Kansas football: Status of star UCF quarterback still uncertain against Jayhawks

Both UCF and Kansas football are dealing with injuries to their star quarterbacks heading into their Week 6 tilt.

While the talk of the town has been Jalon Daniels’ absence against Texas, the Kansas Jayhawks next football opponent is also dealing with an injury to their signal caller.

UCF’s John Rhys Plumlee has been held out since he sustained a serious leg injury in Week 2 at Boise State. The dual-threat transfer from Ole Miss led the Knights to a 9-5 record a season ago and an appearance in the AAC championship game. He threw for 2,586 yards, 14 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in 13 games, also running for 862 additional yards and eight touchdowns.

Although his start to the season was subpar — he threw more interceptions than touchdowns across his first two contests — UCF has lost its first two games as a member of the Big 12 under backup Timmy McClain. Their most recent came against Baylor in their home stadium, and the Knights were unable to maintain their 28-point lead en route to BU’s biggest comeback in program history.

UCF head coach Gus Malzahn said the team didn’t have a timetable for his return before their game against Baylor.

However, he was seen in pre-game warmups taking reps with a brace on his leg on Saturday.

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When Plumlee initially sustained the injury, Malzahn said he’d miss a ‘few’ weeks. That wordage would suggest that a return could come as early as this week against Kansas football, considering he’s missed three already. There have been reports suggesting Plumlee has been cleared medically, but his status remains unknown.

Kansas will have a tough time taking down UCF without Daniels under center. However, they are in the same boat as the Jayhawks. With an improved defense and more offensive weapons at their disposal, KU has a good chance to come out of Lawrence with a 5-1 record this season.