Friday night marked an important day in the young career of Kansas Jayhawk quarterback Isaiah Marshall.
The former 3-star high school state champion was given his first start in a KU jersey, and despite a shaky start that saw the Jayhawks miss a fourth-down conversion, Marshall eventually found his form and when he did, Kansas caught glimpses of why he was eventually named starter.
Marshall threw two insanely accurate deep balls to Nahzae Cox (47 yards) and Nik McMillan (46 yards), and finished the day with a stellar 246 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 73.6% completion rate. Marshall also added 49 rushing yards across 7 rushes as the Jayhawks cruised to a 51-6 victory.
During the fourth quarter, when Marshall was done for the day, former KU quarterback Jalon Daniels appeared in the commentary booth to do an interview with the ESPNU broadcast, where he relayed that he had helped host Marshall when he was on his official visit.
“I mean, he was someone who, I think, was very willing to come in and just want to be able to learn. He had his head on straight, he knew exactly what he wanted,” opened Daniels.
Marshall was a key piece of Kansas’ 2024 recruiting class where he redshirted the 2024 season before factoring into the 2025 campaign as a runner, tallying 160 yards on the ground and 28 through the air.
Marshall was involved in a quarterback battle that lasted months before eventually being named starter 14 days before Kansas’ opener.
“He knew exactly what he had, what goals he had in front of him. I think to be able to see him come out here and be able to achieve his goal of being a starting quarterback, be able to go out here and make plays, get a few touchdowns. I think we're just now being able to get the ball rolling for Isaiah Marshall.”
Marshall has big shoes to fill
While Marshall had an extremely promising start, no opinions on him can truly be formed until the end of this season, if not the next.
With so much vulnerability around him year after year thanks to the NCAA Transfer Portal, it's what makes Daniels' career that much more impressive. Daniels was formerly a recruit of the Les Miles era who, through thick and thin, stayed with the Jayhawks and ended up compiling one of the best careers in KU history. During his time, Daniels compiled 9,282 passing yards, 67 passing touchdowns, and 31 interceptions. Daniels added 23 rushing touchdowns and 1,445 yards as well.
But the biggest thing Daniels did with the Jayhawks was see out the transformation. Daniels has seen firsthand the highs and lows of this team that reached back-to-back bowl games, including an impressive 9-4 season in 2023. And that is something that KU fans will remember more than any touchdown, rush, or pass he had in a Kansas Jayhawk jersey. Up next for Kansas is the Border Showdown against Missouri on September 11 at 7 p.m. CT.
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