offensively.
It sure appeared that way. The Heisman hype was starting for quarterback Jalon Daniels, Devin Neal was his usual explosive self, Luke Grimm was emerging, Jared Casey was and continues to be a fantastic story, and Daniel Hishaw was breaking tackles and making big plays as the second man in the Jayhawks backfield.
Kansas beat Duke, in large part to that momentum shifting blitzkrieg of a run by Hishaw, but alas, his time in the sun was short lived after that. Against Iowa State in the fifth game of the season, he ran for 28 yards and a score, but tragedy struck. He suffered a season ending hip injury, and Hishaw would have to watch KU’s unexpected run to a bowl game from the sideline.
After such a great start to the 2022 season, where he racked up 262 yards on 44 attempts and five touchdowns on the ground (close to a 760 yard and 14 TD pace over a 13 game season), along with that magical play against Duke and two other catches, a season ending injury just as the Jayhawks were starting to roll could prove devastating for the psyche.
Add in that Hishaw missed all of 2021 with a similar hip injury (on the other hip) after a nice freshman campaign in 2020, and you could see where some (many?) might not think that a football career was in the cards.
But the positive among us just might see a nice redemption arc situation transpiring in 2023.
I like a man with something to prove. A man with a chip on his shoulder. A motivated man. And there is no one more motivated on the Kansas roster than Daniel Hishaw.
A backfield of Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw, combined with the running ability of Jalon Daniels should make Jayhawk fans salivate and opponents shake with fear. We saw what having two dynamic and diverse runners in KU’s backfield got us last season: a perfect 5-0 record.
I’m not predicting KU to run the table if they have all their offensive weapons healthy this fall, but with two backs that can change the game in one play, KU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki will have plenty of choices, and Daniel Hishaw being one of the options is great for Kansas football going forward.
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